I took some time on this holiday break to start experimenting with Silverlight and Flex, neither of which I have any experience with. While I was toying around with them I started thinking about the dizzying number of the RIA framework options.
With Silverlight I really liked developing in Visual Studio, it was intuitive and fast. I also liked that fact that I could use XAML to markup the layout, then back it up with C# for the event handling.
Flex looks good too. I especially like the fact that you can mark up your presentation in an XML format (MXML), similar to XAML. I am not a fan of ActionScript though, but I will have to see how east the IDE makes editing the code when I get that far.
Then there is GWT. Well, I liked that so much that I wrote a book about it. I like the fact that I can used my editor of choice (Eclipse), code in Java, and it is open and free.
I once used Ext-JS on a large project, and although it looked great it was extremely painful. When I got done the code was completely unmaintainable.
I have also dealt with Scriptaculous, Prototype, DWR, and other tools over the years, but for smaller projects that probably can't be considered RIAs.
Then there is Wicket, Echo2, blah, blah, blah... so many to choose from!
So which is best? I am partial to GWT, mostly because I know it the best, and it is free and has a great community. On the other hand, I could get used to Silverlight (although the cost can be prohibitive).
If you have an opinion I would like to hear it.
Showing posts with label RIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RIA. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Are web apps moving to the Desktop?
I saw an article on Ajaxian yesterday noting that Google was now allowing you to use their APIs in non-Ajax applications. For instance, you can now use their translation API from the server, or in a Flash application, or perhaps even from a VB application.
This combined with the release of Adobe AIR, a platform form running "web applications" on the client, makes me wonder if the future of "Web 2.0" applications is not in the browser, but on your desktop.
If you look at AIR, the attraction seems to be that it allows you to utilize resources on the client PC, going beyond the capabilities of JavaScript in the browser. On the other hand, don't count out the browser.
At the heart of the Firefox browser is XUL Runner, an engine that allows you to build applications on top of the XUL markup language and JavaScript, along with the ability to use resources on the local PC. A more recent tool is the Google Gears browser plugin, which essentially puts a SQL Lite database engine in the browser.
So what is all of this mean for the future of the industry? It seems obvious that the push is to turn the web application of old into a desktop application. These applications will go beyond Ajax, allowing the application to use resources on the client PC such as databases, access to the file system, and will in general be runnable even when no Internet connection is present.
I embrace this future, but I question its popularity. Yes, I expect that GMail will have off-line access for most of their apps by utilizing Google Gears. I am sure AIR will be a success as companies roll out "desktop" apps using the platform. And I expect that there will be others... a lot of others.
I think this is where the problem lies. When the term "Ajax" was coined, it was available almost everywhere, support for it was ubiquitous. This I believe led to its immediate adoption and the state of the web today. But for off-line web applications the story is different. There are too many tools out there, and in all cases the user needs to download and install software on their computer.
My hope is that all of these tools can get along, but the reality is that this is unlikely to occur. As a user of these applications you will be faced with a choice. You can user install the Google tools for Google apps, Microsoft tools for their apps, and Yahoo tools for their apps... or you just won't use them.
This combined with the release of Adobe AIR, a platform form running "web applications" on the client, makes me wonder if the future of "Web 2.0" applications is not in the browser, but on your desktop.
If you look at AIR, the attraction seems to be that it allows you to utilize resources on the client PC, going beyond the capabilities of JavaScript in the browser. On the other hand, don't count out the browser.
At the heart of the Firefox browser is XUL Runner, an engine that allows you to build applications on top of the XUL markup language and JavaScript, along with the ability to use resources on the local PC. A more recent tool is the Google Gears browser plugin, which essentially puts a SQL Lite database engine in the browser.
So what is all of this mean for the future of the industry? It seems obvious that the push is to turn the web application of old into a desktop application. These applications will go beyond Ajax, allowing the application to use resources on the client PC such as databases, access to the file system, and will in general be runnable even when no Internet connection is present.
