Oracle APEX Cookbook - Second Edition

Get straight into developing modern web applications, including mobile, using the recipes in this brilliant cookbook for Oracle Application Express (APEX). From the basics to more advanced features, it's a reference book and guide in one.

Overview

• Explore APEX to build applications with the latest techniques in AJAX and Javascript using features such as plugins and dynamic actions
• With HTML5 and CSS3 support, make the most out of the possibilities that APEX has to offer
• Part of Packt's Cookbook series: Each recipe is a carefully organized sequence of instructions to complete the task as efficiently as possible

In Detail

Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a powerful, productive tool that helps you create modern web applications. The goal is to make everything declarative so the developer can reduce the amount of coding. With the jQuery mobile templates included, it is now also possible to create web applications for mobile devices, supporting mobile specific functionalities such as touch events.

"Oracle APEX 4.2 Cookbook : Second Edition" covers all the details of Application Express, giving you complete control over the new features. It shows you how to create web applications, while explaining you the concepts and bringing out useful tips and techniques to make learning interesting for you.

In this second edition, you will learn how to modify themes and templates and how to use the new HTML5 and CSS3 features. You will also learn how to create visual effects such as tool tips and fading options. Furthermore, topics such as web services, publishing, administration, team development, and web sheets will be covered.

This book will show you how to be agile in the development of your web applications by using team development, debugging, and third-party tools. After reading this book, you will be able to create feature-rich web applications in Application Express 4.2 with ease and confidence.

What you will learn from this book

• Produce feature-rich web applications in APEX 4.2
• Create smartphone applications using jQuery Mobile
• Use HTML5 and CSS3 in APEX
• Generate RESTful web services
• Working with the latest available plug-in types
• Make the development process easier by enhancing error handling
• Developing HTML5 and CSS3 supported web applications
• Follow hands-on examples to make the most out of the possibilities that APEX has to offer

Approach

As a Cookbook, this book enables you to create APEX web applications and to implement features with immediately usable recipes that unleash the powerful functionality of Oracle APEX 4.2. Each recipe is presented as a separate, standalone entity and the reading of other, prior recipes is not required.

It can be seen as a reference and a practical guide to APEX development.

Who this book is written for

This book is aimed both at developers new to the APEX environment and at intermediate developers. More advanced developers will also gain from the information at hand.

If you are new to APEX you will find recipes to start development and if you are an experienced user you will find ways to improve your productivity and efficiency and make the most of APEX to enhance your applications.

A little knowledge of PL/SQL, HTML and JavaScript is assumed.

Michel van Zoest
Michel van Zoest is a consultant with years of experience in building web applications using Oracle technologies such as Oracle Web Forms, Oracle Designer, MOD_PLSQL, ADF, SOA Suite, and of course, APEX. 
He is one of the first Oracle Application Express Developer Certified Experts in the world. 
He has used his APEX knowledge in projects for companies ranging in size from a single employee to large multinationals. His experience in these projects has been used in the realization of this book. 
Michel currently works at Whitehorses in the Netherlands and runs his own blog at aboutapex.com. He also blogs at the company website on blog.whitehorses.nl and he regularly writes Whitebook articles (in Dutch) for Whitehorses. 
You can reach Michel on Twitter at @mvzoest or e-mail him at michel@aboutapex.com.

Marcel Van Der Plas
Marcel van der Plas was born in 1969 in Eindhoven and still lives in Eindhoven. He has been an Oracle Consultant for over 15 years. Marcel has worked on many projects with Oracle Designer, Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports. Later on, he became interested in APEX and did some projects with APEX. At the moment, Marcel has been working on an APEX project for an electronics company for over 2 years.
Marcel currently works for Ciber. Other companies he worked for are Atos Origin and Whitehorses. For Whitehorses, he wrote some articles ("Whitebooks") about Oracle.
Marcel already wrote the Oracle APEX 4.0 Cookbook together with Michel van Zoest. You can find APEX blogposts from Marcel at orclapex.blogspot.com. Besides that, you can follow Marcel on Twitter (@whmvdp).