Rich Internet Applications

The UltraLightClient team is pleased to announce that the a first bunch of community contributions has been ported to the new UltraLightClient ‘08 release.We are planning to port all relevant contributions to UltraLightClient ‘08 during the next few weeks.

Some words on the UltraLightClient community. The community has two intentions: first of all, it is a component repository for our customers, secondly the UltraLightClient team uses it as a playground to explore new concepts related to UltraLightClient.

Let’s look at these two intentions in some more detail:

UltraLightClient community as component repository for customers
Customers can find ready to use components in the UltraLightClient community that implement a wide range of requirements. Usually these component come from real world projects where Canoo engineers were engaged either as consultants or as developers. I recommend you to have a look at the following gems in the UltraLightClient community:

UltraLightClient community as playground to explore new concepts
The standard approach for new concepts is not to directly integrate them in the release but to explore them first in a separate project that is hosted on the community. This gives you a chance to see what the UltraLightClient team is currently working on. Successful concepts will be integrated in future versions of UltraLightClient. For example, the UltraLightClient ‘08 release integrated the following contributions from the UltraLightClient community:

• Forms: inspired by the Form Model and the Validation Components contribution
• Sortable and filterable tables: inspired by the SortedTableModel and FilteredTableModel contributions
• Easy Sevlet deployment: inspired by the Easy Deployment contribution
• Project generator: inspired by the Eclipse IDE Integration contribution

Link summary
ULC Code Community
List of migrated contributions
Canoo UltraLightClient product page

What contributes to the richness of a RIA (Rich Internet Application)?
What contributes to the poorness of a PUWA (Poor Ugly Web Application)?
How does a RIA compare to a PUWA?

In this post, I’ll discuss forms and what they look like in a RIA. Forms are the sort of things that you find a lot in business applications. For example, bank employees use them to manage customer data, to view account transactions, or to calculate mortgage offers. Or what you, as a brave citizen, use to submit your taxes. But forms are not limited to business applications. You can find them in games to set up your player or to configure the game server.

Consider the following screenshot showing a form to calculate a mortgage offer:

What exactly makes the above form a rich form? Can you spot it? Sorry to disappoint you, but it is not possible to see form richness. The only way to decide that a form is rich or not is to feel the form. And of course with a static screenshot it is really not possible to feel the form. Richness comes from interaction design and not from graphical design. This is a common source for misunderstanding. So let’s repeat it: Richness comes from interaction design and not from graphical design. Two topics in interaction design define the richness of a form: input feedback and input support.

Input Feedback
Let’s start with input feedback. The easier the user can connect the feedback to his or her user interaction, the richer the form. Given this fact, a form within a PUWA can never be rich. A PUWA is page-oriented and the user does not get feedback at the time when he or she enters wrong values. Instead he or she gets feedback only when he or she commits the form (see this groundbreaking article that compares PUWAs with Ajax-based web applications). A measurement for the richness of the feedback is the kind of feedback that is available to the user. Basically we distinguish between syntactical and semantic feedback. Syntactical feedback tells the user that field input is not well formed, e.g. error messages such as this is not a number, this is not an email address, this number has to be between 0 and 18. Whereas semantic feedback puts the input in a broader context and checks for business rules, e.g. the total loan amount may not be greater than 80% of the object’s value, or you are not authorized to withdraw more than 2000€ per week. The more semantic feedback the richer the form.

Input Support
The second measurement for the richness of a form is input support. One well known example for input support is suggesting valid field values as the user types. You can check out this feature at Google Suggest. Other forms of input support are the calculation of dependent values (e.g. calculating the city name for a given zip code) or disabling of non-mandatory fields (e.g. fields defining the legal guardian for underage persons). The more input support, the richer the form.

How does UltraLightClient ‘08 fit into this? First, its server-side architecture is a perfect fit for ultra-easy semantic feedback. This is because all of your code runs always on the server-side. There is no need to split code and propagate business logic to the client. Just access the business objects you need, it is that easy! Second, UltraLightClient ‘08 includes an high-level form component out-of-the-box. This makes the implementation of forms both, efficient and ultra-easy. The application that provided the screenshot above is implemented with UltraLightClient ‘08 and contains all forms of input feedback and input support.

Summary
Richness comes from interaction design (feel) and not from graphical design (see). There are two measurements to decide if a form is rich or not:

• Input feedback: the more semantic feedback the richer the form
• Input support: the more support the richer the form

UltraLightClient ‘08 is a perfect fit for both measurements. Its server-side architecture makes it ultra-easy to provide full semantic input feedback and its high-level form component enables full input support out-of-the-box.

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

At Canoo, we strongly believe in the benefits of a Java-based approach to build richer business web applications. In various service projects, our customers have greatly benefited from this strategy.

We would like to convince more companies to try out UltraLightClient for their web app projects. Within this context, I would like to start a new UltraLightClient blog post series discussing reasons how the Canoo RIA library will benefit your upcoming web project.

Obviously I will be listing the reasons for UltraLightClient. Please feel free to list your comments. In fact, I would like to encourage you to list your doubts and questions. After all, this is a blog. And between you and me, we are a company that likes a good discussion.

One of the first reasons we like to list is:

UltraLightClient is a “Single Technology” approach to building better interfaces for business web applications.

It is a lean Java library that can be easily integrated into your current web app infrastructure. It relies on the Java platform and delegates functions to Java EE and Java SE wherever possible.

