OCILIB

I recently had the pleasure of using OCILIB, an open-source library written in C that allows access to Oracle Databases. This impressive project encapsulates OCI (Oracle Call Interface), which is a powerful but complex API. Luckily, OCILIB is built on top of OCI, which cleverly hides its complexity and provides a simpler, more readable and reusable API.

One of the standout features of OCILIB is that it is completely free (open source - LGPL) and its source code is platform independent. Best of all, it offers up to 150 simple and straightforward APIs.

Installation of OCILIB is straightforward; simply untar the archive and follow the steps below:

$ cd ocilib-x.y.z
$ ./configure
$ ./make
$ ./make install

Note that you may need to use the `su` command to perform the installation. Additionally, it's essential that both the Oracle library path and the ocilib library path are defined in your shared library variable (LB_LIBRARY_PATH, etc.).

In summary, I highly recommend OCILIB for anyone looking for a powerful, yet straightforward library to access Oracle Databases. Its simplicity, flexibility, and comprehensive API make it a real must-have.