Oracle today announced the general availability of Oracle® SQL Developer (formerly code named Project Raptor), a new, free, database development tool. Designed for Oracle Database developers, Oracle SQL Developer simplifies development cycles and reduces the need to buy third-party tools for developing and debugging SQL and PL/SQL code. The introduction of this tool underscores Oracle's commitment to improving the productivity and supporting the needs of the database development community.

Oracle SQL Developer offers a robust set of features to assist database developers perform tasks such as object browsing and creation, running SQL statements and SQL scripts, editing and debugging PL/SQL code, and viewing and updating data. It provides an extensive set of pre-built reports and also allows developers to build custom reports related to their development projects. Additionally, this intuitive tool includes features such as a code formatter and code snippets, which help database developers reduce the time and effort needed to write code.

The tool is available for all releases of Oracle Database 10g and for Oracle9i Database Release 2. Additionally, Oracle SQL Developer is certified to run against all editions of Oracle Database 10g, including Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, Standard Edition One, and Express Edition.

"With our 10g release, we focused on making the Oracle Database easier to install, deploy, and manage as well as easier for developers to use," said Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president, Database Server Technologies, Oracle. "Oracle SQL Developer offers database developers everything they need to productively tackle their coding and debugging tasks more effectively. Oracle Database customers will benefit in terms of both cost savings and increased developer productivity."

Organizations Adopt Free, Feature-Laden Development Tool

Consulting firm Dulcian, Inc., founded in 1994, specializes in business rules and Web-based application development. The New York-based company initiated beta-testing of Oracle SQL Developer in December 2005. "We are amazed by the progress of Oracle SQL Developer," said Dr. Paul Dorsey, president, Dulcian, Inc. "It has already surpassed most PL/SQL editors on the market. We anticipate that we will move to Oracle SQL Developer exclusively within the next six months."

Beta customer Hatch Mott MacDonald, an award winning, full service consulting engineering firm based in Milburn, New Jersey, has successfully tested Oracle SQL Developer for two months. "With Oracle SQL Developer, all of the routine tasks like browsing tables, counting records, editing packages, procedures, and functions, are much easier and efficient," said Chris Tryon, manager of Programming, Hatch Mott MacDonald. "I don't waste time switching to a second program to edit, a third to format, and a fourth to compile."

Progressive Medical, Inc. of Westerville, Ohio uses internally developed applications to process medical claims and provide telephone-based support to our customers. They have beta-tested Oracle SQL Developer to streamline their development cycle. "Currently we are using Oracle Enterprise Manager and two third-party development tools to manage the database and PL/SQL code development," said Floyd Absher, database administrator, Progressive Medical, Inc. "We have started using Oracle SQL Developer as a means to help condense our management and development applications, in hopes of providing a single interface that is useful to both the DBA and the developers."

Availability and Pricing

The production version of Oracle SQL Developer is available today for download from the Oracle Technology Network at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/sql/index.html.

Available for Linux, Macintosh and Windows platforms, Oracle SQL Developer is free of charge and is supported for any customers with an Oracle Database license. Oracle also offers a free online forum for registered users to discuss topics related to Oracle SQL Developer. The forum is hosted and monitored by Oracle Database tools experts.

For more information on Oracle SQL Developer, go to:

http:///www.oracle.com/technology/sql-developer