What does this mean for your project?

1. Faster and simpler development, because your development team does not need to switch between various programming languages, development tools, or technology concepts.
2. The only language used to build rich user interfaces is Java. UltraLightClient follows standard Swing concepts and its API.
3. It is easier to find developers with the right skill set. Java is a well-established, proven language and you will be able to hire from a wider pool of developers. By selecting Java, you have access to a vast array of open source and commercial libraries and tools (e.g. excellent IDEs).
4. Debugging, testing and maintenance tasks are easier than within an AJAX-based project. Software defects within a single technology space can be tracked much more easily.
5. ULC’s single technology approach is more than skin-deep. With AJAX you might have a nice high-level JavaScript-only API. But as soon as you try to extend an AJAX library, you are exposed to all the ugly details of DOM, XML, CSS, etc.
6. The single technology approach substantially reduces configuration problems when trying to find the right combination of libraries and tools. In a multi-technology environment this is much more time-consuming.

And at the end of the day, these points will save you “real” time and money and reduce the overall risk that your business web application will fail.

Next post in this series: Server-side Architecture

About Canoo and its RIA Technology

Canoo is a solution provider for Rich Internet Applications (RIA) based in Basel, Switzerland. It offers consulting services and end-to-end development of Enterprise Web applications.

Canoo develops and maintains UltraLightClient, a library to create enterprise-class Rich Internet Applications. UltraLightClient bridges the gap between Java Swing user interface components and a Web architecture, providing a cost-efficient, single technology and mature alternative to AJAX.

See also:
“Top reasons to use ULC”
Stefan Ried’s Forrester Report

Here is a link to an older Computerworld.ch article comparing Google Web Toolkit and Canoo’s Java RIA library, UltraLightClient (in German only).

Google Web Toolkit und Ultra Light Client

Die Anbindung an das Internet und ein Browser gehören heute zur Standardausrüstung eines jeden Arbeitsplatzrechners oder Heim-PCs.

Stefan Thomas

Viele neue Anwendungen werden darum als HTML-basierte Web-Anwendungen implementiert, die leicht verteilt und aktualisiert werden können und von überall, zu jeder Zeit genutzt werden können. Durch den Einsatz von AJAX-Technologien konnte die Benutzerfreundlichkeit der Oberflächen in den letzten Jahren deutlich gesteigert werden, allerdings bei gleichzeitig wachsender Komplexität in der Anwendungsentwicklung. Bibliotheken, Toolkits und Frameworks versprechen hier eine Erleichterung. Beispielsweise durch die Abstraktion der unterschiedlichen JavaScript-Implementierungen der Browser oder durch vorgefertigte, komplexere Bedienelemente wie Menübalken, Tabreiter oder Baumstrukturen.

The article was written by UltraLightClient customer Dr. Stefan Thomas. Dr. Thomas is an independent consultant, that has developed two large corporate web applications with Canoo’s UltraLightClient for a global retailer.

GWT vs. ULC:

Comparing the two is a bit like comparing apples and pears (the article discusses this). On the other hand, the two widget libraries can be used for similar web applications. And both of them address Java developers.

See also the corresponding product websites:
Google Web Toolkit
Canoo UltraLightClient

it management has published an article by Canoo’s CEO, Hans-Dirk Walter on building Rich Internet Applications (RIA) for business applications (in German only).

The article provides a short introduction to RIA and some of the business benefits it offers such as automating global business process, consolidating applications or enabling Software as a Service (SaaS). The article discusses the various evaluation criteria that are relevant when selecting a technology.

• An welche Benutzer richtet sich die Anwendung – soll sie innerhalb eines Unternehmens oder als B2B-Lösung mit Geschäftspartnern eingesetzt werden oder richtet sich die Anwendung an beliebige Benutzer im Internet?
• Wie arbeiten die Benutzer mit der Anwendung? Wird sie gelegentlich aufge-
  rufen oder wird sie von Experten täglich und sehr intensiv zur Erledigung
  von wichtigen Aufgaben verwendet?
• Handelt es sich bei der Anwendung um eine Geschäftsanwendung (z.B. ein CRM- oder ERP-System) oder um eine Anwendung mit Unterhaltungscharakter, in denen Animationen und Multimedia eine grosse Rolle spielen?

A .pdf is available online in the press section of the Canoo website.

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.

Canoo recently published a new look for one of its UltraLightClient sample applications.

Our aim for this sample project was to show that Java web applications need not rely on the standard “grey and clunky” look and feel, but can be customized to fit into a company’s corporate design or to match current web design trends.

The design for the OnlineShop sample was developed by User Interface Design GmbH. Two Canoo developers then implemented the final design within two weeks.

The sample application can be accessed online:

Please note: you will need the Java plug-in to view the sample application.

Canoo is pleased to announce that UltraLightClient ‘08 is now available.

Download version ULC ‘08 here

New features in ULC ‘08:

• easy project setup using a wizard for Eclipse
• generates an end-to-end application skeleton from a predefined data structure
• high-level component to simplify the development of forms
• improved data types
• sortable ULC tables by default
• data binding
• easy and central configuration of application parameters and options such as look and feel and deployment
• easy deployment

Canoo has recorded a screencast showing how to develop a sample web application using this new release.

A new developer guide describes how to be productive from day one. The release notes list the changes added to the current product version.

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.