Chapter 34: Further Reading

IBM Official Documentation

  • DB2 SQL PL Reference — IBM Knowledge Center: "SQL Procedural Languages: Application Enablement and Support." The definitive reference for SQL PL syntax, including compound statements, handlers, cursors, and dynamic SQL.
  • LUW: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/db2/11.5?topic=procedures-sql

  • z/OS: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/db2-for-zos

  • DB2 Application Programming and SQL Guide — Covers external stored procedures in Java, C, and COBOL, including parameter styles, JVM configuration, and WLM setup for z/OS.

  • DB2 SQL Reference — CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE FUNCTION, CREATE TYPE statements with full syntax diagrams and examples.

Books

  • Pawlicki, Paul and others. "DB2 SQL PL: Essential Guide for DB2 UDB on Linux, UNIX, Windows, i5/OS, and z/OS." IBM Press. The most comprehensive book on SQL PL programming, covering advanced patterns, performance optimization, and real-world examples.

  • Janacek, Paul. "Advanced DB2 Programming Techniques." Covers external stored procedures, including Java and COBOL integration patterns, WLM configuration, and debugging strategies.

  • Mullins, Craig S. "DB2 Developer's Guide." IBM Press. Broad coverage of DB2 application development including stored procedures, UDFs, triggers, and application design patterns.

IBM Redbooks

  • SG24-6503: "Developing SQL and External Routines" — Step-by-step guide for creating SQL and external stored procedures and functions on DB2 for z/OS, with production-ready patterns.

  • SG24-7083: "DB2 9 for z/OS Stored Procedures: Through the CALL and Beyond" — Comprehensive guide to z/OS stored procedures including WLM configuration, debugging, and performance tuning.

  • SG24-8077: "DB2 11 for z/OS Technical Overview" — Covers SQL PL enhancements in DB2 11, including array support, new handler capabilities, and performance improvements.

Articles and Tutorials

  • "SQL PL Best Practices for DB2" — IBM developerWorks article covering coding standards, error handling patterns, and performance considerations for SQL PL development.

  • "User-Defined Functions: A Performance Guide" — Analysis of UDF overhead, when to use DETERMINISTIC vs. NOT DETERMINISTIC, and the performance impact of UDFs in WHERE clauses.

  • "Testing Database Logic: Patterns for Stored Procedure Testing" — Article on building test frameworks for stored procedures, including savepoint-based test isolation and automated regression testing.

Tools

  • IBM Data Studio — Free IDE for DB2 development that includes a visual stored procedure debugger, SQL PL editor with syntax highlighting, and deployment tools. Essential for serious SQL PL development.

  • DBeaver — Open-source database tool that supports DB2 stored procedure editing and execution. Lacks the debugging capabilities of Data Studio but provides a lighter-weight alternative.

  • dbForge Studio for DB2 — Commercial IDE with advanced debugging, code generation, and testing features for DB2 stored procedures.

  • Chapter 12: Transactions and Concurrency — Understanding transaction isolation, locking, and deadlock prevention is essential for writing correct stored procedures. The deadlock prevention pattern used in PROC_TRANSFER_FUNDS originates here.

  • Chapter 22: Query Optimization — UDFs interact with the DB2 optimizer in important ways. Understanding access paths helps you write UDFs that do not defeat index access.

  • Chapter 33: Application Programming with JDBC, ODBC, and Embedded SQL — Client-side code that calls the stored procedures and functions developed in this chapter.

  • Chapter 35: RESTful APIs and Modern Access Patterns — Exposes the stored procedures built in this chapter through REST APIs, GraphQL, and event streaming.