Steven provides a roundup of nine aspects of error management in PL/SQL that all developers should know. Each is "backed up" by a video and LiveSQL script.

Even if you write absolutely perfect PL/SQL programs, it is possible and even likely that something will go wrong and an error will occur when those programs are run. How your code responds to and deals with that error often spells the difference between a successful application and one that creates all sorts of problems for users as well as developers. This article explores the world of error management in PL/SQL: the different types of exceptions you may encounter; when, why, and how exceptions are raised; how to define your own exceptions; how you can handle exceptions when they occur; and how you can report information about problems back to your users.

Experienced programmers assume that trouble will be knocking on their doors. So they build into the software, right from the start, the ability to gather lots of information when an error occurs, as well as the ability to “flip a switch” in their production application and obtain live tracing data so they can see what users and their applications are doing.