Wonder if Oracle Application Express (APEX) or Application Development Framework (ADF) is best for you? See this presentation and find out!

1. APEX or ADF?
From
Requirements
to Tool Choice
Sten Vesterli
sten@vesterli.com
Oracle OpenWorld
October 2015

2. Safe Harbor

3. About Me
• Sten Vesterli
• Developer, consultant, trainer
• 20 years of Oracle experience
• Oracle ACE Director
• Oracle UX Advocate
• Day job: ADF Developer
• Side gig: APEX Developer

4. Tiger
Bruce’s daughter’s cat
Scott
Bruce Scott
(Oracle employee no. 4)
Who is Scott/Tiger?
Also an Oracle-focused consultancy based in Denmark…

5. Scott/Tiger customers

7. Use a Framework
• Getting data from fields on the screen to
the database and back
• Oracle offers three frameworks:
– Forms
– APEX
– ADF

8. Use a Framework
• Getting data from fields on the screen to
the database and back
• Oracle offers four frameworks:
– Forms
– APEX
– ADF
– JET (doesn’t officially exist yet)

10. Yes, APEX uses PL/SQL
• Developed in browser
• PL/SQL
– and HTML, JavaScript, CSS
• Runs in database
– No extra infrastructure
– Only scales up

12. ADF is Java
• Developed in JDeveloper
• Java (JSF)
– and EL, Groovy, CSS
• Programming by exception
• Runs in application server
– Extra infrastructure
– Scales both out and up

14. But with APEX, you could!
• Focus on development speed
• Set up one hosted instance inside the
firewall
• Self-service provisioning

15. Oracle Internal APEX
• 16,601 applications
• Data for one week:
– 2,965,272 page views
– 2,275 different active applications
– 22,892 distinct users

17. ADF is Strategic
• Focus on large development teams
– Modularity
– Source Control
– Team Productivity Center
• Oracle is building all new commercial
applications in ADF
• 20,000 man years invested in Fusion
Applications

19. Learning ADF
• Forms developers
– Accept framework magic
– Have to learn Java
• Java developers
– Want to write code
– Don’t like Oracle

21. Data-driven Applications
• Design starts with the data
• The user interface is derived from the data
structures
• Wizards enable and encourage this

23. User Interface Driven
• Design starts with workflow and tasks
• Build matching UI
• Build matching business objects and
services
• Base on well-designed relational database

24. User Interface
Data
Data-driven
User Interface
Data
UI-driven

26. Technology Half-Life
• Database: 10 years
• Business Logic: 4 years
– Both PL/SQL and Java
– Integrations are business logic
• User Interface: 18 months

27. Technology Half-Life

29. ADF Killer Feature:
Modular Task Flows
• Visual page flow designer
• Packaged into ADF Libraries
• Can call other task flows
• Allows you to build a big application in a
modular fashion

30. ADF Killer Feature: Components

31. ADF Killer Feature: Customization
• Changing the application the user sees
– without changing the base application
• Customizations are stored in XML files
• Customizations are upgrade-safe
– you can upgrade the base application,
customizations still applied
• Multiple customization levels possible

33. APEX Killer Feature: Eats Excel
• You can upload an Excel spreadsheet and
create matching table
• Then create default application
• Business user can do this
• Application developer can fine-tune

34. APEX Killer Feature: Speed
• Setup time: Zero
– You work in a browser
• Deployment time: Zero
– You can work on a running server
– Make the application available when ready

36. Conclusion
Requirement Recommendation
It has to run tomorrow APEX
Advanced UI requirements ADF
Customization required ADF
Large application ADF

37. My opinion on tools www.oratoolwatch.com
My blog: www.vesterli.com
Email: sten@vesterli.com
Twitter: stenvesterli and oratoolwatch