Anonymous PL/SQL Block

Definition :

The PL/SQL block that has no name is called Anonymous PL/SQL Block.

Structure :

Since the Anonymous Blocks have no names , therefore the header section is completely missing. They only consist of two sections :

• Declaration Section
• Exception Section

Internal Working of Anonymous Blocks:

Firstly the user writes the source code i.e. the Anonymous block in this case and triggers it . The end user act as the client  ( e.g. SQL* Plus session ).

After it is triggered , SQL *Plus sends the entire code to the Server through the network.

Once it reaches the server , the SQL engine performs the following 3 process :

Parsing – The PL /SQL  Parser checks the code for syntactical errors and also whether the associated objects exists and are accessible.

Compilation – The PL/SQL Compiler next compiles the code , Once compilation is complete , the code then enters the Execution phase.

Problems with Anonymous Blocks :

Traffic – Jam over the Client – Server Network / Speed Slowness :

As mentioned above that in Anonymous block , the entire code from client travels over the network to reach the server , hence this creates a traffic jam on the network which causes slowness of speed.

Performance Issue :

Moreover when these multiple lines of codes from multiple clients reaches the sever , parsing and compilation process happens for thousands of lines of code which causes performance issue.