Introduction to pattern matching (match_recognize). Finding patterns in your data

In every data oriented application questions about the data need to be answered and for that we have SQL.But as the questions being asked get more sophisticated answering them gets more difficult.Not really because the questions are absurd, but because we struggle letting the SQL engine know what exactly it is we are looking for.We've had analytic functions for quite a while now to answer those questions about data in relation to other data in the same result setBut even then a lot of data questions lead to very complex queries or even to an escape into PLSQL.No more, because we now have pattern matching, or "the match_recognize" clause.But, I hear you say, match_recognize is complex too.Well, yes and no. It's mainly complex because it's different than anything you're used to.But if you take a little time to get a feeling for the concepts of the feature it isn't more complex than many SQL features you already master.This session will take you by the hand and lead you through the first daunting steps of pattern matching.After this you should have that feeling of what it is, how it works and what kind of problems you can solve with it, so you can start playing with it and soon be comfortable using it in your work.