Features

Performance Analysis of Dynamic JavaScript Menus

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

In my previous article I talked about the impact of jQuery Selectors on a page that I analyzed. The page took 4.8 seconds in the onLoad event handler. 2 seconds were mainly caused by the selectors as described in the blog. The other 2.8 seconds were caused by a dynamic JavaScript menu – in that particular case it was the superfish jQuery plugin. A closer analysis showed why it takes so long and this also got me to do some research on these menus.

Practical Approaches for Optimizing Website Performance

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EDT

Optimizing website performance is a challenging task. Websites are composed of many moving parts – both on the client and on the server – and optimizing performance requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses potential problems in all moving parts. Performance bottlenecks are caused by an array of problems, from browser mechanics to server configuration, and a clear understanding of how to address these problems will provide AJAX ASP.NET developers with the tools necessary to make any website faster.

The Reality of Software Testing in an Agile Environment

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:15:00 EDT

The definition of agile testing can be described as follows: "Testing practice for projects using agile technologies, treating development as the customer of testing and emphasizing a test-first design philosophy. In agile development, testing is integrated throughout the lifecycle, testing the software throughout its development."*

An Introduction to Abbot

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:45:00 EDT

The common methods for functional GUI testing are the "record and execute" script technique and writing test programs for different scenarios. In the "record and execute," the test designer interacts with the GUI and all the events are recorded in a script. The script can later be replayed to re-create user interactions for a particular scenario. In the test programs, the test designer tries to understand and write tests for the various GUI decision points. This article discusses how Abbot can be used to quickly and effectively come up with a comprehensive GUI test framework for Swing GUI applications. Abbot (http://abbot.sourceforge.net/) is a JUnit extension for Swing GUI testing. It provides an interesting framework that can be used for test case generation as well as "record and execute" scripting.

Navigating the RIA Iceberg

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:00 EDT

Rich Internet Applications for the Enterprise (Enterprise RIA) can convey multiple benefits to a business, from lower cost of ownership, overall application availability and better security, to tremendous user experience. But these benefits come at a price: complexity and cost. For enterprises and ISVs looking for an efficient way of acquiring RIA-build capabilities, there is now a new breed of end-to-end RIA platforms designed to overcome the limited scope of client-side RIA platforms and the lack of deployment flexibility inherent in cloud-based Platform-as-a-Service solutions.

RIAs for Web 3.0 Using the Microsoft Platform

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:45:00 EDT

The level of functionality on the Web is changing and the bar is rising on what is considered a true rich Internet application (RIA). This fact and the emergence of the Web as an interconnected platform is once again changing the landscape and moving us into the next phase of the Web, which is called Web 3.0. It might be a little early to completely define what Web 3.0 will be but there are many indications of what will shape it.

REA Is Where RIA Becomes the Norm

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EDT

Do you believe that the day when programmers could focus on one language in their jobs is gone? Thanks to the ever-changing IT landscape and the uncertain financial times, contemporary developers are expected to work with a wide range of platforms, frameworks, languages as essentially “masters of all and specialists in none.”

Java Persistence on the Grid: Approaches to Integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EDT

The Java Persistence API (JPA) is the enterprise standard for accessing relational data in Java. JPA provides support for mapping Java objects to a database schema and includes a simple programming API and expressive query language for retrieving mapped entities from a database and writing back changes made to these entities. JPA offers developers productivity gains over writing and maintaining their own mapping code allowing a single API regardless of the platform, application server, or persistence provider implementation.

Case Study: Manufacturing Activity Management System

Wed, 13 May 2009 10:29:16 EDT

Manufacturing industries extensively use contract resources to perform 'non-core' or 'overload' tasks or services, and require business processes and systems to manage and control the activity of these providers. Paper based processes, while apparently simple and effective up-front, cannot readily provide the necessary site access control or comprehensive reporting, neither for planned activities nor for review of activities, in the event of an issue.

VDI and UEM Help Level the Playing Field for Rich UI Developers

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EDT

While the browser wars are back in full force, it's good to see UEM solutions like Appsense helping to make VDI a slam-dunk decision, let alone a practical one for rich enterprise app deployments. Enterprises that develop on multiple UI paradigms and standards have always been asking for trouble. The good news is that VDI combined with User Environment Management along the lines of what is offered by Appsense enables deployment of a standardized UI "easel".

