Rich Internet Applications

In this blog post series, I am revisiting some of the arguments for a Java-based RIA library such as UltraLightClient. Please leave a comment and share your views. Read Part 1 here.

Why ULC? (Part 2)

Within UltraLightClient the programming model and the execution model are server side based. ULC applications are installed and run on the web server. On the client side, a small, browser-like presentation engine, that is generic for all applications, links up with the server to display the corresponding user interface component.

Fair enough. But how will your business web application project benefit?

Consider the following reasons:

1) Faster development - re-use instead of re-invent

UltraLightClient was designed for complex web applications in the business world, such as typical data entry applications with tonnes of data, tables, table trees, tabs, forms, charts. The library offers a full range of user interface components to build better web interfaces for enterprise applications.

From a developer’s angle, UltraLightClient takes care of the client/server environment. It handles distribution between the two very efficiently, and as a developer, you do not need to worry about the client/server split. All the application code, presentation and domain logic are run on the server. Development tasks such as distributing the logic between client and server are not required.

Another huge advantage during development time is that you can preview, test and debug without deploying the application. See Chapter 2 of the ULC Essentials Guide for a detailed description of the ULC DevelopmentRunner.

2) Re-use existing HTML application platform

ULC applications share the entire software platform with HTML applications and are easy to integrate with HTML applications. ULC has a typical web application architecture and can be easily used alongside many excellent tools and libraries (e.g. Spring, Hibernate)

3) Better security

In general, ULC applications are easier to protect against security attacks than AJAX-based applications. Java is less vulnerable than JavaScript. ULC applications are secure from cross site scripting (XSS) attacks.

No application code is shipped to or run on the client. The presentation engine is generic and is less susceptible.

4) Profit from Java EE scalabilty options

Standard Java EE is supported. This means that all the scaling options available for Java EE can be used to deploy ULC applications.

5) Highly responsive applications

From the very start UltraLightClient was designed to develop web applications with a desktop-like user interface. The communication has been highly optimized for the web. This ensures fast responses and ensures an increase in user productivity in comparison to the sluggish performance of AJAX applications. ULC applications easily keep pace with the performance requirements of knowledge workers and supports this user requirement out-of-the-box, i.e. you will not need to spend extra time trying to make your web application more responsive.

Link summary:
Why UltraLightClient? (Part 1)
Top reasons to use ULC
Case Studies

Soreco Group, one of Switzerland’s leading software houses, uses Canoo’s Rich Internet Application library to develop and distribute its flagship product Xpert.Ivy

Xpert.Ivy is a business process management platform for mid-sized and large corporations.

Inside-IT recently wrote:

Xpert.ivy 4.0 enthält nun GUI-Komponenten-Bibliotheken, mit denen man Anwenderoberflächen “zusammenklicken” kann. Die gesamte Logik der Oberflächen wird dabei serverseitig abgewickelt. Auf dem Client braucht es lediglich eine übliche Java Runtime Umgebung, um den RIA-Client (RIA - Rich Internet Application) laufen zu lassen.

Soreco verwendet für Xpert.ivy als OEM die “UltraLightClient”-Technologie des Basler RIA-Spezialisten Canoo. Die Schwerzenbacher bezeichnen die Möglichkeit, mit der BPM-Plattform nicht nur Prozesse und Webservices zu modellieren, sondern mit Version 4.0 gleich auch noch gut aussehende und funktionale RIA-Benützeroberflächen zu bauen, einen “Quantensprung.”

See also this recent press release by Soreco (in German).

Soreco is building their next generation platform using Canoo UltraLightClient. This is an awesome reference for Canoo. Being selected by an independent software vendor like Soreco underlines the stability and maturity of UltraLightClient.

UltraLightClient 6.3 Milestone 1 of the upcoming ‘08 release is now available for download.

Evaluate the new features and send us your feedback!

For details see the milestone release notes or these recent blog posts discussing:

• forms,
• invisible table models,
• and application services

Please note: Milestone releases are not official releases. They provide early access to new features and fixed problem reports. They are provided for evaluation and testing purposes only. Please do not use milestone releases in a productive environment.

Canoo in the news: The regional newspaper Basler Zeitung has published a company profile in the finance and economy section. A
.pdf of the article is available for download in the Canoo press room. The article is in German.

My personal opinion:
I don’t like the photo caption because it sounds as if planning at Canoo is ad hoc. If you are interested in learning more about the software development process and agile methods used at Canoo, please feel free to contact us.

