Low-AI-Code Development

  In my previous post , I showcased adhoc sub processes with my demo app "IT-Support". What I didn't mention is that this app also uses another feature of 26.1: Async processing*. The task "Search Knowledge Base" calls a LLM that returns a decision used by the exclusive gateway. With "async before" turned off, the end user would have to wait until the LLM has returned with a response. This might take longer then 3 seconds, after which the user starts to suspect the app isn't working correctly. After submitting a ticket to the IT help desk, we need to immediately return control to the user again. This is exactly what happens when "async before" is turned on. Technically, the LLM call is now handled by a database job. Turning this feature on might require you to handle a new state the application is in. Before async processing, there was "before the LLM gets called" and "after the LLM returned a response", now you have ...

A marquee feature of Flows for APEX 26.1 are adhoc sub processes*. It allows you to combine deterministic with non-deterministic process steps. Let us take a look at the following diagram that could be used by an IT support help desk to better understand this feature. This process has deterministic steps and events like creating a ticket, search the knowledgebase and notify the customer. However, to come up with a solution an engineer might request logs, run a remote session, consult a LLM or might escalate to a level 2 support engineer. The order in which they occur is not known up front and some of these activities might even occur multiple times. To handle such situations, an ad-hoc sub process is what you will need (the box in the middle containing all activities).  For choosing the next activity, there are several modes in which an ad-hoc sub process can be modeled: - manually  - with or without a recommendation from a large language model - hybrid  - AI decides the ...

Want to start developing web applications with Oracle Application Express (Oracle APEX)? Make sure you don't reinvent the wheel and adapt good practises from industry experts right from the start. Here are some tips for beginners: 1. If you don't already have Oracle APEX installed, don't install it yourself, but get a free workspace within minutes on apex.oracle.com  to be used for demo purposes. To learn about Oracle APEX in the Oracle Cloud, you can use the always free tier on cloud.oracle.com/free with two databases up to 20 GB database storage each without any cost. For production purposes, we recommend that you pay 120 USD/month (as of 22-JUN-2026) for the Oracle APEX Service on the Oracle Cloud or Oracle EU Sovereign Cloud. 2. Start making your first apps using one of the Oracle APEX tutorials: HyPlus (German):  apex.hyplus-group.com/development  (includes good practises!) Oracle (English): apex.oracle.com/hols 3. Read the APEX Developer's Companion: d...

The Data Reporter section in Oracle APEX 26.1.0 is for business users that normally work with this in a production environment. A production environment should always be configured to leverage some form of Single Sign-On (SSO). To enforce this, Data Reporter features aren't available in a new APEX 26.1.0 instance where APEX authentication is set by default for Data Reporter authentication*. *) 15-JUN-2026 Good news: The APEX team provided APEX Authentication Scheme support for Data Reporter with the 26.1.1 patchset, so you can test drive Data Reporter without the steps outlined in this blog post. When you would like to demo Data Reporter in your personal APEX enrvironment, setting up SSO might not always be an option, so how can you setup the authentication in a way that lets you use Data Reporter? Here are the steps to undertake. Logon to the internal workspace. Unser "Security Settings", configure the HTTP Header Variable Authentication Scheme. Important here is to set ...

Low-code platforms like Oracle APEX have a clear advantage in the AI era, as the LLM generates the metadata for the app out of your functional specification, not the actual code itself. As the low-code platform vendor is in charge of the underlying code, you can rely on it to be maintainable , more secure and legally bulletproof . Let's go through these in more detail. Maintainable Vibe coding quickly leads to a code mess as the LLM doesn't really optimize the code, it just implements your request. On code level, an identical function might be implemented multiple times by the LLM. A low-code platform returns HTML/JS/CSS to the web browser out of the metadata in runtime based on optimized, proven internal code. This means that your app is always state-of-the-art when upgrading the low-code platform and should bugs arise, they are the responsibility of the vendor to solve, not the developer. More Secure Many security features in Oracle APEX are turned on or are restrictively se...

