Statement of Direction

Oracle continues to invest in the development and support of Oracle APEX. This page highlights the roadmap for the upcoming releases.

The following list outlines the general direction of Oracle APEX for upcoming releases.

  • New Oracle APEX Service

    We plan to launch a new dedicated Oracle APEX cloud service targeting smaller workloads and line of business applications. Additionally, we plan to optimize the user experience for larger use cases by cross-listing Autonomous Database services, which already embed APEX, as independent APEX services on Oracle Cloud.

  • Extended Support for MySQL

    Oracle APEX will extend support for MySQL Databases by enabling the MySQL SQL dialect to be used for advanced capabilities of APEX. This includes the ability for end-user driven report customizations such as pivots, control breaks, filters, faceted search, and more.

  • Support for JavaScript Language for Application Business Logic

    Developers will be able to use JavaScript, in addition to PL/SQL, for application business logic using the Oracle Multilingual Engine (MLE) in Oracle Database.

  • Runtime Application Customizations

    Oracle APEX will enable runtime customization of labels and other attributes of apps on production deployments that will be persisted across application upgrades.

  • Additional Oracle JET-based Components

    We plan to adopt additional Oracle JET components for items such as the Date and Time Picker, Color Picker, and others.

  • Improved Life Cycle Management

    We plan to simplify patching by allowing easy comparisons between applications deployed across multiple environments.

  • Productivity Apps

    There will be improved and expanded portfolio of productivity apps.

Release Plan and Naming Convention

Oracle APEX 18.1 was the first major release in calendar year 2018. The next release in the same calendar year was APEX 18.2. This same naming convention is used in subsequent years, therefore, the first release in calendar year 2020 is APEX 20.1. Oracle APEX no longer provides patch set releases, such as APEX 20.1.1, instead only offers full releases.

Note: Patch set exceptions (PSEs) will still be delivered for major defects and generally communicated on the Oracle APEX Known Issues page. Some PSEs will be delivered in a PSE bundle, rather than individually. Be sure to read the solution provided and search for the bug number specified on the Oracle APEX Known Issues page. For PSE bundles review the readme to determine all of the bug fixes included in the bundle.

This change in release strategy is of significant benefit to both cloud and on-premises deployments of Oracle APEX. The primary advantage of this release strategy is reduced downtime when upgrading an existing Oracle APEX installation. The architecture also provides the ability to immediately rollback if necessary. Utilizing patch sets, instead of a full release, requires significantly more downtime and with no easy way to rollback the patch set installation. This change in release strategy also provides a vehicle for features to be introduced sooner to our customers.

THE PRECEDING IS INTENDED TO OUTLINE OUR GENERAL PRODUCT DIRECTION. IT IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY NOT BE INCORPORATED INTO ANY CONTRACT. IT IS NOT A COMMITMENT TO DELIVER ANY MATERIAL, CODE, OR FUNCTIONALITY, AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON IN MAKING PURCHASING DECISIONS. THE DEVELOPMENT, RELEASE, AND TIMING OF ANY FEATURES OR FUNCTIONALITY DESCRIBED FOR ORACLE'S PRODUCTS REMAINS AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF ORACLE.