So I set myself a challenge to turn my back on The Cloud and attempt to set up a brand new Oracle XE instance running APEX and make it available online and accessible from anywhere. And Yes, as the title states, I did it all for £20! Why did I do it? So why did I want to set up my own home served Oracle instance? Mainly because cloud services like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure are just too expensive. Not only do they charge for the server you are using but also the time you spend on it. I found myself routinely switching off my cloud server when I wasn't using it to try and keep cos...

So playing around with the new APEX Version 5 there are a few really nice features that have been long requested by developers. Page Designer The first thing that hits you when logging on to APEX 5 is the complete redesign of the page editor. What we see now is a visual representation of the page with regions displayed in their appropriate location. Drag and drop is also supported when created new regions or items. I have to admit, it takes a little getting used to when, like me, you've spent many years developing in the old design interface of APEX. But for anyone who just doesn't like c...