Living in the fast lane with Toad.
May 09, 2021
Living in the fast lane with Toad.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Toad for Oracle
Toad is not a free product. Therefore, where I work, only the "real" Oracle developers get a license, while the rest can use the free SQL Developer. Which is a great product that can do anything you want or need. The fact that the Oracle developers get to use Toad does not mean that the company I work for has money to spare... it means it has some real added value where the company is willing to pay for. Toad is a real powertool that is used by Oracle developers as well as DBA's.
- Tools, tools, tools... for a developer this is a dream product. You feel as if you're in a airplane cockpit where the whole database is at your full control.
- Quick links or shortcuts are particularly handy, write down a table name and shortcut directly to the definition. Same goes for packages and stored procedures.
- If you know your way around, development goes really fast. One reason for this is the endless ways in which you can add screens and windows.
- The power and control it gives is at the same time kind of a negative thing. There's too many options available, even when you don't need them. For simple database operations it's sometimes easier to just use SQL Developer since navigation is way more intuitive and easy.
- Related with the above: there is a steep learning curve. However, since this is the main tool for any Oracle developer, this is not that much of a problem.
- If I remember well, Toad used to be free, some 20 years ago. Or at least had a free version. It would be nice to have a free version. The dedicated Oracle developers and DBA's won't use the free version, but all the rest of us developers might use it instead of SQL Developer. It would make communications between everybody somewhat easier.
- Oracle developers can't do without Toad. Watching an Oracle developer going around in Toad is like watching Liszt playing piano. It's fast and virtuose. Which is the reason that the company kept toad, instead of going for free alternatives.
- Somewhat negative is the fact that any other than Oracle developer needs to do work in Oracle from time to time. Since there iOS no free version of Toad, they work in a different environment (SQL Developer). This sometimes leads to communication mismatch, when a non-Oracle developer asks a Oracle developer for advice, and they can't answer the question because they use different tools.
- A weird positive fact: Toad makes Oracle developers happy. It's the same thing with C# developers being happy through Visual Studio. I guess it makes them feel like they're flying the most advanced airplane in the world. Asking an Oracle developer to do something for you, makes them go big smile, if only for the simple reason that they're given a reason to open Toad.
SQL Developer is perfect for non-Oracle developers. It's lean and powerful. Except that Toad is even more powerful. Especially navigating through package definitions, packages body's, schema's and scripts is as if you're driving a Porsche in the fast lane with Toad, whereas SQL Developer is more like driving an old bike. This makes developing in SQL Developer a lot slower.
Do you think Toad Database Developer Tools delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Toad Database Developer Tools's feature set?
Yes
Did Toad Database Developer Tools live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Toad Database Developer Tools go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Toad Database Developer Tools again?
Yes