>When reading about Oracle I notice that 'oracle database' and 'oracle instance' are used interchangable.
>Is this correct?. Do they mean the samething?
>
>Thanks,
>Sergio

Kind of. An Oracle instance is analogous to an instance of VFP running in Windows. You can launch multiple instances of Oracle [though not recommended] just as you can VFP by [double-]clicking the VFP icon.

You can have an instance of Oracle loaded without mounting [opening] the database, but you can not open the database without starting an Oracle instance. This is analogous to you can launch an instance of VFP without opening a DBC, but you can not open a DBC without launching an instance of [runtime] VFP.