Oracle SQL Developer Reviews

We use it daily to merge our databases. In my function, I use it as my client database.

I am also using a newer version. It is small client, which is new product. We use the GUI product daily. This is my daily tool for whatever I am doing. 

• It is very easy to use. 
• I have a lot of flexibility with it. 
• For DBA tasks, it is also very good.

It is easy to use. 

The newer version has a lot of new features. It generates output and scripts for your Ultrix. It can generate JSON, XML, etc. 

The competing products have more features. 

It is stable. There are no problems. It is a client.

It is just client. It does not really matter. It is scalable, especially the newer version is non-GUI version. You do not have to install it, just dump it on the OS, then use it.

There is no setup. It is just set it up and you connect the database.

It is basically free. 

Try this if you do not need a lot of storage, especially since it is free and if it is the newer version with no GUI version. Everybody should try it because you do not have to code things to create output from JSON or DDL. It allows you to get everything you want together: tables, indexes, etc.

Among the most valuable features is the automated unit test capability for PL/SQL development. It allows us to implement a form of test driven development (TDD) for database-resident code.

We can switch between heterogeneous databases.

After installing a MySQL driver, for example, we can work with these row stores. It also supports Oracle Cloud legacy schema-as-a-service connections and the newer DBaaS connections.

I am not aware of any areas for improvement at the moment.

We have been using the solution for eight years.

We did not encounter any issues with deployment.

There are occasional runtime issues that are easily worked around, especially on a Windows deployment. However, these have never been impediments and the installation is regularly updated with patches and fixes.

We did not encounter any issues with scalability.

This is a self-service offering so customer service is not relevant.

I cannot comment with regard to the technical support.

We did not use a previous solution.

The setup was very simple, using only point-and-click as long as your workstation meets the runtime JDK prerequisite.

Not applicable.

I cannot comment on the ROI.

It's a no-cost license and it offers outstanding functionality on that basis.

For data architects, it offers the advantage of being part of the same tool set as the cost-free license for Oracle Data Modeler. Together, they form a nice tool kit for data architects as well as database developers and other specializations.

I've actually been using a similar tool for probably 17 years, but we switched over about four years ago to SQL Developer. A lot of these features I had used previously but there are advantages to SQL Developer. I guess just cleaning the database, looking at the information about your objects and the database, doing data manipulation. That's what I use it most for. DBAs would use it a little differently, maybe, but for me, as more of a developer or business analyst, it's pretty simple, just kind of your gateway to the database.

The biggest thing is really the cost savings as opposed to using a competitor project or competitor application to SQL Developer. The competitors cost significantly more.

Since Oracle SQL Developer is free, we no longer incurred the cost of the previous tool. There was also benefit to our organization in that the SQL Developer community is very active and growing, so there is a lot of resources available to us.

There are a lot of options and I think, as with any tool, making finding those options the easiest would be something that that this tool could work on. Sometimes it kind of takes a while to go through and remember where different options are. I've seen as we've gone through different versions of the tool, they're continuing to get better at that.

There's always going to be streamlining, and one thing they could improve is the installation. Even though it installs easy, there is a lot of Java behind the tool. It seems like some of the Java is more memory-intensive. Sometimes I feel like the Java side of the tool kind of gets in the way.

I think I’ve been using it since 2012.

A consultant that started working with us knew part of the product team personally. I first got introduced to Jeff Smith, Chris Rice and others on the product team via Twitter. If you follow them and interact with them on Twitter, there's a lot of resources. Jeff Smith has a blog, where he has a lot of SQL Developer tutorials. Sometimes, I ask questions on those channels, and there's a Facebook page. I've searched a lot on the forums and they also have something called SQL Developer Exchange for requesting enhancements.

There's a variety of ways that I've reached out. I feel like it's a very active community, so a lot of SQL Developer users are willing to help each other. A lot of times, I start with the social media side.

There's really nothing that I think is lacking. I've been very active and very vocal. That's probably one reason why they reached out to me to get a better view. Sometimes I have worked through, "Hey, why does it work like this? Can this be changed?" There have been things that the product team has changed because of some of the feedback that I or my team has given, so we've had a really good experience working with them.

The decision to switch to SQL Developer was basically about the cost. We were using Toad, those products. I had been using it for 13 years or something. I had gotten so used to it, pretty much everybody liked it and we were productive with that tool.

When we started investigating SQL Developer, it was given to us kind of as a challenge: Is there anything that Toad did that is imperative to your job that SQL Developer does not do? We couldn't find anything. There were some differences to get used to, different shortcut keys and so on. Just like switching from a PC to a Mac, you get used to it and there's really nothing that it can't do. It's a great way to save a lot of money.

I was involved in the deployment. The harder part for us has been putting these on a shared terminal server which is not always what Oracle recommends. Sometimes, when working on those shared servers, there are certain versions of the Oracle client that are needed for different versions of SQL Developer. Sometimes we've had to take that extra step to upgrade the Oracle client, but overall it's a simple install. Most of our problems have been from, again, a shared environment perspective.

We looked at a few other products and there have been different consultants that have come into the company that might use SQL Workbench or PL SQL Developer, but I think in general most of us are just sticking with SQL Developer. I haven't done a full analysis, because there just hasn't been a need. There's not really been anything that, to me, has felt lacking.

Right now I am using SQL Developer to install a database, and I use it as a client tool.

Oracle is tremendous. I have always said to everybody, without knowing other databases, that Oracle is the best database that can exist in this world. That's for sure. Everybody is considering cost, mainly, so I've heard many stories recently of migrating to PostgreSQL, for example, because it's open-source and many small customers don't need all the super advanced features of Oracle, which costs a lot of money.

