Oracle 1Z0-146: Raising the Bar for PL/SQL Developers

Published February 27, 2013

By Matthew Morris

If you are familiar with advanced PL/SQL development concepts and want to make the jump from OCA to OCP certification, this is the exam for you.

1Z0-146: Oracle Database 11g: Advanced PL/SQL is the last of three exams required to become an Oracle Advanced PL/SQL Developer Certified Professional. This is currently the highest level of certification offered by Oracle in the PL/SQL development track and is intended for developers who are currently an Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Associate. Unlike many of the OCP certifications, there is no instructor-led training requirement for the PL/SQL developer tracks.

There is a second option on the development track for Oracle PL/SQL Developer Certified Associates that want to become OCP-certified.  Candidates who pass the exam 1Z0-141: Oracle Forms: Build Internet Applications will become an Oracle Forms Developer Certified Professional. It is also possible to obtain the Advanced PL/SQL and Forms OCPs by passing both tests, of course.

Anyone pursuing this exam should already have passed one of two PL/SQL fundamentals exams: 1Z0-144 or 1Z0-147.  These tests deal with basic concepts that ought to be a given for any developer. As the name suggests, the 1Z0-146 exam covers PL/SQL topics well advanced over those contained in either of the two lower-level exams. The Advanced PL/SQL exam includes topics in the following areas:

• PL/SQL code design
• Collections
• Interfacing with C and Java
• Virtual Private Database
• Working with LOBs
• Performance and Tuning
• Analyzing and Tracing Code
• SQL Injection

A fair amount of the subject matter in this exam is in areas that even PL/SQL developers with years of experience may never have used. That means preparing for 1Z0-146 can potentially improve the skills and knowledge even of veteran coders. In addition, many of the topics require experience coding real-world PL/SQL applications to make their value obvious.  A candidate new to PL/SQL might well wonder how a particular capability could ever prove useful.  An experienced developer reading about the same capability might see it as exactly what they need for a project they are currently working on.