This is Part 1 of a series of quick learning guides for Oracle designers, developers and managers. It introduces completely new entrants to the Oracle environment: Relational principles, history, background of Oracle, the products, database architecture, installation, Oracle and 3rd party database and design tools and includes a glossary of basic Oracle terms and explanations of their meaning.

These guides are designed to rapidly deliver key information about Oracle to the following audience groups:

- Project Managers, Team Leaders, Testers who are new to Oracle and need rapid access to strategic information about the Oracle development environment.

- Business Analysts, Designers, Developers who are new to Oracle and need to make first steps in gaining a detailed understanding of the design and development issues involved in Oracle.

Part 1 assumes that the reader has no knowledge of Oracle. The contents of Part 1 include the following:

1. Oracle - A Brief History.

2. Relational databases: An introduction.

3. How relational databases impact software development.

4. Basic descriptions of Oracle products.

5. The Oracle database architecture.

6. Tools: Oracle's own design / development tools.

7. Implementing Oracle DB and Oracle tools - Overview.

8. Various 3rd Party Tools: Quick review.

9. Glossary