But on the other side, a great feature of Oracle, I think, is that it allows me to download the database and use it at home. Not a demo database or something restricted but the full version. That's fantastic.

I tried using SQL Developer once, when I was still working as an employee, using one of the older versions. It worked nicely, and I liked that I didn't need an installation, it was very convenient. But after many years, when I tried to use it again, against the more advanced Oracle Database, it did not work. Something in the Java was not compatible. I would have had to install it again, and I didn't do so. 

But now I am properly studying the issue of installing a database of my own, versus installing a virtual box with an Oracle appliance inside. I will have to see which one works best for me because each one has pros and cons. I am not a DBA. So if I get involved in an installation problem, I don't know how to get out of it.

Personally, I always prefer to use a product from Oracle. First of all, this one is free. And second, it is not so complicated. In another company, for example, the strategic development tool was Toad. And they have even joined Toad with a version manager, the specific version manager, and everybody had to work with Toad. I did not like Toad. So I occasionally worked with SQL Developer, but mostly I worked without any development tool, just writing in an editor, in Notepad. So I developed my entire career, practically, in Notepad.

I think it's a good product in the sense that it does not overwhelm you with many features. So I would give it a 10 out of 10.

I would recommend it.

It's a free tool which allows you to see an Oracle Database structure and run queries against Oracle Databases.

• It's a free tool
• Ability to analyze performance, using Explain Plan statement
• Ability to export and import data without using any Oracle utilities

It would be nice to have the ability to access DBs than Oracle.

No stability issues.

No scalability issues.

Very good.

I have used tools such as Toad, PL/SQL Developer, SQL Navigator. I switched because this one is free.

Initial set-up was straightforward. Just download the solution from Oracle OTN and after that run the installer.

It’s a free tool.

Toad, SAP ADS, SQL Navigator.

It’s a great tool for accessing and exploring Oracle Databases.

It is the easiest and quickest way to see the data in the system.

It's quick and rapid.

You get to the point and you can choose what you want to do. It gives you a complete picture of the database.

It should be more Mac friendly.

It is simple.

It is scalable. Although, we don't use it to get large data, still it is scalable.

The technical support provided was always good.

Since it is a Java based, it is more compatible with Mac.

I think it was an easy process.

Cisco is an Oracle shop. So, we have more product support than anyone else, which gives a lot of comfort to move it over.

It's an independent platform. You can use it anywhere.

It's good, scalable and a lot of times, it works as-is. We have very few calls to support. It is Mac compatible team, and it is Java based.

I noticed that many of the small features are the biggest time-savers like:

• ‘Copy Selected Column Header(s)’ in the data grid
• Persistent highlighting of rows or cells in the data grid
• Search-and-replace with its smart options
• History (of statements and files)
• Splitting windows and document groups, pinning

Personally, being a nosey person, I love the Statements-Log Window, which shows every command SQL Developer sends to the database.

I have used it for three years.

Deployment was the easiest I ever encountered:

1. Unzip
2. Optional: find ide.conf, set the language to ‘en’
3. Optional: change NLS settings
4. Ready

Version 4.1.3 64-bit is very stable.

I had some problems with an older version freezing several times a week, but that was about two years ago and has hardly ever happened since.

Technical support is excellent. There’s the fast track via Twitter, but most of the time, I found the answer on Jeff Smith’s blog or Oracle Tech Net (OTN) before making a fool of myself by asking. Jeff has solved many of my problems “by unsent messages”. ;-)

You get very fast support on OTN or Twitter.

In different projects, I used to use TOAD and PL/SQL Developer.
One of my customers decided he didn’t want to spend any money on tools, so SQL Developer was my choice... I guess I have to be grateful :)

Initial setup was very easy, see above.

I tried Raptor ages ago (and didn’t like it at all), but now I am a converted SQL Developer enthusiast.

Read Jeff Smith’s blog. If you think a feature should be there, investigate. Quite likely, it’s already there; maybe you just overlooked it. If it’s not, open a feature request at sqldeveloper.oracle.com. Learn a handful of shortcuts (or two), it will improve your efficiency enormously.

I use the product, and the many aspects of it, because it covers everything from querying a database to monitoring to making a conceptual model to getting the model from the database and producing diagrams. It has many uses.

If you make it the tool you use, everyone can talk the same "language" in terms of the tool and the use cases. Once you know it, how to use it, you can tell the whole organization how a given task will be done.

You can install it on every platform. It just works. The other thing is that it's free. And Oracle is committed to the development of the tool, so it has been improving.

There is room for improvement in the Real Time SQL Monitoring.

It's more stable sometimes and less stable other times. I have used it on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's variable, it's not the same stability. I think that can be improved on.

It can be used by many because it's mainly a client-server.

When I have had a problem I have gone to blogs or developers' sites for answers. I have not submitted a formal case to Oracle Support.

Developer is centered on Oracle. I have the need now to monitor a much larger diversity of things. We are talking about monitoring cloud infrastructure where you have machines, where you have many other things, apart from the development. Also, SQL Developer is backed by Oracle, it's free, and it accomplishes what we need to be done.

My most important criteria when selecting a vendor are, first, the vendor's reputation, and then the feedback I see from other users.

It's very simple to set up.

It's free.

In terms of advice, I would first ask you what you are expecting from the tool and, if it is in the scope of Oracle SQL Developer, I would recommend it.

I rate this solution at nine out of 10. It accomplishes what I expect. It's a nine and not a 10 because, it needs better real-time monitoring of development.