Still Using OLD SQL Developer - Concerns about Direction / Quality

Question

I've been an avid user and supporter of SQL Developer for a little over a year now; prior to that I was a Quest TOAD advocate and had been for about 10 years. I use the tool every day, primarily for object browse and PL/SQL development and debugging. I'm a DBA so I don't do a lot of development, but I really like the functionality offered in SQL Developer and find that it's a great supplement to my SQL*Plus command-line scripts. However, I'm still using v1.0.0.15.57 and don't feel like I have much incentive to update. Each time a new release comes out I get hopeful and check out the release notes, but it always seems that there are more problems introduced than bugs fixed. I have been a vocal advocate of the tool here, working to replace aging products like TOAD and SQL Navigator and singing the praises of a community-developed product like SQL Dev, but my fervor is starting to falter a bit. What's happening to the QC on this product? Seems to me that the focus has shifted from offering a compact, high-performance tool for Oracle developers and administrators in favor of a more feature-rich but less stable product. I'd like to know what others out there think about this. Am I just missing the boat?

Answer 1

I just love how the community, through the SQL Developer Exchange, influences on the direction to take.
In general, I don't have any objections on which new features get implemented when. Although some basic functionality is still lacking, like file-based development. If you support a feature, support it fully, or it will explode in your face.
Really, the only dreadful mistake in the product is the incredibly poor Quality Assurance.
I can't believe these guys work for the so well known reliable Oracle.
The framework is a present from the JDeveloper team, so they should be able to focus 100% on database functionality, but as you discovered every new release introduces at least 2 new bugs for every bug fixed, plus the regression of previous fixed bugs!
Sporting a free product is no excuse for screwing up.
Second mistake is let the majority of bugs reported through this forum slip by. They've got us as they're most valuable QA, but often just say: "log a bug through Metalink", or just don't respond to the reported issue.
There are several unrecoverable crashes, which really are showstoppers (issues which should be fixed before releasing), but release after release just don't get fixed, not even acknowledged. I understand some reports get buried inside threads that really have a different subject, but I've even tried putting in bold: "Unrecoverable crash:" in a new post's title, but without getting any response.
If I can follow the posts in this forum, working for another company, surely the team can do so also, especially when it's their job for which they get paid!
Let's just hope the next release meets the promises of improving the stability and fixing flawed features.
Regards,
K.