If you follow my Sister-in-law Maria Colgan on Twitter, you will already know the JSON Database and APEX Application Development are now available on the Oracle Cloud Free Tier. For a full list of things on the free tier, see here.
I was on a call with Oracle prior to the release of the APEX Application Development Service, and one of the points I made was it should be available on the free tier, but unfortunately that’s not what happened with the initial release. I’m glad to see that situation has been rectified pretty quickly.
When you are trying to win hearts and minds I think it’s really important to reduce the barriers to entry. These services were available on the free trial, time and credit permitting, but I don’t think the free trials last long enough for people to get a real feel for a service. Adding these to the free tier will result in a number of things.
- More people will be able to try them and decide if these are the correct services for them.
- People will be able to live with these services for an extended period of time, and get a true feel for them. Unless you are really well prepared, you can easily do very little with a free trial. The free tier allows you to take your time and make sure you are making the correct move.
- The more people using the services, the more feedback Oracle will get, which will ultimately make the services better.
I’m really glad this decision has been made!
If you are new to Oracle Cloud, I have some resources that should help you get going. Sign up for the free tier.
Oracle Cloud : Free Tier Account Sign-Up
The bottom of that article has links to lots of other Oracle Cloud posts, including these links.
- Oracle Cloud : Autonomous JSON Database (ADJ) – Create Service
- Oracle Cloud : APEX Application Development Service (APX) – Create Service
- Oracle Cloud : APEX Application Development Service (APX) – Import Data
I’ve also got some Terraform articles, so you can learn to automate the deployment of services on Oracle Cloud, including the JSON Database and APEX Application Development services.
Have fun!
Cheers
Tim…
PS. If you’re not following Maria on Twitter, what’s wrong with you?