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Oracle Application Express (Oracle APEX) is Oracle's primary tool for developing Web applications with SQL and PL/SQL. Using only a web browser, you can develop and deploy professional Web-based applications for desktops and mobile devices. It is a fully supported, no cost option of the Oracle Database, and is installed by default in all editions of the Oracle Database. Even those without SQL and PL/SQL knowledge, can still easily install the many built-in packaged applications, such as Survey Builder, Customer Tracker, and P-Track (for tracking projects).
Oracle Application Express is a database-centric development tool which can be used to build a vast array of applications. Within minutes, you can easily convert a spreadsheet to a multi-user, Web-based application. On the other end of the spectrum, you can build very large, complex, multi-lingual applications, such as the Oracle Store. Application Express runs within the Oracle Database which allows your applications to scale to meet your largest user communities. Developing hardened applications is simplified by the security features, such as session-state protection, authentication and authorization schemes, so you can concentrate on meeting business objectives
Oracle Application Express—APEX for short, or by its former name HTML DB – is a declarative, Web-based RAD (Rapid Application development) tool. It is used to develop native Web-based, data centric applications
APEX, in all its previous forms, was always designed to operate in the Web environment. The final product of the APEX Application Builder is HTML code that can be run directly on any Web browser that supports the HTML4.0 and above standard. APEX Application Builder also incorporates special features into generated applications, as a direct result of operating in the Web environment. Further on, we will discuss APEX architecture and its main features, but for now we will mention session state and Optimistic Locking, as distinguished Web environment features which help us overcome the stateless nature of this environment.
The APEX Application Builder fully supports CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript, as integrated components of APEX applications. That includes built-in CSS files as part of a wider page layout and format mechanism, which we'll address later in the book, and a JavaScript library. The JavaScript library also includes, among a variety of general and APEX related functions, an AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) framework. This allows even novice developers to utilize this advanced technology, and produce high quality applications, compatible with the latest trends in the market like Web2.0, etc.
APEX was designed to produce applications that store, retrieve, manipulate, and display data, from Oracle Databases. This means that if your application's main logic doesn't revolve around data manipulation, it may be that APEX is not your optimal application development tool. However, if data manipulation is at the heart of your application, APEX could be your best bet.
APEX is actually a collection of PL/SQL packages, which "live" inside the Oracle database. It means that APEX automatically inherits all the outstanding features, often mentioned with regards to the Oracle database environment: high performance, robustness, reliability, enhanced security, scalability, and more. In addition, APEX can natively utilize the very rich SQL and PL/SQL environment, including the built-in packages that the Oracle database has to offer, and use them
to manipulate the data in the optimal ways a RDBMS can offer.
Moreover, APEX can utilize special functionality features that are included in
the various database versions and editions, like Oracle XML DB, Oracle Text,
and Oracle Multimedia.
Another advantage in this context is that, like the client side which relies on Web browsers to gain hardware independence, (alongside operating system independence), the APEX engine relies on the database platform for the same purpose. As long as we have a proper running version of an Oracle database, starting with Oracle database9.2.0.3 and above (including the free version, Oracle XE), we can ignore the hardware and operating systems aspects of the server
APEX provides us with a full development environment, allowing us to develop, test, and deploy our applications. APEX includes three modules: Application Builder, SQL Workshop, and Utilities.
"Arie Geller
Matthew Lyon"
