What is the purpose of the REF Operator in Oracle?

The REF operator in Oracle is used to create a reference to an object or a row in a table. It returns a REF value that can be used to reference a specific row or object in a table or view. The purpose of the REF operator is to provide a way to navigate between related objects or rows in different tables, without requiring the use of complex join operations. This can simplify the process of accessing related data in a database and can make it easier to work with complex data structures.
For example, if you have a table that contains a foreign key reference to another table, you can use the REF operator to create a reference to a specific row in the related table. You can then use this reference to access the related data without having to perform a join operation. Overall, the REF operator can be useful for managing complex data relationships and for improving the performance of database queries by reducing the need for complex join operations.

For nested tables and varrays declared within PL/SQL, the element type of the table or varray can be any PL/SQL data type except REF CURSOR.

Like a cursor, a cursor variable points to the current row in the result set of a multiple-row query. A cursor variable is more flexible because it is not tied to a specific query. You can open a cursor variable for any query that returns the right set of columns. You pass a cursor variable as a parameter to local and stored subprograms. Opening the cursor variable in one subprogram, and processing it in a different subprogram, helps to centralize data retrieval. This technique is also useful for multi-language applications, where a PL/SQL subprogram might return a result set to a subprogram written in a different language, such as Java or Visual Basic.
Cursor variables are available to every PL/SQL client. For example, you can declare a cursor variable in a PL/SQL host environment such as an OCI or Pro*C program, then pass it as an input host variable (bind variable) to PL/SQL. Application development tools such as Oracle Forms, which have a PL/SQL engine, can use cursor variables entirely on the client side. Or, you can pass cursor variables back and forth between a client and the database server through remote subprogram calls