An application programming interface (API) that enables you to create applications that use the native procedures or function calls of a third-generation language to access an Oracle database server and control all phases of SQL statement execution. OCI supports the datatypes, calling conventions, syntax, and semantics of a number of third-generation languages including C, C++, COBOL and FORTRAN.
An application programming interface that enables you to manipulate data and schemas in an Oracle database. You compile and link an Oracle Call Interface program in the same way that you compile and link a non-database application. There is no need for a separate preprocessing or precompilation step.
The Oracle Call Interface (OCI) is a set of low-level APIs (Application programming interface calls) used to interact with Oracle databases. OCI programs are normally written in C or C++, although they can be written in almost any programming language.