Difference between SQL and PLSQL : Advantage & Data Types

Today’s topic is “Difference between SQL and PLSQl,” and we are going to list the most basic, simple, and easy points of differences between the two terms. If you are a coder, then you must have some knowledge of either of the terms. In case you do not have any knowledge, this article is for you.

So, before we can actually understand the difference between SQL and PLSQL, on a very basic level, we must get ourselves familiarised with the terms SQL and PLSQL. After understanding them one by one, we shall gradually move on to the point of differences between them.

Also read: 12 Best differences between RDBMS and DBMS

Contents

SQL – Meaning

The first thing one needs to know is the full form. So, in this case, the full form of SQL is Structured Query Language. Basically, SQL is a standard database language. If we put it in simple words, SQL is used mainly for storing the vast amount of data.

There are certain databases from where SQL finds its use, owing to the fact that data is stored, maintained, and retrieved from them. Those databases are called relational databases. Some of these databases can be listed as:

MYSQL
SQL server
OraclePostgrese

Now, the next question coming to your mind must be, what is a relational database?

Well, Relational databases are capable of storing data which have some relation. For example, if some institute wants to store its student’s data admitted each year, they use a relational database like MYSQL.

Features of SQL – Structured Query Language

Some of the most common and well-known features of SQL or Structured Query Language is the ones discussed below:

SQL is case insensitive language. This means the upper case and the lower case letters are not treated differently. In general, most individuals suggest using capital letters for writing SQL
SQL commands are written using the double hyphen (-) at the beginning of the lines
As mentioned before, SQL is a language for relational databases.

Functions of SQL

Having understood SQL’s features, let us now explore what all things SQL is capable of doing. Those are:

Execute queries against a database.
Insert records in a database.
Update records in a database.
Delete records from a database.
Retrieve data from a database.
Create new databases.
Create tables for a database.
Set various kinds of permissions in a database.

SQL commands – some common ones

Although we will not be going into depths with SQL’s programming part, as a beginner, it is important and very much essential to be accustomed to some basic commands used in SQL. Here is the list of them:

SELECT -> This command is used to access data from the database.
DELETE -> This command is used to delete data from the database.
UPDATE -> This command is used to update the data in the database.
CREATE DATABASE -> This command is used to create a new database.
ALTER DATABASE -> This command is used to make modifications to the database.
INSERT INTO -> This command is used to insert new data into the database.
CREATE INDEX -> This command is used to create a search key or index.
DROP INDEX -> This command is used to delete an index
CREATE TABLE -> This command is used to create a new table in the database.
DROP TABLE -> This command is used to delete a table in the database.
ALTER TABLE -> This command is used for the modification of a table in the database.

If you are thinking of getting into SQL then it is very important for you to know these commands as well as their usage and significance.

Importance of SQL

Above all this explanation, one must ask why SQL? Like, why at all we need SQL. To answer this question, we shall now be discussing the importance of SQL.

SQL is a very basic and easy way for anyone to understand the data manipulation in a database. It allows the programmers as well the users to understand the working of the database, including fetching data, updating or deleting it, in a way more simple manner.

Having known these, we can now move on with the discussion before we understand the difference between SQL and PLSQL.

PLSQL – meaning

As we have started the topic on the difference between SQL and PLSQL, we have first started to understand the two terms. Till now, we have understood SQL, some features, its function, and finally we learned about some basic commands we may need to start learning it.

Before we jump to the difference between SQL and PLSQL, which is our actual topic, we must know to understand PLSQL in detail and gradually go to the main topic of interest.

So, the next question is, what is PLSQL?

PLSQL is basically the Procedural Language of SQL. Simply, it a combination of Procedural language with Structured Query Language. So, the features of procedural programming have been added to SQL resulting in what we now call PLSQL.

PLSQL was developed in the 90s by Oracle corporation in an attempt to modify and increase the existing abilities as well as strengths of Structured Query Language or SQL.

This was quite successful as PLSQL provides all the previous basic of SQL as well as some added advanced concepts to the programmers and users. Basically, it is a block-structured language because it comprises many blocks.

PLSQL, as being developed by Oracle Corporation, has been integrated with database Oracle to deliver the best and provide convenience to its users.

Features of PLSQL

Earlier, we have studied the features of SQL. Now, we will see the difference between SQL and PLSQL on the basis of the features provided.

So, the features of PLSQL are as follows:

Being a procedural language, it provides most of the facilities of programming like – iteration and decision making and many more such related features.
It also provides the feature of exception handling.
It provides portability.
Error checking is an added facility by PLSQL.
Using a single command, PLSQL is capable of executing any number of queries.

It seems to us that PLSQL has many added features of procedural programming. So, PLSQL is a bit more helpful to programmers because of these added features.

Structure of PLSQL

Till now, we have been talking that PLSQL is a block-structured language. Consequently, many of you must be wanting to know how it looks like or what is the structure of the block in PLSQL. So, is looks like:

DECLARE

<declaration statements>;

BEGIN

<executable statements>

EXCEPTIONS

<exception handling statements>

END;

So, the above is the structure of PLSQL in a general way. The various blocks are present for various kinds of statements related to the blocks.

