Question

Does SQL Developer have enough features to support the daily jobs for an Oracle DBA?
Compared to TOAD, what is missing ?

Answer 1

SQL developer can do the job for a developer but still has it’s share of quirks.

• I found that the connection screen would not display if the file path it is installed in contains a space. (Windows XP, SQL Developer Version 3.1.07).
• I had it installed for someone to do data updates and they got the “Data committed in another session”. This bug has been around since version 1 and is easily resolved by fiddling with the settings but it’s unfortunate to see in what should be a mature product.

It also lacks some of the tools DBA’s use to maintain the health such as:

• tablespace visualizer
• extent management
• pinning code (if you still need to do that)

I like the Toad option to compare database schemas or find an object that is named or contains a text string.

You can’t beat a free tool, and one that is constantly being added to. Toad benefits from many more years of development.

Edit: it can analyze indexes and copy a table. thanks @Phil!