What a year for Oracle SQL. Looking back at what we’ve covered in 2025, Oracle 23ai represents one of the most significant leaps in Oracle’s SQL language in a decade. Here’s the condensed highlight reel.
Developer ergonomics (finally addressed): IF [NOT] EXISTS for DDL, GROUP BY ALL, SELECT without FROM, EXCEPT/EXCEPT ALL, table aliases in DML, the ALIAS clause, and multirow VALUES syntax. These aren’t flashy features — they’re things developers have wanted for years, implemented at last.
Data model modernization: SQL Domains, the Boolean data type, Annotations, and enhanced JSON functions (JSON_TRANSFORM, JSON_MERGEPATCH, JSON Schema validation). Oracle’s data model is now closer to a modern standard than at any point in its history.
AI integration: The VECTOR data type and AI Vector Search are the most strategically significant additions. Combined with Select AI (natural language to SQL) and the integration with LLM providers via DBMS_CLOUD_AI, Oracle has made a credible bid to be the primary data store for AI workloads.
Graph and streaming: SQL/PGQ property graphs and GRAPH_TABLE bring graph analytics into the SQL layer. Kafka-compatible APIs for Transactional Event Queues connect Oracle to the streaming ecosystem.
Concurrency and performance: Lock-Free Reservations, Priority Transactions, True Cache, and Memoptimized Rowstore enhancements address real scalability pain points at the architecture level.
Security: SQL Firewall is a meaningful addition to Oracle’s security stack — kernel-level, transparent, and zero-code-change for applications.
If you’re on Oracle 19c or 21c and haven’t evaluated 23ai yet, 2026 is the year to start that assessment. The feature set justifies the upgrade conversation.