I have been vibe coding in my spare time lately and managed to create and publish an iOS app called SnoreBuzzer  within 2(!) days. Do I have knowledge of the underlying Swift programming language? Zero. I created the app solely by prompting and focusing on the functional specification. OpenAI Codex did the heavy lifting: code generation, improving code quality, and documentation (incl. generating a data privacy statement). I specified my intent and tested the outcome. As a developer, I still kept an eye on the code to make sure it did not end up in a mess, so understanding the code is still required, but you definitely do not need to write it yourself anymore. As I let Codex make changes to my code, I regularly checked in to Git so I could easily revert changes if Codex messed things up, but that happened for only 5% of my prompts. Now to the big picture of this: a new age for developers is rising. In a couple of years, every developer will be using prompts for most of his developm...

  The 3-day conference schedule for APEX connect 2026 is now online  and it is packed with content for APEX & PL/SQL developers: 3 keynotes delivered by Carsten Czarski , Connor McDonald and Karen Cannell 70 regular 45 minute sessions  covering all topics around APEX, (PL/)SQL and its solutions 1:1 sessions with experts and several hands-on workshops To take you through all new exciting features of Oracle APEX 26.1 and Database 26ai , a lot of the key architects and product managers from around the globe are coming to APEX connect: - Carsten Czarski - Patrick Wolf - Ronny Weiß - Scott Spendolini - Connor McDonald - Ralf Müller - Sonja Meyer - Toon Koppelaars They will be accompanied with excellent presenters from the community, most of them having an Oracle ACE status. To name just a few: - Alex Nuijten - Karen Cannell - Moritz Klein - Patrick Barel - Philipp Hartenfeller - Philipp Salvisberg - Roel Hartman The magic happens 18-20 May in Heide Park (Soltau/Germa...

The software development lifecycle (SDLC) with Oracle APEX can take many forms. This blog post will give you an overview of four common scenarios. If you are interested to learn the details, I recommend reading the following paper from the APEX team: https://apex.oracle.com/go/lifecycle-technical-paper Author Steve Muench, Version 3.2, June 2025 1. Single environment, single developer In a situation where a single developer works directly against the production environment, the lifecycle couldn’t be simpler. In this scenario, you typically would create a working copy of the app in APEX, make changes, test and merge changes automatically back into the main app. You should regularly backup your app and the database in case you need to restore. This lifecycle is best suited for citizen developers and IT developers creating small and simple non-critical apps used by a few users. 2. Multiple environments, single developer When you’re working alone on different environments like developm...

Lately, I stumbled upon this thread on Reddit:  https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/18uj3id/why_im_skeptical_of_lowcode/ There are so many misunderstandings of "low-code" in this thread, that I tried to comment it, but it seems like this isn’t appreciated by the moderator. Maybe because there is a link in it, maybe because I am mentioning a product, I don’t know and I don’t have the time to “battle” the policy of Reddit, so I decided to post my thoughts in this blog post instead.  Being a professional low-code programmer, I use Oracle APEX and LLMs to speed up my development process. Does this mean that everything can be done using out-of-the-box components? Of course not. The last 20% is done by using traditional programming languages, but if you look at the total time required, it is dramatically reduced. When working with metadata (the 80% that makes up a low-code app) and not on a programmatic level, you gain several advantages. One is that the underlying techno...

Oracle APEX 24.2 is out! Here are some of the major features in APEX 24.2 that I think are a great productivity booster for APEX developers. JSON Sources With storing JSON in a CLOB or BLOB column, you get some flexibility in your data model. Before 24.2, you couldn't let your APEX chart, form or report interact with the JSON structure without custom coding. With 24.2, this is now possible using JSON Sources. There is no need anymore to deal with JSON yourself using SQL, just let APEX do the heavy lifting. For those of you using 23ai of the Oracle Database, it works even with JSON Collection Tables and Duality Views! APEX Workflow enhancements Major features here include the possibility to call a workflow from with another workflow. This will let you re-use smaller workflow definitions. Also, a workflow administrator can now resume a workflow at any given activity in case of an unforeseen situation. Great must have features! For those of you that need to be BPMN-compliant, you migh...

