About
A soft parse is any SQL parse that is not a hard parse.
If the submitted statement is the same as a reusable SQL statement in the shared pool, then Oracle Database reuses the existing code. This reuse of code is also called a library cache hit.
Soft parses can vary in the amount of work they perform. For example, configuring the session shared SQL area can sometimes reduce the amount of latching in the soft parses, making them “softer.”
In general, a soft parse is preferable to a hard parse because the database skips:
- the optimization
steps, proceeding straight to execution.