Its syntax is similar to that of the DB2 load utility, but comes with more options. SQL*Loader supports various load formats, selective loading, and multi-table loads. Other benefits include:

• Streaming capability lets you receive data from a large group of clients without blocking
• Group records according to Oracle RAC shard affinity using native UCP
• Optimize CPU allocation while decoupling record processing from I/O
• Fastest insert method for the Oracle Database through Direct Path Insert, bypassing SQL and writing directly in the database files

Automatic Parallel Direct Path Load Using SQL*Loader

SQL*Loader enables direct data loading into the database shards for a high speed data ingest. SQL*Loader can load data faster and easier into Oracle Database with automatic parallelism and more efficient data storage.

In Oracle Database 23ai, SQL*Loader client can automatically start a parallel direct path load for data without dividing the data into separate files and starting multiple SQL*Loader clients. This feature prevents fragmentation into many small data extents. The data doesn't need to be resident on the database server. Cloud users can employ this feature to load data in parallel without having to move data on to the cloud system if there is sufficient network bandwidth.

See Oracle Database Utilities topics Automatic Parallel Load of Table Data with SQL*Loader and Sharded Automatic Parallel Loading Modes for SQL*Loader for more information.