Oracle Application Express (APEX) Reviews

With APEX, I developed a web portal for an insurance company. With this portal, every agency can look at its customer's personal data, their claims, policies, coverage, and collections.

I am using this solution and I am developing software for my customers.

For three years, we have done the same application with more than 10 people.

With APEX, we can reduce our costs by reducing the size of our teams.

Before APEX, we were using Oracle Forms. This required larger teams.

With small teams of four to six, with a maximum of 10 people, you can build every kind of product.

APEX will also benefit enterprise companies.

Developing in a web environment is very easy with just one browser. With a username and password, I can develop this product very easily. With this product, it is very easy to develop. Many sample applications have been created by Apex in the Applications Gallery.

You can built multilingual applications, each user can interact the application with their own depending localization parameter.

Apex supports Restful Service in JSON format. It is very easy to create a web service for Apex Environment.

It's suitable for team development.

It would be my dream to merge two products into one. Visual Builder and APEX should meld in one product. 

Each has different strengths. Visual Builder is very strong in Java, and you can build HTML applications very easily with low code. APEX is very important to have a direct connection to the Oracle database.

If these two products would meld into one in the future, it would be very nice. 

In the future of APEX, I would expect features more like Visual Builder. Also being able to use HTML codes directly. Visual Builder produces HTML codes and source codes.

APEX does not have source code, it runs from the database. We can export our objects, our source, and import them in different environments and different hardware, but it's not readable in HTML codes. 

I have been using this solution for three years.

We are using the latest version and will be upgrading to 20.2

It's a stable solution.

Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a scalable product.

We have four users in our organization.

We don't need direct support from Oracle. We are using Oracle Websites.

It's very easy to install and easy to deploy.

The first time, I spend six weeks, but now it can be done in a few hours.

We need only one person to maintain this solution.

We completed the implementation of it ourselves.

This is a built-in license with data.

When buying the data license, APEX is included.

Currently, I am doing some research on Visual Builder. I saw a demo.

It's an application that is ready for the cloud. You cannot use it on-premises or on your local machine. It's just for the cloud.

They have very nice features.

You can easily build your applications at a very low cost, and it is very powerful with JavaScript.

We are a consultancy firm for IT purposes, software. Especially, we are engaged in the insurance and banking finance sector. 

We have a very large and deep knowledge of accounting software. Our team is very experienced, senior developers, and business analysts.

We are migrating our Oracle Forms to APEX. In the future, we will continue to use APEX.

I would highly recommend this product to others who are interested in using it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The only feature which is useful is that it makes it easier to quickly create publicly accessible applications. We were using it to make these applications.  

We used it in addition to Forms and Report Services because Forms and Report Services at that time were client-server applications. It used to be an addition to the Oracle development environment.  

Right now I am working on two projects. One of them is using Oracle Forms and APEX.  

The valuable feature is the basic use case: it makes the process of creating publicly accessible applications easier.  

The first thing I can think of that needs to be improved with this product is that there is a problem with security. In all of the applications I saw, they stored the passwords in the configuration files. I think this is a big issue. The security module is supposed to be included in the APEX connection component, but people connect to the Oracle HTTP Server and the password goes to the HTTP server. It is using the HTTP server for the security part. We did some analysis and we figured out that we had to move to another product.  

Because security is not satisfactory, we created our own connection mechanism in ORDS. It was a better way to keep the passwords encrypted and to make access to the APEX applications a little bit more secure. But the way APEX causes applications to store the security information is a big issue and a security vulnerability. ORDS is pretty straightforward and Oracle WebLogic Server is very flexible and a very nice feature.  

Also, the Oracle application page is supposed to be able to cancel access to the application. From what we found, this is not done properly. The connection is hanging and sometimes different people who connect to the application use the same ID. This can seriously interfere with users who are already connected. These are both very bad security issues.  

There is also a disadvantage in that it is pretty hard to fix bugs in APEX. It is very tricky. Basically, the Oracle objects generate the HTML code and cast it to the HTTP server. You have to be very careful with the HTTP Syntax for the sake of compatibility. Some browsers accept the code that gets generated and some browsers not. It is very hard to debug these coding issues.  

We have been using Oracle Application Express (APEX) since 2015.  

Applications are usually accessible by thousands of users at a time without stability issues.  

You can use multiple servers and the scalability of APEX is really pretty good from an end-user standpoint.  

I do not think there is really much of a limitation on how many people can use the generated applications. This is one thing it is good at.  

I used to work with other Oracle products like Fusion Middleware, Forms, and Reports. Since 2016, I worked less with APEX because there are other solutions that I prefer. My experience with APEX is that it is a little limited right now. Because of that we actually moved most application development to ORDS (Oracle REST [Representational State Transfer] Data Services).  

