Creating a PL/SQL Block-1 The interactions in this eCourse require Javascript to be enabled.   Creating a PL/SQL Block: Part 1 previous|next The basic construct in PL/SQL is a block. A block consists of a set of SQL and/or PL/SQL statements, joined together and passed to the Oracle engine all in one go. A PL/SQL Block consists of three sections: Declarative (optional): This section begins with the keyword DECLARE and ends when your executable section starts. Executable (required): This section begins with the keyword BEGIN and ends with END. The keyword END should end with a semicolon. Exception handling (optional): The exception section is nested in the executable section. This section begins with the keyword EXCEPTION. Section Description Declarative(DECLARE) Contains declarations of all variables, constants, cursors, and user-defined exceptions that are referenced in the executable and exception sections Executable(BEGIN...END) Contains SQL statements to retrieve data from the database and PL/SQL statements to manipulate data in the block Exception(EXCEPTION) Specifies the actions to perform when errors and abnormal conditions arise in the executable section