Introduction

PL/SQL Developer is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing stored program units in an Oracle Database. Using PL/SQL Developer you can conveniently create the server-part of your client/server applications.
As a worst-case scenario, up to now you might have been working like this:

· You use a text editor to write program units (procedures, triggers, etc.).

· You use Oracle SQL*Plus to compile the source files.

· If there is a compilation error, you have to find out where it is located in the source file, correct it, switch back to SQL*Plus to recompile it, only to find the next error.

· You use SQL*Plus or the client-part of your application to test the program unit.

· In case of a runtime error, again you have a hard time locating the cause of the problem and correcting it.

· You use the Explain Plan utility or tkprof to optimize your SQL statements.

· To view or modify other objects and data in your database, you use SQL*Plus or yet another tool.

These tasks - editing, compiling, correcting, testing, debugging, optimizing and querying - can all be performed without leaving PL/SQL Developer's IDE. Furthermore, PL/SQL Developer provides several other tools that can be helpful during everyday PL/SQL development.
Editing

PL/SQL Developer, like any other serious development environment, assumes that you store your source files on disk. Other tools just let you edit sources in the database, but this does not allow for any version control or deployment scheme. The source files can be run through SQL*Plus, so you can deploy them on any platform without using PL/SQL Developer. You can edit many files at once through a standard multiple document interface.
The editor offers a wide range of assistance to the programmer. There is context sensitive help on SQL statements and PL/SQL statements. We've all been there: you start typing substr, but have forgotten the exact meaning of the parameters. Now you can simply hit F1 and you're taken to the appropriate topic in the SQL Reference Manual. Tables, views and program units can be described for you in a roll-up window from within the editor in the same way. A Code Assistant is integrated into the editor that automatically displays information of database objects as you type their name, allowing you to browse and pick elements from this description. For large package or type bodies, the program editor provides a tree view with the code contents for easy navigation, provides browse back and forward buttons, and provides hyperlink navigation. The Query Builder allows you to graphically create select statements. PL/SQL Developer’s extensible templates make it easy to insert standard SQL and PL/SQL code into your programs. Al editors use the appropriate SQL, PL/SQL and SQL*Plus syntax highlighting to make your code more readable.

From PL/SQL Developer Help