Latest News from Ric Smith

SOA World Expo: Enterprise Mashup Services

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:15:00 EDT

Since Web 2.0 kicked off scarcely a day goes by without a headline targeting mashups and their enablers, AJAX and Web Services, as the next hot Web technologies. Mashups are Web sites that integrate a variety of services (e.g., news feeds, weather reports, maps, and traffic conditions) in new and interesting ways. Just take a look at Zillow.com, which provides instant home valuations plotted as thumbtacks on a map (Figure 1), or HousingMaps.com, which marks listings from craigslist.org as captions on a map, and you'll get a clear picture of the power behind converging data sources.

The Future of the Web: HTML5 Web Sockets

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:53:00 EDT

AJAX, with its asynchronous updates, enabled a richer user experience on the Web. It accomplished this primarily by obscuring the latency issues that brought a "clunk-ish" feel to traditional Web applications. More recently, Comet reintroduced HTTP-based "push" communications to enable Web applications with real-time events through a medium, namely JavaScript and a variety of transports (e.g., long-polling, forever frames, XHR Streaming, etc.), that is far more accessible than the "push" technologies of the late '90s, and which further lessens latency concerns felt by end users, creating a more dramatic and interactive Web experience.

Why the Web Dinosaurs Died

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:30:00 EDT

A fast-moving Comet is about to impact the Internet. When it hits, it will wipe away the architecture flaws we have lived with for the past 15 years and allow a new World Wide Web to evolve. This new Web will include applications that are instantly on and always on, applications that are truly multi-user, and applications that go far beyond today's 'click and wait' Web solutions.

Beyond AJAX and JavaServer Faces

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:45:00 EST

First released in March 2004, the server-side component model introduced by JavaServer Faces (JSF) brought the promise of simplifying Web-user interface (UI) development. Then in February 2005, Jesse James Garrett coined the term AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and the simplicity of the JSF server-side component model was overshadowed by a flood of rich UI frameworks with a client-side tilt.

AJAX, Flash, Silverlight, or JavaFX...

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:30:00 EDT

AJAX has forever altered user expectations regarding the experience delivered by the Web. In today's world, users sit at the edge of their seat waiting to see what scrumptious eye candy AJAX will serve them next. Some of the more notable visual effects and desktop-like interactions include Prototype-esque fades, Dojo style fisheyes, the near ubiquitous drag-and-drop, and, of course, who can live without the entertainment provided by the assortment of animated loading icons that now distract us while AJAX does its asynchronous 'thing.' Yes, it would appear that AJAX can do it all and that no desktop visual effect or gesture is safe from being outsourced to the Web.

Beyond AJAX and JavaServer Faces

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 15:00:00 EDT

AJAX frameworks (including Dojo, Prototype, and Script.aculo.us) are spurring an evolution in human-computer interaction on the Web. The stale click-and-wait experience once associated with Web applications is no longer acceptable. Users now expect real-time updates and desktop-like functionality coupled with the ubiquitous nature of the Web. Consequently, developers are now stretching the limits of the JavaScript programming model and battling cross-browser idiosyncrasies to mimic desktop functionality over the wire.

AJAX, Flash, Silverlight, or JavaFX: Must We Choose?

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:00:00 EDT

Enterprise Mashup Services

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:30:00 EDT

In my previous article, 'Enterprise Mashup Services: Real-World SOA or Web 2.0 Novelties?' (JDJ Vol. 11, Issue 12), I discussed how a Java-to-AJAX library such as Direct Web Remoting (DWR) can bridge the gap between mashup services implemented with JavaScript and business services written in Java, allowing developers to blend corporate services with external services such as Google Maps. The problem with this approach is that it relies on AJAX as an integration point, which entails a fragile development platform as well as the need to maintain browser-specific code due to idiosyncrasies in browser support for JavaScript - the primary technology behind AJAX. In addition, JavaScript lacks a standardized approach for componentizing code, making applications written in it difficult to consolidate and reuse. The solution to these shortcomings is to pair AJAX with a component framework. JavaServer Faces (JSF) provides this foundation and eliminates the complexities of JavaScript - besides providing rich integration with the Java EE platform.