ORDS is more efficient and easier to use. APEX is compatible with ORDS as well. The problem with APEX is mostly that I do not like to use different vendors for HTTP server and Oracle WebLogic Server. ORDS is supposed to be more of a native, all-in-one solution. So we try to use ORDS for development projects because Oracle HTTP Server is not supported anymore by Oracle and this is a problem for APEX security. You have to use a Tomcat server or something else with APEX.  

I worked with APEX to do the initial setup and I have never set up the environment fully on my own. It is complex enough that I do not think I would want to do it without their help.  

APEX is a pretty old application and a pretty old environment. Most people are usually trying to get rid of it rather than bringing it onboard. For anyone still considering it, I strongly suggest going to the cloud application because the general strategy of Oracle Corporation is to support applications on the cloud. There are multiple other solutions to consider from Oracle or other vendors as well.  

On a scale of one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I would rate Oracle Application Express depending on the task. For some tasks, it is just perfect. You can say it would be an eight or nine-out-of-ten for quickly creating an application that does not need strong security. But for some tasks, like when you try enhancing an application, the score is pretty low. In that case, I would give the product a three or a four.  

Our primary use is to develop secure applications for the Oracle Database. It is like an administrator for data processing functions.

This product allows us to manage our data processing using simple screens.

The most valuable feature is the ease of use.

The user interface is not complex.

Workflow capabilities should be added.

Better connection and integration with non-Oracle databases is needed.

I have been using Oracle APEX for the past four to five years.

We have not had a problem where it has crashed. However, it may be that our application is not complex enough.

We have approximately eight people using Oracle APEX. At this point, we are trying to reduce our usage.

I have not personally been in contact with technical support.

We did use another similar product before implementing APEX.

The initial setup is not very complex. Our deployment took four or five months.

A consultant assisted us with implementation and deployment.

We are currently in the process of migrating from APEX to Microsoft PowerApps.

My advice for anybody who is implementing APEX is to use the default parameters and do not do anything that is customized.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The most valuable feature is how fast you can do applications compared to other frameworks, like Java and PHP. It will take you three times longer to do what you can do in Apex. You don’t have to cut through a lot of layers to get to the data in your database with Apex.

From a cost perspective, you can use less resources to build applications. Time to market is another improvement, because you can make applications very quickly. We used to create a NBC project with another framework and write our own modules to access the data, but Apex gives you access to data in your database in a more straightforward way.

From a technical perspective, Apex is not yet well received from developers because they think it is not mature. From my experience, I think it is just like any other NBC framework that is out there. The approach is a little bit different, and it is a different part line, but you can still achieve the same stuff.

There are some improvements that could make Apex more robust as well, like integration with third party frameworks in order to have more components. They give you a stock of components that are enough to create a range of applications, but if you need more complex features or are creating something for end users or commercial users you have to build your own. However, being able to create your own features is another advantage.

I’ve never had to open a ticket. I’m familiar with web technologies so sometimes when I find an issue I just know how to resolve it myself, but the Oracle forums are very responsive and used by a large community of people. It is a strong environment, particularly because not everyone can submit a ticket since you need an account with access to the ticketing system in order to have Oracle look into an issue for you.

Apex is already installed in your database, so you kill a lot of steps in that. If Oracle Database is already installed, you pretty much just need to execute one line of code and you will be up and running. It is very straightforward.

If you are looking for performance and speed for your application, I would choose Apex. I would rate it a seven out of ten.

The most valuable feature is how fast you can do applications compared to other frameworks, like Java and PHP. It will take you three times longer to do what you can do in APEX. You don’t have to cut through a lot of layers to get to the data in your database with APEX.

From a cost perspective, you can use less resources to build applications. Time to market is another improvement, because you can make applications very quickly. We used to create a project with another framework and write our own modules to access the data, but APEX gives you access to data in your database in a more straightforward way.

From a technical perspective, APEX is not yet well received from developers because they think it is not mature. From my experience, I think it is just like any other framework that is out there. The approach is a little bit different, and it is a different part line, but you can still achieve the same stuff.

There are some improvements that could make APEX more robust as well, like integration with third party frameworks in order to have more components. They give you a stock of components that are enough to create a range of applications, but if you need more complex features or are creating something for end users or commercial users you have to build your own. However, being able to create your own features is another advantage.

I’ve never had to open a ticket. I’m familiar with web technologies so sometimes when I find an issue I just know how to resolve it myself, but the Oracle forums are very responsive and used by a large community of people. It is a strong environment, particularly because not everyone can submit a ticket since you need an account with access to the ticketing system in order to have Oracle look into an issue for you.

