Instant Client in Oracle 10g

June 29, 2004

Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to install the full Oracle client software just to get connectivity to an Oracle instance? Well, it is now reality with Oracle's new Instant Client software offering.

Oracle Instant Client

If we wanted to go the java route and name the typical Oracle Client installation as a "Fat-Client," the Oracle Instant Client would be called the "Thin-Client." Oracle's Instant Client is a small set of software and libraries that allow you to develop and deploy your applications without having to install Oracle's Fat-Client. Taking the name and putting a few definitions around it clarifies everything:

The good news here is, even though Oracle has given us a very small footprint in this connection mechanism, we do not lose any of the features associated with the connection mechanism or the underlying database instance. If you compared Oracle's full client release against the new Instant Client you would typically find the following.

Client Comparison