There are a lot of resources to help you learn how to administer an Oracle Database, and in particular, how to write SQL and PL/SQL commands. While you can install Oracle Database locally, there are occasions where you just want to quickly understand how a command functions, to see a running example, or get help from the Oracle developer community.

Oracle’s Live SQL application is tool designed to promote the use of SQL and PL/SQL by providing a resource for developers to increase their skills. Live SQL is a fully functioning 19c database, pre-populated with schema that you can use to execute commands or complete a tutorial. Oracle Database documentation is integrated with Live SQL, providing links to specific examples embedded in the guides.

For example, if you are interested in learning about creating range-partitioned tables, from the documentation topic you can click a link to go directly to the Live SQL tutorial that illustrates how to create a range partition table.

There are a number of integration points with the Oracle SQL Language Reference Guide, the Oracle Database Administrator’s Guide, and other guides, including these popular topics:

And there is much more, including blog articles by Chris Saxon, Developer Advocate, such as How to Convert Rows to Columns and Back Again with SQL (Aka PIVOT and UNPIVOT) and the corresponding Live SQL script, Pivot and unpivot examples using Olympic data.

Of course, you can also use Live SQL to create ad hoc queries, using a schema you create, or one of the included sample schemas. When you have developed scripts you’d like to keep, you can save them, and share the script with others. The code library includes a number of sample scripts and tutorials that will definitely improve your SQL and PL/SQL skills.

What do you think of this integration? How else can we improve the documentation? Let us know in the comments!