Application development improvements include new features
and enhancements that simplify database application development, improve
application portability, and ease application deployment.
RENAME COLUMN clause has been added to the ALTER TABLE statement
The RENAME COLUMN clause is a new option on the ALTER TABLE statement.
You can now rename an existing column in a base table to a new name without
losing stored data or affecting any privileges or label-based access control
(LBAC) policies that are associated with the table.
REPLACE added as an option on several CREATE statements
The OR REPLACE clause is a new option on the CREATE statement for
several objects, including aliases, functions, modules, nicknames, procedures
(including federated procedures), sequences, triggers, variables, and views.
The object is replaced if it already exists; otherwise, it is created. This
enhancement significantly reduces the effort required to change a database
schema.