APEX is already installed in your database, so you kill a lot of steps in that. If Oracle Database is already installed, you pretty much just need to execute one line of code and you will be up and running. It is very straightforward.

If you are looking for performance and speed for your application, I would choose APEX. I would rate it a seven out of ten.

The APEX database is based on a SaaS service. We use a distributor based in Malaysia for that. We integrate this with other Oracle technologies. To use Oracle Apex, you require a licence. We rely on our distributors for the service, and then we advise our end users and support them. Our clients invest in Oracle technology for their application platform. Still, the devil is in the detail with the contract, explaining how the new technology enhances their solution.

It is risky to move to a new staging instance or new solution, which may cause an issue. In Malaysia, we don't need to take any risks. It is a mostly new architecture. Our clients are mainly in government. 

Our clients use this solution continuously. It has a well-designed architecture and is a simple 3rd party application. Our clients really like the new version. It does not need to be maintained very often. 

It has been reported that the technology is tough to learn, and the service is expensive. The online supporting documentation could be better and offered in other languages, as Malaysian does not seem to be covered. Oracle could improve server and data migration from the cloud. This is achieved easier via a hybrid version. Sometimes we perform migrations and have to roll them back, as there are unforeseen issues.

We have been using APEX since 2020. It's a cloud service, with a cloud structure.

Oracle is stable, as it is a data container, and it includes advanced framework development.

We have considered Azure Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Google GCP and Microsoft Azure. Oracle has value in that they have related products. We have been looking at products to standardise, and hence is why we chose Oracle as a uniform solution.

The implementation for clients is the responsibility of the distributor or reseller. The consultants must go directly to the users to understand their requirements. Implementation is usually carried out on-premise.

Pricing is expensive overall on an enterprise system, but we consider that it gives corresponding value to the product. It becomes more expensive when more products are added to the main product. The Apex element itself is free to use, so it's useful for learning individually.

I would rate Apex 10 out of 10.

Apex is part of your database. Everything, program logic included, is happening directly where data is, so it's fast, it's centralized and it's easy to use. It's declarative.

Apex can help you centralize many things. You can replace spreadsheets that are being sent back and forth with Apex, for example. It increases efficiencies and reduces man-hours.

Apex runs in a browser, so using the latest technology, like push notifications, would be good. It could also have better connections and better reporting in terms of getting files out of it. It could create a PDF rather than just showing data on the screen.

This is definitely a tool that is stable, and you can use it even in point zero versions.

It simply scales with the database. There are absolutely no problems with scalability.

It is a really straightforward deployment. You just run a script and then copy a directory of files to a server. It's probably the easiest tool that Oracle provides.

I wouldn’t recommend an official training by Oracle. They are too long and expensive; however, there is tons of information on the web, many books, and a lot of third party trainers that run reduced versions of the introductory seminars. Apex even provides a two-day tutorial that I think is pretty good. It shows you the basic concepts like how to use the tool and what is available.

We primarily want to use the solution for rapid development.

The solution's most valuable aspect is its Graphics Form Design.

The initial setup is quite simple. I was able to handle it myself.

The product can scale if you need it to.

The solution does not offer everything under one umbrella solution.

In terms of the VPNs and process management, Oracle can make it better. It's an area that definitely could be improved upon. They really don't have anything going on there.

The solution has some stability problems that need to be resolved.

The product should add a separate site with a development language supporting Java, or other languages such as this.

I've been using the solution for about three months or so. It's quite a new solution for us. We're still in the testing phase.

The software seems to have stability issues. It can crash or the software can shut down and sometimes it doesn't return. I'm not sure what causes these issues.

The product has inside solutions for scalability. You can expand using a talented application server. We tend to have loads of balance there and we find it to be scalable.

We're currently in evaluation mode, and therefore have a limited amount of users on the solution currently. It's not fully rolled out.

We haven't been in touch with technical support per se. We have referenced documentation and other materials to assist us. I can't speak to the effectiveness or knowledgeability of their services.

We didn't use any previous solution. 

The initial setup was not complex at all. It was very easy and quite straightforward. A company shouldn't have trouble with the implementation.

I handled the initial setup myself. I did not need the assistance of a consultant or integrator.

We also looked at other options. We thought about doing a combination of two solutions due to the fact that the process management was very weak.

We are just customers and end-users of the product.

We are still running a test, or a POC, to see if we like how the system operates for our organization.

I would rate the solution at a six out of ten. If it had VPN process management, I would likely rate it higher.

While I would recommend the solution, it would depend on an organization's requirements.