I'm Dumping TOAD, Helloooo Oracle SQL Developer!

It's already come around, out of nowhere the price of flowers and greeting cards increases ten fold and that special one starts leaving hints all around the house. Yes, Valentines day, loves is in the air although with a very fake and commercial smell to it. In keeping with the love theme I have decided to announce my separation from TOAD, I have found somebody new, a young new model, little ruff around the edges but with loads of possibilities and the best of all she's much cheaper (Not that kind of cheap...).

I have been looking to move over from TOAD to Oracle's SQL Developer (OSD) since it's initial incarnation as Raptor, but have always found some key feature missing from the product. Recently I have decided to attempt the crossover again, removing TOAD from easy desktop access and focusing on doing all work previously handled by TOAD through OSD. At the start I had to make frequent trips back to TOAD, unable to find certain functions and tools or just getting frustrated with the unfamiliar interface. But as I started using OSD more and more I discovered those familiar TOAD tools in there OSD disguise, and began to appreciate the added functionality provided by OSD. It's not been easy and at first getting the preferences right for your preferred setup may be a little tricky, but once familiar with the new interface and the location of those favourite tools and functions you'll forget about that first love pretty soon.

My Top tips for migrating from TOAD to Oracle SQL Developer

1. Intentionally or not, Oracle has placed allot of the functions and tools used in TOAD in the same navigation path in OSD, so if your stuck just remember how you accessed it in TOAD and 9 out of 10 you should have the same functionality available.
   
2. Save code for later use, highlight the code and right click, select Save Snippet. They can later be retrieved by using menu option View-> Snippets
3. Search database objects using menu option View -> Find DB Objects

Please feel free to contribute any tips you might have for making the transition a little easier, happy Valentines day.