Pro Oracle Application Express (Expert's Voice in Oracle) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Scott Spendolini (Author)
Key Phrases: shared components, column template, standard report, Application Builder, Open High Pressing, Application Express (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Application Express, or APEX, is one of the most innovative products to come out of Oracle in years. APEX is an application development framework for developing database–backed applications. It’s easy enough to get started in that power users can quit storing data in random spreadsheets and instead centralize their data in the powerful Oracle database, all without developer help. Developers arent left out, however. Those who choose to can go deep and leverage the full power and flexibility of Oracles database engine.

Getting started with APEX is easy. Learning how to take full advantage of APEX is the problem. It was the problem, that is, until this book came along. In Pro Oracle Application Express, authors John Scott and Scott Spendolini open the “hood” of APEX and expose the full power behind its easy–to–use GUI interface. They show you what you need to know to produce powerful, professionally polished applications, things such as user-authentication models, approaches to layout and navigation, how to integrate Ajax, how to deal with localization issues such as time zones and translations, how to customize the look and feel of an APEX web site, and much, much more.

The authors are well–qualified to write on APEX. John Scott runs ShellPrompt, a hosting service that handles many large-scale APEX applications, some of which he is paid to develop. John is a hard–core APEX developer. His coauthor, Scott Spendolini, is one of the original creators of APEX. Both John and Scott now base their fulltime careers on developing APEX applications. Pro Oracle APEX is your opportunity to learn APEX from the very best.

About the Author

John Edward Scott has been using Oracle since version 7 (around 1993) and has used pretty much every release since then. He has had the good fortune to work on a wide range of projects for a varied group of clients. He was lucky enough to start working with Oracle Application Express when it was first publicly released, and has worked with it nearly every day since (and loves it). John is an Oracle ACE and was named Application Express Developer of the Year 2006 by Oracle Magazine. He is also the cofounder of ApexEvangelists (http://www.apex-evangelists.com), a company that specializes in providing training, development, and consulting specifically for the Oracle Application Express product. You can contact John at [e-mail].

Scott Spendolini is President and Founder of Sumner Technologies, LLC (http://sumnertech.com), a small consulting firm which specializes in Oracle Application Express training and consulting services. Spendolini has assisted a number of clients from various verticals with their Application Express development and training needs. He has presented at a number of conferences, including Oracle OpenWorld, ODTUG, and IOUG and is a regular contributor to the APEX Forums on OTN.

Previously to founding Sumner Technologies, LLC, he worked for Oracle Corporation for almost 10 years, the last three of which he was a Senior Product Manager for Oracle Application Express. Prior to working with Oracle APEX, Spendolini assisted customers with the Oracle eBusiness Suite and its related technologies. Spendolini holds a dual bachelors degree from Syracuse University in Management Information Systems and Telecommunications Management.

Product Details

• Paperback: 700 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159059827X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590598276
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,540 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great introduction to APEX , October 24, 2008

By	Adam Enos (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm now making my second pass through this book in more detail but I have found this book to meet my needs perfectly by providing a very comprehensive overview of what can be done with APEX. If you are thinking about developing a product with APEX or adding an APEX component to your current architecture then this is a great place to start. More details are provided as you get further and further into the design and development process.

I was disappointed to find that the sample code was not made available unless I purchase the sister e-book for $10.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for non-experts, November 17, 2008

By	Dale F. Bjerning (Dubuque, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being quite new to APEX and PL/SQL, I was anxious to find a book that would actually provide me with useful methods for implementing improvements to my APEX application. This book does that. After reading the chapters on Authentication and Authorization, I was able to implement my own authentication and authorization schemes in my app. This book is great for those developers who are not yet experts in APEX and who may not yet feel totally comfortable with all of its capabilities.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best ApEx Book Available, October 2, 2008

By	Tom and Kat (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

Oracle's Application Express (aka ApEx, formerly HTMLDB) is an amazing foundation for developing database-driven web applications. It is easy for a novice, yet very flexible for a software developer. Unfortunately, there have not been any good references published until now. Scott and Spendolini have created a wonderful reference and tutorial that surpasses anything else out there.

The chapters on Ajax and JavaScript and the APEX Dictionary were extremely helpful to me as a developer.

I was disappointed that there was no section on validation.

Overall, it was excellent, and if I could give 4.5 stars, I would.

Tom Hubbard
Software Developer