EnterpriseDB: Enterprise Compatibility Oracle Tips by Burleson Consulting

The goal of EnterpriseDB is to provide Oracle compatibility and give their, and your, customers more choices.  EnterpriseDB does this by providing Oracle SQL syntax and PL/SQL compatibility via the EnterpriseDB Superset Procedural Language (SPL).

An application that cannot compile due to the use of DECODE, SYSDATE, a REF CURSOR or other Oracle specific syntax would not be very compatible.  Later chapters of this book provide highly detailed descriptions of where EnterpriseDB is compatible and where it differs with Oracle.  I provide workarounds in some cases.

Almost as important as SQL and PL/SQL compatibility, is Oracle Call Interface (OCI) compatibility.  There are many applications currently written in C and C++ that connect to Oracle and perform operations.  EnterpriseDB is currently working to provide OCI support.

While providing compatibility with Oracle, EnterpriseDB also maintains compatibility with PostgreSQL and the ANSI SQL standards.  By maintaining this kind of compatibility, EnterpriseDB protects your investment in skills while opening up new avenues for your software.

EnterpriseDB can run on Windows, Linux, and Solaris.  By providing this kind of platform support, you get to choose how and where you take advantage of EnterpriseDB.

Providing syntax compatibility is important but it is not the only criteria to measure compatibility.  Your database must be able to support all of your critical functions to truly be portable.

If your application requires data replication, EnterpriseDB provides this in the Replication Server.  Replication in EnterpriseDB is currently master-multi-slave but multi-master is coming.  EnterpriseDB also supports replication with Oracle as a master site.

For larger databases, EnterpriseDB via PostgreSQL provides table partitioning and bitmap scans.  While the implementation of these features vary from the implementation in Oracle, the resulting functionality and performance improvements are the same.

EnterpriseDB also provides, again via PostgreSQL, user and role-based security that Oracle practitioners are familiar with.  Current best practices in Oracle development are to provide as little access as possible and never give grants directly to a user. 
 

This is an excerpt from the book "EnterpriseDB: The Definitive Reference" by Rampant TechPress.