It is the in-house technology of salesforce.com which is similar to Java programming with object oriented concepts and to write our own custom logic.

• Apex is a procedural scripting language in discrete and executed by the Force.com platform.
• It runs natively on the Salesforce servers, making it more powerful and faster than non-server code, such as JavaScript/AJAX.
• It uses syntax that looks like Java
• Apex can written in triggers that act like database stored procedures.
• Apex allows developers to attach business logic to the record save process.
• It has built-in support for unit test creation and execution.

Apex provides built-in support for common Force.com platform idioms, including:

• Data manipulation language (DML) calls, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, that include built-in DmlException handling
• Inline Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) and Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) queries that return lists of sObject records

- Looping that allows for bulk processing of multiple records at a time
- LOCKING syntax that prevents record update conflicts
- Custom public Force.com API calls that can be built from stored Apex methods
- Warnings and errors issued when a user tries to edit or delete a custom object or field that is referenced by Apex

NOTE: Apex is included in Unlimited Edition, Developer Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Database.com

Apex vs. Java: Commonalities

• Both have classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and other common OOP features.
• Both have the same name variable, EXPRESSION, and looping syntax.
• Both have the same block and conditional statement syntax.
• Both USE the same object, array, and comment notation.
• Both are compiled, strongly-typed, and transactional. 

Apex vs. Java: Differences 

• Apex runs in a multi-tenant environment and is very controlled in its invocation and governor limits.
• To avoid confusion with case-insensitive SOQL queries, Apex is also case-insensitive.
• Apex is on-demand and is compiled and executed in cloud.
• Apex is not a general purpose programming language, but is instead a proprietary language used for specific business logic functions.
• Apex requires unit testing for development into a production environment.

It is the in-house technology of salesforce.com which is similar to Java programming with object oriented concepts and to write our own custom logic.

• Apex is a procedural scripting language in discrete and executed by the Force.com platform.
• It runs natively on the Salesforce servers, making it more powerful and faster than non-server code, such as JavaScript/AJAX.
• It uses syntax that looks like Java
• Apex can written in triggers that act like database stored procedures.
• Apex allows developers to attach business logic to the record save process.
• It has built-in support for unit test creation and execution.

Apex provides built-in support for common Force.com platform idioms, including:

• Data manipulation language (DML) calls, such as INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, that include built-in DmlException handling
• Inline Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) and Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) queries that return lists of sObject records

- Looping that allows for bulk processing of multiple records at a time
- Locking syntax that prevents record update conflicts
- Custom public Force.com API calls that can be built from stored Apex methods
- Warnings and errors issued when a user tries to edit or delete a custom object or field that is referenced by Apex

Note: Apex is included in Unlimited Edition, Developer Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Database.com

Apex vs. Java: Commonalities

• Both have classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and other common OOP features.
• Both have the same name variable, expression, and looping syntax.
• Both have the same block and conditional statement syntax.
• Both use the same object, array, and comment notation.
• Both are compiled, strongly-typed, and transactional. 

Apex vs. Java: Differences 

• Apex runs in a multi-tenant environment and is very controlled in its invocation and governor limits.
• To avoid confusion with case-insensitive SOQL queries, Apex is also case-insensitive.
• Apex is on-demand and is compiled and executed in cloud.
• Apex is not a general purpose programming language, but is instead a proprietary language used for specific business logic functions.
• Apex requires unit testing for development into a production environment.