We were recently approached by APEX Home to produce a solution for them, using Oracle APEX, which allowed users to drag data from a spreadsheet into an Oracle APEX application. The solution we developed uses Oracle APEX 3.2.1 and jQuery functionality to detect when data is dragged onto a Drag and Drop zone from a spreadsheet, CSV file or HTML table. Users can also copy and paste their data if preferred.
Here in the UK there’s a lot of buzz about freelance developers and ‘freelancing’ is tipped as the next big thing in the IT job market, especially in the current economic climate. Freelancers are being recognised as helping companies to weather the current recession.
Although the term’s been around for a while within web development, it’s relatively unheard of outside of the UK or within other IT markets. However, there are many benefits to using a freelance developer as opposed to a traditional contractor or the services of a larger company:
Freelancers are highly skilled within their areas of expertise.
Freelancers are flexible and can provide services to a succession or number of clients.
Freelancers do not impose long-term contracts and are available for short-term projects.
Freelancers represent themselves so clients can avoid dealing with agencies who can charge as much as 25% on top of a contractor’s day rate.
Freelancer’s overheads are very low as they do not have employees, often work from home and therefore have no need to commute.
Freelancers establish a direct relationship with their clients so communication is unhindered by bureaucracy and middlemen.
If Silvercore Solutions loves Oracle APEX, then why isn’t the website developed using APEX?
The answer’s simple really. APEX is a brilliant tool for developing interactive applications endowed with all the functionality, reliability and security of an Oracle database, but this website consists of four simple pages, the most complex being the Contact page. To develop it using APEX would’ve been overkill. I believe it’s important to use the correct tools and technologies for the job. After all, you wouldn’t use a sledgehammer to crack a nut!
To have developed this website using APEX would have required specialist web hosting to run an Oracle database 24/7 for the sole purpose of serving basic HTML. This cost cannot be justified and as a freelance developer I pride myself on keeping my overheads as low as possible. I understand that developing a website in APEX proves that one can at least develop using APEX, but I hope that my APEX blog goes a long way to proving that already. However, I am in the process of developing an application to showcase some of the innovative functionality I’ve already developed and to demonstrate what is possible with APEX. Of course, this will be hosted for free at apex.oracle.com!
Often it is assumed that if you know about Oracle, SQL and PL/SQL then you can automatically develop an application using Oracle APEX. Whilst this isn’t incorrect, it also isn’t strictly true. Oracle APEX allows web pages to be developed quickly and easily using SQL and PL/SQL knowledge alone. However, these are very basic applications that do not deviate from the templates supplied by Oracle. Whilst in a number of cases these applications are adequate for the purpose intended, they are unlikely to offer the user anything more than being practical. However, an APEX developer that also knows web languages can quickly turn the application into a lot more.
