After presenting "Oracle's SQLcl CI/CD bombshell" at KSCOPE25, I'm excited about where we are in Oracle CI/CD development.

The response was fantastic, and it's evident we are at a breakthrough moment. You can view my presentation and live demo videos here.

SQLcl Projects - The Game Changer is Here

My live demo at KSCOPE25 showcased SQLcl Projects managing everything, including multi-developer workflows, emergency hotfixes, and complete APEX and database deployments. The tool lives up to its promises. When I asked the audience about their confidence in using SQLcl Projects, we received a score of 3.4 out of 5. That's promising progress for a relatively new tool.

What impressed me most was seeing developers realise this isn't just another deployment tool. It's a total transformation of the development workflow.

Oracle's Clear Vision

Oracle has created something special with SQLcl Projects. The tool manages your entire stack - database objects, APEX applications, and ORDS - all in one coordinated deployment.

During my KSCOPE session, people asked me a whopping 14 questions about SQLcl Projects (Thanks for your engagement!).

Some of those questions were:

We do APEX check-ins at the page level. Can SQLcl Project be configured to export pages specifically?

Can you export specific apex pages, or is it only entire apex apps?

The answer is NO. Not yet.

True, there has always been a gap for APEX CI/CD. Using SQLcl Projects, we can export the entire APEX app in either SQL or YAML format. However, we usually don’t want to deploy the whole app when only some specific APEX pages have been modified.

And yes, we have working copies (if APEX is 23.2 or higher), but it doesn’t resolve the issue. However, APEXLang is on its way, and I hope it will fill the missing gap in CI/CD for APEX apps.

APEXLang - The Revolution Ahead

Oracle showcased APEXLang at KSCOPE25 (first announced in the early weeks of 2025), and it's set to revolutionise everything. This new declarative language for APEX development will provide clean, readable syntax:

This is what we've been waiting for - actual code-first APEX development. APEXLang will support bulk updates, enterprise auditing and governance, and be AI-friendly for next-generation development workflows.

We don’t know any more than that for now, but hopefully it’s worth waiting :)

The Perfect Timing

We're in the sweet spot right now.

SQLcl Projects provides us with working CI/CD today - it's free, powerful, and handles complex scenarios. The community is actively sharing guides, tutorials, and best practices.

APEXLang will address the remaining workflow challenges upon its arrival. Oracle's roadmap shows they understand precisely what developers need.

One more concern about CI/CD and developer workflow

💡

How to avoid stepping on each other’s toes while working together in a shared development database?

SQLcl Projects simplify development and CI/CD. We don’t need to write changelogs or changesets (custom changelogs are an exception).

We can make changes directly in the database (always use PROXY users!), and SQLcl will “project export” our change. However, one of the common questions I’m often asked is:

What should we do to avoid overwriting each other while working on packages, views, etc.?

Some may say:

“Talk to each other”

“Set private environments (Docker, Podman, etc.) for each developer”

But others will say:

“Hey, it’s not so obvious and simple”

Hey, we use GIT (you do, right?), so we won’t lose our work if someone overwrites my object.

That’s true, but isn’t it annoying and a waste of time to figure out that someone “touched” the same object in the database?

Oracle also has an answer for that, and hopefully, it will be integrated with SQLcl Projects in the future.

It’s called LOKI, and you can read about it on my blog soon (link will be added here)

Ready to Jump In

Every project is different, but Oracle's direction is crystal clear. Whether you start with SQLcl Projects today or prepare for APEXLang tomorrow, the future has never looked brighter for Oracle CI/CD.

The tools work, the community is engaged, and Oracle is committed to making this the best possible development experience.

Are you ready to transform your Oracle development workflow? The revolution is here, and it's time to be part of it.