AJAX World RIA Expo: Semantic Intelligence

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Most people think of traditional business intelligence (BI) as a collection of business-critical information from inside the enterprise. However, consumer comments, independent reviews, and market reports online are crucial pieces of information coming from the outside that infinitely affect any organization.

First Time with AJAX.NET

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:00:00 EDT

In a former life, I was a web developer. Back in the late '90s, I vividly remember being told by more than one of my computer science professors that in 10 years, everything would run in a web browser. Even the operating system (it was claimed at the time) would be browser based. On startup, the machine would load the thinnest of all possible operating systems, and everything else – applications, data, you name it – would be stored on the network and accessed via a hyper-dynamic web browser.

Developing Rich Client Applications Using Swing - II

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EST

In Part 1 of this article, I introduced rich client development, available architectures for developing rich client applications based on the Swing toolkit, and technologies that could be used to make development more productive. In this second part, I’ll compare the most popular IDEs and evaluate them with an eye to Swing development for rich client applications.

Appcelerator Revolutionizes UI Prototyping

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:15:00 EST

What if you could build the user interface prototype in a matter of days or weeks without a single line of server-side code or even a datamodel? What if the business owner could not only play with this prototype, but also provide context specific feedback seamlessly while exploring the prototype? Finally, what if the prototype wasn't a prototype at all, but was the actual user-interface of the final product (zero throwaway code)... even if you haven't decided which server-side technology you want to use (Java, .Net, Ruby, PHP, Python, Perl)?

Rich Internet Applications or Rich Interactive Experiences?

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:45:00 EDT

'Enough with the new words already.' That was how Sean Voisen recently ended a discussion about the burgeoning technology lexicon, which he thinks can only be explained as 'a ploy to keep Merriam-Webster in business.' Voisen, who designs and builds Rich Internet Applications, web applications, data visualizations and what he calls 'other fun pieces of Internet-enabled software' for a living, is not a fan of 'RIA' as a term.

Bringing Excellence to the Field of UI Engineering

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EDT

"My mission has always been to bring excellence to the field of user interface engineering," says Bill Scott, Director of User Interface Engineering at Netflix, in this Exclusive Q&A with SYS-CON's AJAX & RIA Journal in the run-up to his session on October 20 at AJAX World RIA Conference & Expo in San Jose, California (October 20-22, 2008).

Engelbart's Usability Dilemma: Efficiency vs Ease-of-Use

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EDT

The mouse was the original idea of Doug Engelbart who was the head of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at Stanford Research Institute. Engelbart's philosophy is best embodied, in my opinion, in the design of another device that he invented, the five-finger keyboard - with keys like a piano, used by one hand. The problem was, Engelbart's five-finger keyboard and mouse combination was very difficult to learn.

Where Are RIA Technologies Headed in 2008?

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:45:00 EST

I am always being told off by i-technologists for quoting Picasso as having said that computers are useless. But I still love his reasoning: 'Because they can only give you answers.' Picasso, like AJAXWorld Magazine, liked questions. So we thought we would share with you what some of the world's leading rich Internet application pioneers are thinking may be the next questions that we need to see answered. From that, readers can themselves infer: where is AJAX headed next?

i-Technology 2008 Predictions: Where's RIAs, AJAX, SOA and Virtualization Headed in 2008?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST

2007 was the undoubtedly the year of Social Networking, but what of 2008? Will '08 be the year of 'Unified Communications' or the year when CMS comes to stand for 'Community Management System' - or even 'Collaboration Management System'? Or will it be the year of a giga-merger, to beat the mere mega-mergers of 2007? As usual at the end of each year, SYS-CON has been informally polling its globe-girdling network of software developers, industry executives, commentators, investors, writers, and editors. As always, the range and depth of their answers is fascinating, throwing light not just on where the industry is going but also how it's going to get there, why, because of who, within what kind of time-scale. Enjoy!

