Developing applications that use a database is quite similar to developing applications that use an Oracle database within your own data center. Because the database is running on Oracle Autonomous Database and is running on dedicated infrastructure available only within your tenancy, there are several differences that simplify the task of developing a continuously available, high-performing, high-security application:

• Automatic database administration. Routine database administration tasks such as patching and taking backups are performed automatically, so you can concentrate on developing your application. See Service Maintenance for more information.

• Automatic indexing and performance tuning. You need to spend less time defining and honing your database's structure, thanks to these and other features of Oracle Autonomous Database. See Automatic Indexing for more information.

• Preconfigured continuous availability and high performance. When you connect to the database through an Oracle client, and you code using connection pools, you can automatically take advantage of the continuous availability and high performance features already configured on the database side of your connection. See Code for Continuous Availability and Connection Pools for more details.

• Predefined, workload-specific database services. With five pairs of predefined database services, you can connect securely to the database using the database connection service that matches the type of database operations you need to perform. See Predefined Database Service Names for Autonomous Databases for further reference.

Autonomous Database for Developers is a free Autonomous Database that developers can use to build and test new applications. It supports all the developer features and tools provided by Oracle Autonomous Database, except for Autonomous Data Guard, Database In-Memory, long-term backups, and auto-scaling. Notable developer features included with a developer database are backup and restore, patching, cloning, APEX, ORDS, Database Actions, Performance Hub, Metrics, Notifications, and APIs.