If you're going to be attending this year's OpenWorld, be sure to check out the hands-on sessions they'll have to how to develop web applications with the powerful database as a backend.

The labs pack a lot into their respective slots, and I think you'll be very happy with them. The first lab is an introduction to PHP and the OCI8 extension. This is a new and improved version of the lab we ran last year. The second lab is a brand new course. It looks at more of the technologies used to build PHP Web apps - connection pooling, AJAX, debugging and frameworks.

These labs are happening on Sunday the 21st, the first day of the conference, so you'll need be sure to make plans to make it over there to catch them.