Oracle 21C New Features?

 Oracle 21c New Features    

I just finished migrating to Oracle 19c.  It was a lot of work.

Now I find out that Oracle 21c is out?  Please click on the preceding link for detailed documentation on what's new in 21c.

My first thought (and maybe yours), is: "What's 21c got that I ain't got?".  My second thought is that these major releases are coming way too fast!  

At first glance, this appears to be true.  In fact, the length of time between Oracle 11g and Oracle 12c release dates was six years!  The clear and logical explanation for this is that Oracle has moved to a yearly release cycle.  What is less obvious is that what Oracle is calling new "versions" more or less correspond to what used to be called "patchsets".  For example, Oracle 11g was originally identified as version 11.1.0.6 in 2007.  By 2013, subversion identifiers were added as patchsets leading up to the terminal release of 11.2.0.4.  In between, these patchsets came out with new features (often announced at Oracle Openworld) every September.  

All of this was documented with the "shocking!" release of Oracle 18c, and the move to a yearly release cycle.  While it was explained as a logical, well-thought out change,  I couldn't help but recall someone explaining that Larry Ellison was an admitted triskaidekaphobic with a fear of the number 13.  Keep in mind that the newly modified release designations also identify the significance of the version.  For example, Oracle 20c is called an innovation release.  So is 21c.  So no compelling reason to upgrade to them.   If some feature(s) are of interest, you can download and evaluate them.  I cannot identify a single one that is a must have.  For more technical details on what significant changes are in 21c, I invite you to review Oracle VP William Hardie's excellent blog post on the subject.  

While there is no specific technical detail in this post, I hope you will find it enjoyable from a historical point of view.  I invite you to click on the imbedded links to get the technical scoop.  This blog was written to help myself (and others) find detailed information about Oracle releases corresponding to versions, as I am often asked to support or upgrade an older version.  We might need to know if a feature is/was available for a given release.  

This is my first blog post in a while.  I hope to do many more in the near future!