Flows for APEX 24.1 is now available for download at  https://flowsforapex.org . Minimum requirements for installation are Oracle DB 19c+ and Oracle APEX 22.1+. For a quick start, I suggest to install it in a free workspace on  https://apex.oracle.com  (will take only a few minutes to install). Be aware that only the English language is installed by default. For other language versions, please go to Shared Components > Application Translations > Publish Translated Applications. Here you can select and publish the required languages. The Community Edition of Flows for APEX 24.1 has some great new features for you to check out: New User Tasktyp "Simple Form" New App "Simple Process Starter" Updated Sample App "Expense Claims" Support for storing JSON in a process variable Coloring of BPMN elements If you are new to BPMN 2.0, I recommend looking at the preinstalled tutorials in the Flows for APEX app. For those of you seeking even more features, we now ...

In the last years, I spoke with many in the IT industry about low-code and there seem to be several misperceptions around Oracle APEX, so I thought it is time to address these in this blog post. Here we go: 1. "APEX is only for Oracle customers" Existing Oracle Database customers can install APEX right-away without paying anything extra, have the infrastructure and licensing already set up, have the personnel to manage it all and store their data already in the Oracle Database. So, yes, APEX is very attractive for existing Oracle Database customers. Does that mean it is limited to this scenario? No. There are multiple reasons why you should start using APEX, although your company has no track record with Oracle: - Your data can reside outside the Oracle database. No matter if you are using PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, SAP, Hubspot, MS Dynamics, Spotify, etc.: you can integrate it all without programming a single line of code! APEX is doing a great job and can handle even comple...

Starting with APEX 24.1, there are some great features in the product that leverage AI. These features are already covered really good in APEX Office Hours, so I recommend watching the replay in case you missed it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F5Tu7xQuXE What I felt was missing, is a packaged app to get you started. Together with my valued colleague Bach, we created a demo app that you can import ie. in your free workspace on apex.oracle.com. You just have to set the API key for the AI provider you are using and you can start playing around. Have fun! Download demo app "APEX 24.1 & AI for end users" .

There are different kind of developers out there. Here is my definition of these groups: High-code developers Programmers mainly working for example in Visual Studio Code writing C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, PL/SQL, etc. Low-code developers Fullstack developers working in the IT department that like to work with a low-code platform to create applications faster by configuring components and designing simple statements. In small projects, they also act as high-coders to get the final approx. 10% of functionality in place that isn't possible to configure (ie. complex business logic). Citizen developers Employees working in the business department (hr, sales, controlling, etc.) that have deep knowledge about their business processes and are eager to implement corresponding apps themselves. Most low-code projects are done by professional app developers in the IT department. On the other hand, Gartner and Forrester are claiming that we need to embrace citizen developers as there aren'...

Flows for APEX 23.1 is now available for download at  https://flowsforapex.org . Minimum requirements for installation are Oracle DB 19c+ and Oracle APEX 20.2+. For a quick start, I suggest to install it in a free workspace on  https://apex.oracle.com . Check out the new features: REST API UserTask Assignment Map Lanes to Roles (Basic) Messaging Support Modernized Modeler Additional languages: Italian, Korean, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese The Flows for APEX team demonstrated key features of 23.1 in the APEX Office Hours session of 3-AUG. For those of you that missed that session, you can watch a replay at https://apex.oracle.com/officehours soon. We have also updated the sample app "Expense Claims" that ships with the software distribution to reflect most of the new features in 23.1. If you are new to BPMN 2.0, I recommend looking at the preinstalled tutorials in the Flows for APEX app. Ready to start building your first process-oriented app based on Flows for ...