Prescribing AJAX: Panacea, Placebo, or Poison? Peeling the AJAX Onion

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:30:00 EST

Ever since Jesse James Garrett coined the term AJAX to describe the collection of existing technologies that allow increased responsiveness and interactivity of webpages, its adoption has been embraced across the Web. But have designers and developers gone overboard? Is everything a nail to be pounded with the AJAX hammer? Some of the fundamental technologies that AJAX is based on, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, can sometimes offer simpler, more elegant solutions that are better suited to certain user experiences.

A Simple Streaming AJAX App with OpenAjax Hub, TIBCO GI, and DWR 2.0

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:30:00 EDT

Follow along and implement the real-time streaming AJAX system in Figure 1 using two different AJAX toolkits and the OpenAjax Hub. We don't have to build the above system from scratch, and can instead leverage readily available, reusable AJAX parts to get the job done quickly; the architectural strategy is to use AJAX pieces and parts that can work together. At the core of the system in Figure 2 is the OpenAjax Hub (see the OpenAjax Hub for Interop sidebar). We'll use the OAA Hub as a central publish/subscribe bus to which we can publish the live stock data so that the data grid and the future visual controls and functions can listen for those events and messages.

How and Why AJAX, Not Java, Became the Favored Technology for Rich Internet Applications

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:15:00 EDT

'The Java backlash,' writes Bruce Eckel, 'has been building up steam, and we're starting to see some fundamental shifts because of it.' Java has been around for 10 years yet applets are not the primary way that we interact with the web. Applets are not ubiquitous, and everyone got excited about AJAX instead.

Blogging – Corporate America's "Big Wet Kiss To Web 2.0"

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 12:30:00 EST

The significance of blogging is not the word 'blog' whether used as a verb or a noun, but its role as a harbinger of the game-changing Web-as-platform revolution. In particular, the migration of blogging from the individual toward the enterprise...

An AJAXWorld Look at The Rise and Rise of Enterprise AJAX and RIAs

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 22:15:00 EST

It has come a long, long way since February 2005 when Jesse James Garrett coined the now universally used term for it: the rise and rise of 'AJAX' has been meticulously reflected in the pages of SYS-CON Media's magazines and web sites. We take an end-of-year look at its first 22 months.

AJAX Patterns: Introducing JavaScriptBeans – Bringing JavaBeans to JavaScript

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:00:00 EDT

Six month ago, Alex Iskold switched from J2EE Grid Computing to Web 2.0, JavaScript and Firefox extension development. He has been writing in Web 2.0 Journal about his experiences - see 'From J2EE to JavaScript.' This is the next instalment...

What's So Special About AJAX?

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 08:30:00 EDT

Now that the web is well on its way to becoming more responsive, smoother and reliable - and correspondingly more enjoyable to work with - AJAXWorld Magazine stops up and tries to 'freeze-frame' the moment. We take a look at the question that is presently on the mind of hundreds and thousands of software developers, architects, IT managers, and CXOs alike: 'What's So Special About AJAX?'

Has the AJAX/Flash Tipping-Point Been Reached?

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 08:15:00 EDT

In a projection that comes on the heels of an AJAXWorld discussion of burgeoning security issues currently plaguing the AJAX model, a recent SitePoint and Ektron survey of Web professionals has suggested AJAX will soon surpass Flash as the predominant Web development model of choice.

Only 35 More Tickets to AJAXWorld 2006 Available

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 11:45:00 EDT

With just four days to go before the start of AJAXWorld 2006, which begins with a pre-conference AJAX University Bootcamp on October 2 followed by two full days of Conference & Expo on October 3-4, it is looking increasingly likely that every single ticket will be sold. As of this writing there is room for just 35 more attendees ...

Web 2.0 Is Hot in Japan...But Nobody Knows MySpace

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 22:30:00 EDT

Japan knows web 2.0 - probably better than us in US. But very few people in Japan have heard of or paid attention to MySpace. Their attention is on Mixi, the biggest social networking site in Japan.

Ruby on Rails One-Day Seminar: Introducing Ruby on Rails – the Pain-Killer for Web Developers

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 19:45:00 EDT

According to its founding light David Heinemeier Hansson, Ruby on Rails (RoR) is about 'taking the pain away and making you happy.' Hansson says he knowingly advises people, before they try Rails, to cut their teeth in web-development on the mainstream offerings first. 'Once you've tried developing a substantial application in Java or PHP or C# or whatever,' he says, 'the difference in Rails will be readily apparent. You gotta feel the hurt before you can appreciate the cure.'