I embrace this future, but I question its popularity. Yes, I expect that GMail will have off-line access for most of their apps by utilizing Google Gears. I am sure AIR will be a success as companies roll out "desktop" apps using the platform. And I expect that there will be others... a lot of others.
I think this is where the problem lies. When the term "Ajax" was coined, it was available almost everywhere, support for it was ubiquitous. This I believe led to its immediate adoption and the state of the web today. But for off-line web applications the story is different. There are too many tools out there, and in all cases the user needs to download and install software on their computer.
My hope is that all of these tools can get along, but the reality is that this is unlikely to occur. As a user of these applications you will be faced with a choice. You can user install the Google tools for Google apps, Microsoft tools for their apps, and Yahoo tools for their apps... or you just won't use them.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
GWT announced as the new iPhone SDK
Perhaps the title of this entry is slightly misleading, but it comes close to the truth. In this entry I present a guy named Steve, and his announcement that gave me some insight to the future of web development.
First, let me provide some background information. In case you missed it, Apple held its World Wide Developers Conference last week, and as usual Steve Jobs stood up on the big stage to deliver the keynote address. The keynote is the highlight of WWDC, and even if you weren't there you could find out what Steve was talking about by watching the many real-time blog posts covering the presentation.
As part of the keynote Steve announced the SDK for the iPhone, as was rumored, but what Steve announced isn't what the attendees expected. Steve announced that the SDK for the iPhone is the rich Internet application. That's right, the new SDK is the same SDK that Web 2.0 developers have been working with for the past few years, including GWT. This is made possible because the iPhone uses the full Safari browser.
As most developers I would expect, I was a befuddled by the announcement. Big deal I thought, but then it hit me. What Steve announced was not just about the iPhone, it was about all computing devices. You don't need to have an SDK for your mobile device anymore, all you need is a capable browser, and an Internet connection. As a web developer I find this exciting, and I see a very good future for our industry.
Of course Steve Jobs is not omniscient, but the fact that he announced the SDK in the way he did is a huge step in what I believe is the right direction. The only tools we need for this to become a reality is free wifi everywhere (or something similar), the actual hardware devices, the maturation of rich Internet applications, and a little imagination. As web developers we have held up our part of this, building web applications that can compete with traditional desktop applications, and the latest hardware is getting close to where we need it as well. All we need to do now is wait for everywhere wifi and then many of us will be able to leave the laptop at home in favor of a pocket browser.
In summary, GWT + iPhone = the future of mobile computing.
First, let me provide some background information. In case you missed it, Apple held its World Wide Developers Conference last week, and as usual Steve Jobs stood up on the big stage to deliver the keynote address. The keynote is the highlight of WWDC, and even if you weren't there you could find out what Steve was talking about by watching the many real-time blog posts covering the presentation.
As part of the keynote Steve announced the SDK for the iPhone, as was rumored, but what Steve announced isn't what the attendees expected. Steve announced that the SDK for the iPhone is the rich Internet application. That's right, the new SDK is the same SDK that Web 2.0 developers have been working with for the past few years, including GWT. This is made possible because the iPhone uses the full Safari browser.
As most developers I would expect, I was a befuddled by the announcement. Big deal I thought, but then it hit me. What Steve announced was not just about the iPhone, it was about all computing devices. You don't need to have an SDK for your mobile device anymore, all you need is a capable browser, and an Internet connection. As a web developer I find this exciting, and I see a very good future for our industry.
Of course Steve Jobs is not omniscient, but the fact that he announced the SDK in the way he did is a huge step in what I believe is the right direction. The only tools we need for this to become a reality is free wifi everywhere (or something similar), the actual hardware devices, the maturation of rich Internet applications, and a little imagination. As web developers we have held up our part of this, building web applications that can compete with traditional desktop applications, and the latest hardware is getting close to where we need it as well. All we need to do now is wait for everywhere wifi and then many of us will be able to leave the laptop at home in favor of a pocket browser.
In summary, GWT + iPhone = the future of mobile computing.
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