Data types in PLSQL

This is another point of difference between SQL and PLSQL.

Since PLSQL is having aspects of programming, therefore, it is important to know the data types that are available in PLSQL. A list of the data types would be as the following:

Scalar data types – Scalar data types are single values data types. They do not have any internal components.
Composite data types – Composite data types are those that have internal components like a collection.
Reference data types – Reference data types are those that point to other data.
Large object data types (LOB) – These are the pointers to the objects (particularly the larger ones) like graphics.

We will only look at the scalar and composite data types in detail in this article.

Scalar data types

Scalar data types are the data types that store a single value. It means at a time; they will have only a single value stored. Thus, they do not have any internal components. Some of the subtypes in this data type are:

Numeric – These are responsible for storing numerical values for performing various arithmetic functions.
Boolean – Boolean data types generally deal with logical values such as true or false. They are used for conditional functions.
Character – These data types stores the characters like ‘a,’ ‘b’ and so on or may store a string (collection of characters).

Composite data types

Composite data types are the ones that store more than one value at a time. It means they maintain a collection. These data types are known to have internal components that may be accessed individually.

The subtypes under these data types are:

Record
Nested table
An associative array (index-by table)
Varray

We shall not be going into the details of each data type.

Units in PLSQL

There are several units present in PLSQL. We need to have some foundational knowledge about this. The units are:

PLSQL blocks
Function
Package
Body of the Package
Procedure
Trigger
Type
Body of the Type

Advantages of PLSQL

Since we have found that PLSQL is an improvement on existing SQL, therefore, what are its advantages, right?

So, here are the advantages of PLSQL:

It helps a lot in reducing the network traffic.
It deals properly with error and provides error handling efficiently.
It supports a procedural programming approach.
It provides very secure access to data.
It is quite a user friendly.
It is independence of the Operating System and hence portable.

That was all about the advantages and the discussion on SQL and PLSQl. Now let us come back to our main topic, which is the difference between SQL and PLSQL. So, having gained some basic knowledge about both SQL and PLSQL, we are now all set to explore and point out the difference between SQL and PLSQL.

Difference between SQL and PLSQL

As we started the discussion with the difference between SQL and PLSQl, we gradually moved on to know about SQL and PLSQL in detail, their importance, their features, some basic commands, data types, and many more things.

Let us understand how exactly SQL and PLSQL are different from each other or the difference between SQL and PLSQL.

SQL:

SQL is Structured Query Language.
It provides a single query to perform operations.
It stores and manipulates data for databases like – MYSQL, Oracle, PostGre, etc.
It executes in single-line statements.
It mainly finds use in the manipulation of data.
It cannot have PLSQL codes.
It does not have a procedural programming approach.

PLSQL:

PLSQL is a Procedural Language extension of SQL.
It provides a block in which a number of queries can be there.
It was developed mainly in integration with the Oracle database.
It requires a block structure for execution.
It mainly finds application in application development.
It supports PLSQL codes.
It has a procedural programming approach.

Here, we have pointed out the difference between SQL and PLSQL in the form of a list. For convenience, the tabular form difference between SQL and PLSQL is given as below:

SQLPLSQLSQL is Structured Query Language.PLSQL is a procedural Language extension of SQL. It provides a single query to perform operations. It provides a block in which a number of queries can be there. It stores and manipulates data for databases like – MYSQL, Oracle, PostGre, etc. It was developed mainly in integration with the Oracle database. It executes in single-line statements. It requires a block structure for execution. It mainly finds use in the manipulation of data. It mainly finds application in application development. It cannot have PLSQL codes. It supports PLSQL codes. It does not have a procedural programming approach. It has a procedural programming approach.

These were some very basic points of difference between SQL and PLSQL. The difference between SQL and PLSQL is not limited to the ones mentioned above.

Now, as we have mentioned in the topic – “difference between SQL and PLSQL – 4 simple and easy points”, we are now going to find out some very simple points from the above-mentioned difference between SQL and PLSQL. These points of difference between SQL and PLSQL would help you a lot as they are very easy to remember.

The 4 simple and easy difference between SQL and PLSQL is as follows:

The first point of difference between SQL and PLSQL is in full form. SQL is Structured Query language, while PLSQL is the procedural language extension of SQL.
The second point is the database. SQL can be used for – MYSQL, Oracle, PostGre, while PLSQL was mainly for Oracle database.
The third difference between SQL and PLSQL is that the latter supports procedural programming while the former does not.
The last difference is in the structure.

Hence, these are the basic difference between SQL and PLSQL. These points of difference between SQL and PLSQL are very easy to remember and are very basic ones. So, hopefully, it would not be an issue.

Also, watch SQL Vs. PLSQL

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say to some extent, PLSQL is much more useful and advantageous than SQL, as shown by the difference between PLSQL and SQL.

Difference between SQL and PLSQL – 4 simple and easy points