I've been asked a few times recently about resources for learning Oracle PL/SQL. With this in mind, here's some good starting points for those developers looking to learn PL/SQL, together with links to resources on more advanced PL/SQL topics.

First up is the official Oracle PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference, available on OTN online in either HTML or PDF format. In addition to the language reference, OTN also has a PL/SQL Technology Center, PL/SQL Sample Code and an SQL and PL/SQL Forum that it's worth checking out. Away from OTN, Ian Saunders has put together a 21-part PL/SQL tutorial which is another alternative when trying to gain a basic understanding of the language.

If you're looking to purchase a book, the two canonical texts that are worth getting hold of are Steven Feuerstein's "Oracle PL/SQL Programming, Third Edition" and Scott Urman's "Oracle9i PL/SQL Programming". Once you've gained a basic understanding of PL/SQL, other books worth looking at are Steven Feuerstein's "Oracle PL/SQL Best Practices", "Advanced Oracle PL/SQL Programming with Packages".

Once you've got a basic understanding of PL/SQL, you'll probably want to take a look at code examples and tips put together by other PL/SQL experts. Some sites you might want to look at are;

• Jonathan Lewis' list of articles on PL/SQL (including a useful article on bind variables, the #1 thing to look at when writing efficient PL/SQL code)
• Steven Feuerstein's PL/SQL downloads, including course material for his recent PL/SQL workshops, "The Brave New World of PL/SQL" and "MIN-MAX PL/SQL: a tuning and best practices seminar". Steven is the 'spiritual leader' of the PL/SQL community and you'd do well to read carefully his articles on producing well-crafted, efficient code, including two of his recent articles, "Disciplined PL/SQL" and "Cleaning Up PL/SQL Practices"
• PLNet.org has a number of open-source, reusable PL/SQL routines including links to MD5 and RC4 encryption, Log4PL/SQL and Steven Feuernstein's utPLSQL
• Connor McDonald's PL/SQL Tips Page
• Quest Software's Oracle Pipeline - including a PL/SQL Discussion Forum, PL/SQL Tip Of The Month, and their PL/SQL Utilities and Papers
• Oracle ITToolbox PL/SQL Code Exchange

Lastly, if you're keen to find out about the latest developments with Oracle 10g PL/SQL, take a look at the OTN's "What's New In PL/SQL In Oracle 10g?", and Bryn Llewellyn's (The Oracle PL/SQL Product Manager) Oracleworld paper, "PL/SQL Just Got Faster"