Oracle automatically notices when applications send similar SQL statements to the database. The SQL area used to process the first occurrence of the statement is shared—that is, used for processing subsequent occurrences of that same statement. Therefore, only one shared SQL area exists for a unique statement. Because shared SQL areas are shared memory areas, any Oracle process can use a shared SQL area. The sharing of SQL areas reduces memory use on the database server, thereby increasing system throughput.In evaluating whether statements are similar or identical, Oracle considers SQL statements issued directly by users and applications as well as recursive SQL statements issued internally by a DDL statement.