The climate crises is here and immediate counteracting is required to prevent worse. Key is to take into account environmental and social aspects in each buying decision. Above all, a sustainable planet requires developed countries to consume less, a lot less. Starting at 2025, businesses in Europe need to report their carbon footprint besides the usual regulatory financial reporting. Regarding IT, this includes the carbon footprint produced by hardware. A better utilization rate of hardware leads to less hardware required. Companies like Vodafone monitor the utilization rate of their servers as well as the power consumption for each infrastructure component using Oracle Application Express (APEX) to reduce the carbon footprint of their data center. On software level, program code affects the required energy consumption. For example, in terms of database usage, are all records read out even if only one record is required? In terms of storage: do we really need to keep data stored infin...

With Flows for APEX 22.2, there are many new features to explore. We have planned several sessions to give you an overview of these and to engage with the Flows for APEX team. 29-SEP 2022 16:00-17:00 CET APEX Office Hours https://apex.oracle.com/officehours This session will be recorded and made available publicly on YouTube 04-OCT 2022 15:00-16:30 SGT / 08:00-09:30 CET https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpdOmrqzMuG9WUsQZ8CuVX3Z3g4gqXYTOu More interactive session without recording for EMEA & Asia Pacific area 04-OCT 2022 10:00-11:30 EST / 16:00-17:30 CET https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkcuyoqzooE9AgXlfHYwtZfmyG7nFwK9fe More interactive session without recording for EMEA & America area Yours truly, The Flows for APEX team https://flowsforapex.org

We are proud to announce the general availability of Flows for APEX 22.1. You can download a free copy of this open source software at https://flowsforapex.org. Major new features of 22.1 include: - declaratively sending an e-mail using the service task in BPMN - support for repeating timers for non-interrupting boundary events - timers supporting the Oracle date/interval format during modeling - to prevent lost updates, we have introduced a "step key" - the modeler having the Monaco text editor integrated - APEX metadata being leveraged by the properties panel in the modeler - support for a business rule task in BPMN - an enhanced sample app "Expense Claims" to reflect most features of Flows for APEX 22.1 Have a look at the readme file in the software distribution to see a complete list of all enhancements. To give you an overview of what is new in Flows for APEX 22.1 and how the upgrade path looks like, we invite everybody to join one of the following online sessi...

During the week, a DDoS attack with over 384 IP addresses from all over the world was started on our public Oracle APEX server. As we do like people (and proper bots) to make use of our free services to provide information about Oracle APEX, the bots managed to request an APEX page around 1.000 times a minute! With that many page views, the connection pool of Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS) with maximum 30 DB connections got full and people were starting to see an error message from ORDS. Of course we could scale up the connection pool with the database, but that would mean we had to scale up our hardware too, as ORDS was already taking up 100% CPU. Instead, my colleague Moritz Klein quickly found a way to throttle-down the requests in our proxy server installed in front of ORDS. We used a module called "event MPM". The configuration looks like this: # event MPM # StartServers: initial number of server processes to start # MinSpareThreads: minimum number of worker threads wh...

Flows for APEX is an extension for Oracle Application Express (APEX) that lets you model and run processes based on the BPMN 2.0 standard. This blog article will address some of the key features introduced with version 21.1. Setting process variables before and/or after each step With the help of process variables, information can be stored persistently in the database over the entire duration of a process instance. You can set a process variable through the PL/SQL API or, with 21.1, do this declarative for each step in the BPMN model. The variables are meant to be set at special trigger points in the model (e.g., after a task has been executed or before the process is split up at a gateway) and read out again at a later point in time without the need of an APEX session. Restart failed tasks Sometimes the execution of a step in a process fails, so that the process cannot continue. In this case, the transaction of the current step is rolled back, and the instance is set to an error stat...