Rating: 

This book covers the most common topics in PL/SQL in a compact format. The format is “pocket reference” which is considerably smaller than a standard book. The information is still complete. It appears the publisher accomplished this by eliminating blank pages between chapters, avoiding the use of large type for chapter headings, and beginning the next chapter a few lines after the previous. This format is convenient for people who need to use the reference often.

The items covered are numerous and relevant making the book a good value. The reference does not cover the SQL language itself outside the context of PL/SQL programming. It also does not go into extreme detail on how Oracle is working behind the scenes. It focuses on how to perform the task at hand then moves onto the next topic. This is good for those just looking for an answer but would not provide the detail to someone studying the inner workings of Oracle itself.

Some of the items covered that I found most useful were:

Cursors
Exception handling
Transaction management
Syntax of various loops and the case statement
Bulk operations
Packages
Procedures
Syntax of triggers
Differences between 9i and 10g
Functions

Overall this is an inexpensive, quality reference for those who program PL/SQL.