Apex is a proprietary language that sits within Force.com platform and it can only be invoked within triggers and classes(write triggers and classes).(Which means its not a general purpose language which can be used out side Force.com) Apex is complied and executed in cloud so does not need any dedicated Hardware or Software and it runs on Salesforce.com Servers. Apex is not technically auto-upgraded with each new application release because it is saved with a specific version of the API. However, like other Force.com features, Apex automatically works with the new version of Salesforce application. With Apex, we can only create specific functionalities such as triggers on objects and new Salesforce Web Services. We CANNOT create entirely new application written only in Apex out of Force.com. This is the one of the difference between Tradition code and Apex code. Traditional code allows users to create all type of applications like small, stand alone to complex and web ba...