Warehouse Builder and the use of PL/SQL

When I first began developing data warehouses, tools such as Oracle Warehouse Builder or Power Center where not (widely) used. Development took place in Oracle PL/SQL at the project I worked at.

Later on, projects I was part of used Oracle Warehouse Builder to build the data warehouses. Quite a progress this was: implementation went faster, mappings were more self explanatory then PL/SQL to IT and non-IT personnel alike and maintenance is easier, especially when transformations are either large or complex.

I’ve noticed lately that a percentage of OWB developers lack intimate knowledge of and experience with PL/SQL. In my opinion that’s a shame, as I’ve seen good use for it on each and every project I’ve worked on. The use of triggers and generic functions that can be used on multiple mappings (to provide a less error prone solution) are two examples that come to mind.

So for those who don’t have the experience with PL/SQL: why not give it a try? It broadens your horizon and gives you more options when developing.