Oracle Application Server Portal is a feature-rich development environment that gives developers a multitude of tools and constructs that allow the creation and deployment of web-based applications quickly and easily. This chapter has introduced the basic architecture of Oracle Application Server Portal, but we ve just scratched the surface of what it is truly capable of. In subsequent chapters, details of Oracle Application Server Portal development; security and advanced topics, such as the integration of external sites; and Oracle Forms, Oracle Reports, and Oracle Discoverer Workbooks and Worksheets in Oracle Portal will be discussed.