What is Oracle?

Oracle is a term that can refer to different things, depending on the context. In this article, we will explore the following meanings of Oracle:

• Oracle Database: A popular relational database management system (RDBMS) developed by Oracle Corporation.
• Oracle Corporation: A global software company that produces and sells various products and services, including Oracle Database, cloud computing, enterprise applications, and hardware systems.
• Oracle (religion): A form of divination or prophecy that involves communicating with a divine or supernatural source, often through a priest or priestess at a sacred site.
• Oracle (mythology): A person or thing that has the ability to reveal the future or provide guidance with authority and infallibility.

Oracle Database

Oracle Database is one of the most widely used RDBMS in the world, especially for online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing (DW), and mixed (OLTP & DW) database workloads. It supports various data models, such as relational, object-relational, XML, spatial, graph, and JSON. It also offers features such as scalability, performance, availability, security, backup and recovery, and data integration.

Oracle Database was first released in 1979 by Software Development Laboratories (SDL), a company founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates. The name Oracle comes from the code-name of a CIA-funded project that Ellison had worked on while employed by Ampex¹

Oracle Database has different product editions, each with different features and licensing options. The current stable version is Oracle Database 23c, which stands for “Cloud”. The previous versions used suffixes such as “g” for “Grid” and “i” for “Internet”¹

Some of the notable features of Oracle Database 23c are:

• JSON Relational Duality: A feature that allows storing and querying JSON data as relational tables or columns, without losing the flexibility and schemalessness of JSON¹
• Transactional Microservices Support: A feature that enables developers to build scalable and resilient applications using microservices architecture and distributed transactions¹
• OKafka: A feature that integrates Oracle Database with Apache Kafka, a popular platform for streaming data processing¹
• Operational Property Graphs: A feature that allows storing and analyzing graph data in Oracle Database, using SQL or PGQL (Property Graph Query Language)¹
• SQL Firewall: A feature that protects Oracle Database from SQL injection attacks by validating SQL statements against a predefined set of rules¹
• True Cache: A feature that enhances the performance of Oracle Database by caching frequently accessed data in memory¹
• Readable Per-PDB Standby: A feature that allows creating read-only copies of pluggable databases (PDBs) in a multitenant container database (CDB) for high availability and disaster recovery purposes¹

Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation is a multinational software company that develops and markets various products and services related to database management, cloud computing, enterprise applications, and hardware systems. It is headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, USA. It has more than 400,000 customers and over 135,000 employees worldwide²

Oracle Corporation was founded in 1977 by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates as Software Development Laboratories (SDL). It changed its name to Relational Software Inc. (RSI) in 1979, and then to Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982. It became Oracle Corporation in 1995²

Some of the products and services offered by Oracle Corporation are:

• Oracle Cloud: A comprehensive suite of cloud services that includes infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), data as a service (DaaS), and artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS)²
• Oracle Applications: A portfolio of enterprise applications that covers various business functions and industries, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human capital management (HCM), supply chain management (SCM), financial services, retail, healthcare, and education²
• Oracle Hardware Systems: A range of hardware products that are optimized for running Oracle software and cloud services, such as servers, storage devices, engineered systems, networking devices, and operating systems²
• Oracle Support Services: A set of services that provide technical assistance, updates, patches, security alerts, and best practices for Oracle customers and partners²

Oracle (religion)

An oracle is a form of divination or prophecy that involves communicating with a divine or supernatural source, often through a priest or priestess at a sacred site. Oracles were widely practiced in ancient cultures, such as Greece, Rome, Egypt, India, China, and Mesoamerica³

An oracle can also refer to the seat of prophecy itself, such as a temple, shrine, or altar where the oracle is consulted. Oracles were usually associated with specific gods or goddesses, who were believed to reveal their will or knowledge through various methods, such as dreams, visions, signs, omens, or trance-like states³

Some of the famous oracles in history are:

• Oracle of Delphi: The most renowned oracle in ancient Greece, dedicated to the god Apollo. The oracle was delivered by a priestess called Pythia, who entered a state of ecstasy and uttered cryptic or ambiguous messages that were interpreted by priests. The oracle was consulted by kings, generals, philosophers, and ordinary people on matters of war, politics, religion, and personal affairs⁴
• Oracle of Amun: The most influential oracle in ancient Egypt, devoted to the god Amun. The oracle was located at the temple complex of Karnak, where a statue of Amun was carried on a sacred boat and moved around the temple grounds. The movements of the statue were interpreted as answers to the questions posed by the petitioners. The oracle was consulted by pharaohs, nobles, and foreign rulers on issues of statecraft, diplomacy, and warfare⁵
• Oracle Bones: The earliest known form of oracle in ancient China, dating back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE). The oracle bones were animal bones or turtle shells that were inscribed with questions and then heated until they cracked. The cracks were read as answers by diviners who served the king and the royal court. The oracle bones were used to seek guidance on matters of agriculture, weather, warfare, rituals, and ancestors.

Oracle (mythology)

An oracle is a person or thing that has the ability to reveal the future or provide guidance with authority and infallibility. In mythology and folklore, oracles are often depicted as wise or powerful beings who possess supernatural knowledge or insight. They can be human or non-human, such as gods, angels, demons, spirits, animals, plants, or objects.

Some of the examples of oracles in mythology are:

• Cassandra: A princess of Troy who was gifted with the power of prophecy by Apollo, but also cursed by him to never be believed. She foresaw the fall of Troy and warned her people, but they ignored her. She was captured by the Greeks after the Trojan War and killed by Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra.
• Merlin: A legendary wizard who served as an advisor and mentor to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in British mythology. He was born from a mortal woman and a demon father, and had the gift of foresight and magic. He helped Arthur to obtain the sword Excalibur and to establish Camelot. He was eventually trapped by his lover Vivien in an enchanted forest.
• Nostradamus: A French astrologer and physician who is famous for his prophecies that allegedly predicted many historical events, such as the rise of Napoleon and Hitler, the French Revolution, the World Wars, and the 9/11 attacks. He wrote his prophecies in quatrains (four-line verses) that were obscure and cryptic, making them open to various interpretations.

Conclusion

Oracle is a word that can have different meanings depending on the context. It can refer to:

• Oracle Database: A popular relational database management system developed by Oracle Corporation.
• Oracle Corporation: A global software company that produces and sells various products and services related to database management, cloud computing, enterprise applications, and hardware systems.
• Oracle (religion): A form of divination or prophecy that involves communicating with a divine or supernatural source, often through a priest or priestess at a sacred site.
• Oracle (mythology): A person or thing that has the ability to reveal the future or provide guidance with authority and infallibility.