Gianluca Sartori (7/26/2010)
A minor note on the Oracle thing: it used to be completely rule-based, but now it's entirely cost-based. Starting from version 10g the rule-based optimizer is no longer available.
Thanks for the update on Oracle, Gianluca. It HAS been a while since I've had to work with it at such a level.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.