Seven Out of the 15 Richest Americans Are Technology Billionaires

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 16:15:00 EDT

Steve Ballmer, who after all is a 'mere' executive, not a founder like the rest of them, comes in at number fifteen in the newly-released Forbes 400 Richest Americans list. The list confirms the hugely dominant role played by technology in creating billionaires in the USA: no fewer than seven out of the fifteen richest Americans derived their personal wealth from technology.

Hitachi Execs To Join Nexaweb Chairman Coach Wei at AJAXWorld Conference

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 08:45:00 EDT

As the result of his visit last week to Japan to speak at the 2006 ProWise Power Forum in Tokyo, Coach Wei - Chairman and CTO of Nexaweb - discovered that in Japan they have been adopting 'Web 2.0' technologies for some incredibly complex and mission critical systems with great success: financial trading, current exchange, project management, insurance, and power/electricity management, etc.

Transformational AJAX: The New Future of the Web Has Begun

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:30:00 EDT

Just fifteen years after Tim (now Sir Tim) Berners-Lee made public a little project he called the World Wide Web, something new is happening. And it involves, if not AJAX, then some kind of similar approach: this four-letter word, and the approach it crystallizes, has catalyzed a profound transformation in the way that users and businesses alike are going to be using the Web.

The Four "Quantum States" of AJAX

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:15:00 EDT

Tightly defined, AJAX simply describes a technology that transports information to and from the browser and not how that information is displayed. To purists, AJAX is about communicating asynchronously from the browser using JavaScript and XML, nothing more. To others, through their experiences with Google Maps and Yahoo!'s new e-mail offering, AJAX represents a desktop-like GUI that leverages the pre-existing HTML, DHTML, and vector-based rendering capabilities of the browser. Either way, 'AJAX' is a lot catchier than 'DHVAJAX.' Accordingly, it's likely that developers will continue to use it for a broad spectrum of uses. So, it's important to understand the 'quantum states' the term has taken on.

The Jury's Still Out On Ruby On Rails (RoR) and AJAX

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:45:00 EDT

In most cases I'm a patient and tolerant person. Once you get to know me, I'm easy to get along with, occasionally complex, but not very often. My patience and tolerance has pretty much gone out the window in the last week or so. It all stems from two technologies: Ruby On Rails (RoR) and AJAX.

AJAX and the Spring Framework with TIBCO General Interface

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:00:00 EDT

Ajax(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) means many things to many people. However, one thing is certain: To users it implies a higher level of functionality and an improved experience. To the developer, another certainty follows: More work. The only question is how much work and to what end.

Coach Wei's "Direct From Web 2.0" Blog: Web 2.0 – the State of Confusion?

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:15:00 EDT

After spending the last 12-18 months involved in a lot of 'Web 2.0' conversations and reading a lot of 'Web 2.0' materials, I am confused. Starting from some people's question about whether Web 2.0 exists, whether/how Web 2.0 stories such as MySpace/Google/YouTube/Flickr are meaningful to enterprises, to the most recent comments from Sir Tim Berners-Lee about Web 2.0 being just 'a piece of jargon' labelling a set of old technologies - I think the world is a little confused too.

The Internet Singularity: It's the Journey Not the Destination

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 03:00:00 EDT

I have been discussing the potential implications of what is being termed - by Microsoft Technical Fellow, Dr. Gary Flake - the Internet Singularity. The core of this concept is that the Internet and physical worlds will become more and more tightly coupled. This is already happening as the world around us gets 'instrumented.'

Does RSS and AJAX Make Pageviews Obsolete?

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:45:00 EDT

Pageview counts are as susceptible as hit counts to site design decisions that have nothing to do with actual usage. That, argues Evan Williams, is part of the reason MySpace drives such an amazing number of pageviews: it's because their site design is so terrible. So what's a better measurement?

Alex Iskold's "AJAX Patterns" Series: Concurrent Document Loader Pattern

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:45:00 EDT

Pattern: Concurrent Document Loader Problem: Need to load multiple documents and can't proceed until all of them are loaded Example: Load configuration files for an AJAX application