I like this quote:

«Reichhaltige» Internetappli­kationen sind die Zukunft des Internets, gibt sich Hans-­Dirk Walter, CEO von Canoo, überzeugt.

Further links:
Download the press article here
Canoo Press Room
Canoo’s software services

I just heard via Dierk that Daniel Adelhardt of Sun Germany mentioned Canoo’s Java FX sample app Music Pinboard in one of his sessions.

Cool!

JUG Switzerland event on RIA and AJAX

As mentioned in this post, Java User Group Switzerland (JUGS) is organizing an event on Rich Internet Applications and AJAX on November 14th, 2007 at the Technopark in Zürich, Switzerland.

Sign up for this event at the JUGS site. The event is free for first time attendees and JUGS members.

I am really excited that this event is taking place and that Björn Müller and Ryan Stewart are coming. The talks will cover various RIA technologies and help show how these technologies improve business applications. We hope to start a fruitful discussion, which will benefit all attendees and provide a summary of current developments in the RIA space.

BTW, we are taking the RIA Mountaineer to Pilatus for a RIA summit

Ryan Stewart calls himself the RIA Mountaineer. And being in Switzerland, we thought that he must see the mountains while he is here.

We would like to invite RIA enthusiasts to come with us on our excursion to Pilatus on Monday morning, November 12th (further details) and discuss RIA developments. Please contact me if you are interested in coming along.

Further links:

JUGS event on Rich Internet Applications and AJAX
RIA Event in Zurich on 14th November 2007
Pilatus excursion details on Upcoming

Here are a couple of interesting RIA links that I stumbled across during the past week:

Java FX
Javalobby has posted an interview with Tom Ball, lead architect on the openjfx compiler project:

We’ve been interviewing lots of design houses, and the biggest complaint they have with Java-based client applications is how much longer it takes the Swing engineers to turn a design cycle than the designers do — the designers can crack out a design in a week which their developer counterparts take three months to implement.

It is definitely an encouraging sign to see that Sun is moving ahead in this area.

10 Future Web Trends
Richard MacManus lists RIA in his list of 10 Future Web Trends:

As the current trend of hybrid web/desktop apps continues, expect to see RIA (rich internet apps) continue to increase in use and functionality. Adobe’s AIR platform (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is one of the leaders, along with Microsoft with its Windows Presentation Foundation. Also in the mix is Laszlo with its open source OpenLaszlo platform and there are several other startups offering RIA platforms. Let’s not forget also that Ajax is generally considered to be an RIA - it remains to be seen though how long Ajax lasts, or whether there will be a ‘2.0′.

Flex vs. Silverlight
James Ward compares Flex and Microsoft Silverlight in this interview published at InfoQ.

Do you use AJAX, RIA or other Web 2.0?
Eric Chiu asks in this thread on LinkedIn (you’ll probably need to log in to read the thread):

Do you use AJAX, RIA, or other Web 2.0?

Do you think AJAX made the web easier to use? What are some of your favorite AJAX frameworks? I would like to know how companies are using AJAX to improve usability, interaction and collaboration.

Most people in the thread reported that they are using AJAX libraries such as Prototype, JQuery and RIA tools such as Adobe Flex. Perfomance and security are major concerns. While others cite customization and extensibility as being important.

iX has published an article by Mike Mannion on Java FX. It is written in German:

Eignet sich Suns neue GUI-Sprache für Einsteiger? Ein erster Schritt

Download the .pdf from the Canoo Press Room.

See also:
Music Pinboard - the sample application referred to in the iX article.

All Java FX related posts published within this blog.

Canoo has released version 6.2 of its Java RIA library, UltraLightClient.

Download the new version here. As mentioned by Daniel Grob in a previous blog post, this release focuses on improving testing of UltraLightClient applications.

New features include a new test framework, integration into Mercury QuickTest Professional and many feature requests:

• Custom labels for slider.
• Cell-based popup menus to add a context menu to every cell in a table, a tree, a list, or a table tree.
• A number of small improvements for existing user interface components such as:
• Adding component orientation - from left to right / right to left,
• Scrollable tabs,
• Window decorators,
• Table column events.
• Spinner component support.
• Possibility to customize the InputBlocker during server roundtrips to provide feedback to users.
• Enhanced extensions to access the client file system.

A list of changes can be found in the release notes. In addition to ULC 6.2, a new version of the ULC Visual Editor for Eclipse 3.2 is available.

Further UltraLightClient resources:
Documentation
Mailing Lists

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).