title: Is ODAC must for C# Oracle Database connectivity using ODP.net
body: <p>I am new to Databases and .net!</p>
  
  <p>I have SQL developer 3.0 installed through which I can connect to the Oracle 11g Database server.</p>
  
  <p>The requirement is to write a C# program to connect to the oracle database and run query; in my visual studio 2013 project I have added a reference to Oracle.DataAccess.Client and written the code, however while debugging an error occurs that says "Ora-12541:TNS:No-Listener".</p>
  
  <p>My question for now is, Do I need to install an Oracle client (64-bit ODAC 11.2 Release 6 (11.2.0.4.0) Xcopy for Windows x64 ?), my assumption was SQL developer will take care of this!</p>
  
  <p>Please help!</p>