The main reason why server-side stuff is slow is poor use of the database. Doing e.g. nested loops in a compiled language uses way less CPU than a scripting language, but it should be done in the DB in the first place.
- type BOOLEAN is (FALSE, TRUE);
- type VARCHAR2 is NEW CHAR_BASE;
- generic collections
- varargs
Unfortunately, they are only available for the PL/SQL team itself.