I just picked up my copy of Effective Oracle by Design to check some facts. It just took a few moments for it to remind me how much I enjoy and learn from Tom Kyte's work.

Why do we love Tom? I have a theory on this! It comes down to two factors:

• Substance. In an industry overwhelmed by candyfloss powerpoints, its refreshing to read someone who lives in the details, yet manages to retain sparkling clarity. It's apple pie for the technically oriented: database administrators, developers, and perhaps even a few architects(!).
• Uncompromising rigour. Never one to let an assumption go unchallenged or untested. If there was an IT version of MythBusters, he would be your Jamie to Dvorak's Adam (or vice versa if you like). Highly opinionated, his opinions are (annoyingly) based on hard facts. Sometimes you just want to jump on the keyboard and hack away to try and prove him wrong ... But that's good! He's got you thinking.