By Swathi Ambati, HEXstream data solutions engineer 

“We’re now building a lot of our applications in APEX. And our productivity gains are, again, a factor of 10. And we build the applications in one tenth the time, or one tenth the amount of people, or at one tenth the cost. But these are not typical low-code applications. These are applications that can scale to millions of users and all over the world.”  Larry Ellison, Oracle founder and CTO 

If you’ve heard of Oracle APEX but aren’t quite sure what it is, what it does, or how and where you can use it, you're in the right place. This article will provide clear, straightforward answers to all your questions. 

The ultimate low-code platform for web applications 

Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a low-code development platform that enables users to build scalable, secure and data-driven web applications using only a web browser. APEX is fully integrated with the Oracle database and enables both developers and business users to create applications with minimal coding, making it an ideal solution for rapid application development. 

Key features of Oracle APEX 

• Seamless integration with the Oracle database. 

• Native Oracle database support—APEX runs directly in the Oracle database and ensures high performance. 

• SQL, PL/SQL and REST API support—developers can easily access and manipulate data. 

• Automatic data synchronization and JSON support—facilitates real-time updates and seamless integration with external sources. 

Enterprise-class security 

Robust authentication and authorization controls—supports various authentication methods, including Single Sign-On (SSO) and OAuth 2.0. 

Integrated protection against SQL Injection & Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)—ensures secure application development without additional configurations. 

Comprehensive auditing and session management—helps monitor and track application activity. 

Performance 

Optimized for high performance—runs natively within the Oracle database and eliminates the need for middleware. 

Handles thousands of concurrent users—ideal for high-volume enterprise applications. 

Supports cloud and on-premises deployment—easily deploy applications in the Oracle Cloud or in an on-premises environment. 

How does Oracle APEX work? 

Oracle APEX follows a simple three-tier architecture that ensures efficient and fast application execution: 

• Web browser: Users interact with the APEX application through a browser. 

• Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS): ORDS acts as a bridge and forwards requests from the browser to the Oracle database. 

• Oracle database: The entire business logic, data-processing and rendering takes place in the database. The response is then sent back to the browser. 

This architecture offers latency-free data access and ensures maximum performance and scalability for APEX applications. 

Common use cases for Oracle APEX 

APEX is used across industries to create modern, data-driven applications. Here are some of the most common use cases: 

• Business applications: Internal tools, HR portals and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) applications. 

• Data reports and dashboards: Easy creation of interactive reports and real-time analytics. 

• Workflow automation: Automate business processes with APEX processes and dynamic actions. Modernizes legacy systems by converting outdated Excel spreadsheets, forms and reports into web-based applications. 

• Publicly accessible applications: Develops self-service portals for customers, vendors and suppliers. 

• Cloud and hybrid deployments: Deploys applications in the Oracle Cloud, on-premises or in hybrid environments. 

Quick demo: Create an APEX application in minutes! Oracle APEX makes application development incredibly fast. With just one simple data set you can upload data, define relationships and configure UI components in minutes. Take a look:

This is a quick and efficient way to create an app from a .csv file. Not only does it generate the app, but it also creates the necessary database table to store the data. I downloaded a dataset from Data.gov, and within minutes, I had a comprehensive overview of elevator and escalator outages across all NYC stations over the years, along with a detailed report featuring advanced search and filtering options. 

Want to see a step-by-step tutorial on how to create an APEX application? Stay tuned for the next article, where we explore the power of APEX + AI! And click here to connect with us about a Proof of Concept (PoC) tailored to your requirements using Oracle APEX!