Mistake: "View management

jmarranz — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:46:57 -0400

Mistake: "View management code is not transported to the server (only changes)"

Must be: "...to the client..."

I've discussed with Peter

jmarranz — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:34:58 -0400

I've discussed with Peter this topic before. I don't agree with Peter about the SOFEA approach.

SOFEA promotes the return of the thick client again with web technologies. The web success on application development is mostly because the application is in the server highly controlled (cooking the view too) and the client is thin. SOFEA introduces again the need to transport (most of) "the application" to the client introducing again the need of bridges to transport server data from the server to the client duplicating many things: server data model and client data model must to be in sync.

Furthermore the client is a browser with a weak language as JavaScript is. JavaScript is a pain (IMHO) to develop complex applications and in the long term introduces serious maintenance problems.

I can understand this tendency as an escape from classic web development frameworks, but this days a new server based development approach is reducing the impedance mismatch between client and server: basically bringing the browser to the server.

For instance Jaxer (a Gecko browser on the server - JavaScript development) and my own ItsNat (a universal Java W3C browser on the server - Java development) are introducing the client style development on the server with the following advantages:

- No duplication of server and client data models

- No custom code for transport

- View management code is not transported to the server (only changes)

- More freedom and power to select the server based language and tools (IDEs): JavaScript or C++ (any language supported by XPCOM) in Jaxer and Java, JavaScript (Rhino), Groovy, JRuby, Scala etc in ItsNat.

- More freedom to deal with differences between browsers.

- Support "out of the box" of some "magic" features like remote view/control of any user page from another user/browser.

- Again thin client architecture but with full control of the client.

Anyway some SOFEA principles can be applied with Jaxer and ItsNat because SOFEA is a browser centric architecture and Jaxer and ItsNat are client on the server technologies.

Javalobby - Comments for "The Thin Server Architecture Working Group"

Mistake: "View management

I've discussed with Peter