DECLARE
  CURSOR c_emp_to_be_raised(p_sal emp.sal%TYPE) IS 
    SELECT * FROM emp WHERE  sal < p_sal;
BEGIN
  FOR cRowEmp IN c_emp_to_be_raised(1000) LOOP
    dbms_Output.Put_Line(cRowEmp .eName ||' ' ||cRowEmp.sal||'... should be raised ;)');
  END LOOP;
END;
/

BEGIN
  FOR x IN (SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal < 100) LOOP
    dbms_Output.Put_Line(x.eName ||' '||x.sal||'... should REALLY be raised :D');
  END LOOP;
END;
/

• First advantage is there is no tedious declaration to do (think of this horrible "CURSOR" thing you had in previous versions)
• second advantage is you first build your select query, then when you have what you want, you immediately can access the fields of your query (x.<myfield>) in your PL/SQL loop
• The loop opens the cursor and fetches one record at a time for every loop. At the end of the loop the cursor is closed.
• Implicit cursors are faster because the interpreter's work grows as the code gets longer. The less code the less work the interpreter has to do.

SYS_REFCURSOR can be used as a return type when you need to easily handle a list returned not from a table, but more specifically from a function:

function returning a cursor

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION list_of (required_type_in IN VARCHAR2)
   RETURN SYS_REFCURSOR
IS
   v_ SYS_REFCURSOR;
BEGIN
   CASE required_type_in
      WHEN 'CATS'
      THEN
         OPEN v_ FOR
           SELECT nickname FROM (
                select 'minou' nickname from dual
      union all select 'minâ'           from dual
      union all select 'minon'          from dual         
           );
      WHEN 'DOGS'
      THEN
         OPEN v_ FOR
              SELECT dog_call FROM (
                select 'bill'   dog_call from dual
      union all select 'nestor'          from dual
      union all select 'raoul'           from dual         
           );
   END CASE;
   -- Whit this use, you must not close the cursor.
   RETURN v_;
END list_of;
/

and how to use it:

DECLARE
   v_names   SYS_REFCURSOR;
   v_        VARCHAR2 (32767);
BEGIN
   v_names := list_of('CATS');
   LOOP
      FETCH v_names INTO v_;
      EXIT WHEN v_names%NOTFOUND;
      DBMS_OUTPUT.put_line(v_);
   END LOOP;
   -- here you close it
   CLOSE v_names;
END;
/

• Declare the cursor to scan a list of records
• Open it
• Fetch current record into variables (this increments position)
• Use %notfound to detect end of list
• Don't forget to close the cursor to limit resources consumption in current context

--

DECLARE
  CURSOR curCols IS -- select column name and type from a given table
         SELECT column_name, data_type FROM all_tab_columns where table_name='MY_TABLE';
  v_tab_column all_tab_columns.column_name%TYPE;
  v_data_type all_tab_columns.data_type%TYPE;
  v_ INTEGER := 1;
BEGIN
  OPEN curCols;
  LOOP
     FETCH curCols INTO v_tab_column, v_data_type;
     IF curCols%notfound OR v_ > 2000 THEN
       EXIT;
     END IF;
     dbms_output.put_line(v_||':Column '||v_tab_column||' is of '|| v_data_type||' Type.');
     v_:= v_ + 1;
  END LOOP;

  -- Close in any case
  IF curCols%ISOPEN THEN  
     CLOSE curCols;
  END IF;
END;
/