Rich Internet Applications

Canoo has released a new sample application at ria-map.net. The application shows typical Web 2.0 interface elements such as tagging or Flickr-like editing fields.

I asked the developer, Jonas Zuberbühler, the following questions on the new Canoo sample application.

SW> What is riamap?

riamap is a Web 2.0 community site that maps the world of Rich Internet Applications. Unlike mere information aggregators on the topic, it builds on user contributions to assemble not only a list of current RIA technologies, but also how they relate to each other.

Users can explore what technologies are available, what they have in common, how they differentiate, what competitors they have and how they complement each other. These relations make up a graph that any user can extend by adding new connections or voting how strong any such connection based on his or her own judgment.

SW> What technologies did you use to build it?

We used Grails for the web application framework and Groovy as it is the perfect partner for implementing server-side logic.
In addition, we used Prototype, Scriptaculous and LivePipe to integrate AJAX features and to improve the user interface.

SW> Why did you select Grails? Why not adapt an existing PHP- or Java-based content management system?

Canoo has a strong footing in Java and Grails is the perfect choice for developing Web 2.0 applications on the Java platform. We can build on our solid understanding of this ecosystem and use all the existing tools for development, deployment and operations. On top of this, Grails provides us with the concise, expressive and interactive development style that modern applications require.

Further screenshots:

To get a login for riamap, sign up here to join riamap. Try out the various Web 2.0 interface features. If you feel like adding information on a RIA technology, enter the details here or edit an existing entry.

We’re back from the OpenExpo in Bern. I’ve uploaded some snapshots to our Flickr stream.





Grails Sample Apps:
I’d just like to point you to some sample applications, that Dierk König mentioned in his talk on Grails:

• Canoo’s Planet RIA,
• Canoo’s riamap (launching soon),
• and then there’s showbiz.sky.com which gets over 180 million hits per month.

Upcoming Events:
We’re preparing to exhibit at JavaOne 2008 from May 6 to 9, 2008 in San Francisco. Come and see us there!

Listen to the podcast on Groovy and Grails (in German).

I just updated the Canoo events page and would like to point you to the impressive schedule of events:

Canoo’s CEO, Hans-Dirk Walter is presenting a one-day course on Rich Internet Applications at the ETH in Zurich, in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Donald Kossmann and Prof. Dr. Gustavo Alonso this Friday.

Dierk König will be speaking in Denmark, the USA, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany in the next couple of months on Groovy, Grails and WebTest topics.

Bruno Schäffer is presenting at SD West 08 in Santa Clara, California on “Design Patterns for Rich Internet Applications”.

And we will be exhibiting at this year’s JavaOne in San Francisco from May 6 to May 9.

This has been discussed in several Flex blogs, but I thought I’d add a cross-reference here:

Adobe has open-sourced BlazeDS.

“BlazeDS is Adobe’s server-based Java remoting and messaging technology. Adobe had recently announced that it is contributing the proven BlazeDS technologies to the community; previously it was only available as part of Adobe LiveCycle Data Services ES.”

This is great news for Flex developers because BlazeDS simplifies the client-server split. In addition Adobe published the AMF specification, its binary message format. Have a look at James Ward’s benchmark tool at http://www.jamesward.org/blazebench/.

See also Ryan Stewart’s blog post on the BlazeDS announcement.

And there are plans to develop a Flex plugin for Grails using BlazeDS.

We just updated the Canoo events page and I would like to point to Dierk König’s impressive Autumn 07 schedule at: http://www.canoo.com/events.html

Dierk will be speaking at:

• iX Workshop in Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt.
• Grails eXchange 2007.
• W-JAX in Munich.

If you’re attending any of these events, stop by and say hello to Dierk…

He recently wrote a series of articles on Grails for iX magazine (in German).