Evaluation Ria Frameworks

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-Evaluation of Of RIA Platforms for iFoundry3.0-Flex/GWT/Silverlight/JavaFx


Agenda

– Requirements for ifoundry 3.0

– Criterias for selection of RIA platform

– Adobe’s Flex Offering.

– Microsoft Silverlight Offering

– Google’s Web Development Kit Offering

– Sun’s Java Fx Offering.

– Comparison chart

– Conclusion.


Requirements for Ifoundry 3.0

Workbench to be made available over the web. Rich desktop type user experience required . Workflow capabilities should be supported. Content to be accessed via services or API. Generic solution which can adapt to different verticals. Loosely coupled, easy to extend, maintain, and propagate changes. Technology agnostic – should support both Java and .Net Data storage mechanism to be XML based. Data Services Layer should be independent of technology.


Criterias for Selection View based on generic technologies. Domain specific language for UI and Graphics. Cross platform , cross domain and cross browser support. No fuss installation and easy upgrade options. Should facilitate rich look and feel with flexibility of customization. Should Enable rich interaction with backend services via AJAX or other medium. Should have built in UI components and data binding capabilities with flexibility of adding custom components.


Should facilitate integration with backend technologies . Should not have a very steep learning curve and enable faster development cycles. Should have good tools to facilitate large scale development. Should have a good level of maturity with a industry wise adoption. Last but not the least should give a good ROI and preferably be open source.

Criterias for Selection….cont


Options:

Adobe’s Flex.

Microsoft’s Silverlight/WPF.

Google’s Web Development Kit.

Sun’s JavaFx..


Flex:Front runner in RIA Technology, it is cross platform, cross browser, it was concieved as a DSL language for rich UI development. Uses a combination of MXML(XUL) ActionScript(ECMAScript) and integrates with backend services written in Java or .Net. Flex SDK is open source and it provides a comprehensive set of tools..Flexbuilder, LCDS, and AIR to develop and deploy RIA apps on web and desktop.

Offers offlining, data synch, collaboration and paging out of the box. Requires a flash player to run the compiled .swf file on browser, available as a free download.

Has got wide industry adoption and 90% of consumer RIA application today is Flex based.


Microsoft’s venture in RIA technology, it offers a solid platform for rich UI and media .

It is based on XAML and ASP/C#/VB.net AJAX code and fits well into the .Net Architecture.

Contrary to its claim, its does not have cross platform support -it is not supported on Linux and Solaris even though ‘moonlight’ – Novell’s implementation of Silverlight on Linux is out there in the market.

Desktop application developed in WPF can be seamlessly deployed on the web as XBAP.Offers rich controls, datasynch, paging and offlining capabilities.

Catching up with Flex, it stills lacks in industry adoption.

SilverLight:


GWT: Concieved as a AJAX framework for rich user interaction, it offers a robust platform for Java based RIA’s.

Code written in Java compiles and gets generated to mutiple version of Javascript and HTML to achieve platform and browser independency.

Offers a wide range of widgets and controls and integrates with services written in any language.

Offers workflow,collaboration and offlining capabilities by integration with Google Wave and Google Gears.

Clearly the platform of choice for Java based RIA’s it lacks full RIA capabilities. This is evident from the fact that Google uses Flash for Google Analytics ,Google Video and You Tube.


JavaFx: Pretty late in the game, it is a rich client platform which sits on top and leverages the JavaSE capabilities.

It does not have dependencies on Javascript and it based on a new scripting language FXScript.

Riding on the Java Run time, it offers rendering capabilities not only on desktop and browser but also on mobile and other devices.

Offers UI components, graphics and data binding capabilities and excellent tooling support for large scale development.

Enhanced collaboration and workflow capabilities .

Even though its behind the race, with the aggressive strategy adopted by Sun it can soon become the defacto for java based RIA


Comparison Chart FLEX SILVERLIGHT GWT JAVA FX

Built in Controls Yes Yes Yes Yes

Javascript dependency

No JavaScript AJAX based AJAX based No JavaScript

Cross platform Win,Mac,Linux,Solaris

No Linux and Solaris Win,Mac, Linux,Solaris

Win, Mac, Linux,Solaris

Cross Browser IE, Safari,,Opera, Chrome, Firefox

IE,Moz,Safari, Opera IE, Moz, Safari, Opera, Chrome

IE, Moz, Safari, Opera, Chrome

Collaboration and Workflow

Out of the box Needs integration with WF

Google Wave and Gears Needs integration


Comparison Chart cont… FLEX SILVERLIGHT GWT JAVA FX

Accessibility As a plugin As a plugin No plugin No plugin

Offlining, Paging and Data Synch

LCDS LiveMesh GoogleGears Needs integration

Open Source Flex SDK /AIR but LCDS is not

SilverLightSDK is ,but other tools are not.

Full Full

Interoperability Yes Limited . Yes Rides on Java EE

Modes of Integration

Http, WebServices, Remoting, Messaging

Http, WebServices, COM

GWT RPC, Http, WebServices

Java EE



Serialization Protocol

XML, JSON,AMF XML, JSON JSON Java Object

Performance Flex /AMF wins the race

Uses Ajax with XML, JSON

Uses JSON with Ajax Uses JavaFXScript

Desktop Deployment

AIR ClickOnce Curl Webstart

Tools support Flex Builder, AIR Visual Studio NetBeans/Ecplise NetBeans/Ecplise

Security Uses AMF which is anytime secured than XML/JSON

Gets compromised with any AJAX fwk

Gets compromised with any AJAX fwk

Java Security model



Learning Curve Steep- MXML + ActionSript + LCDS

Medium -XML + C# or ASP.Net

Medium – GWT Remoting

Steep - New languaage JavaFx

Speed of Development

With Cairgnorm Architecture its faster

AJAX dev takes lot of time to achieve certain task

AJAX dev takes lot of time to achieve certain task

Initial ramp up time , later on its fast

Resource Availability

Flex developers are a rare breed.

Readily available Readily available Has drawn Java EE developers attention.

Organization support and evolution.

Here to stay and continue to evolve.

This was razorfish product which was acquired by MS

Google’s backing behind a tech can not be questioned.

Sun and Java is here to stay for long. And this would continue to evolve.

Maturity and Industry Adoption

More than 90% consumer apps

Catching up For small websites and low end apps

New entrant , but it promises a lot as it leverages entire java stack


Conclusion

• The choice of framework would depend upon factors such as development timeframe, developers skill level on choosen technology, ease of maintenance and environment , tools availability for rapid application development.

• Clearly when it comes to RIA’s, Flex with its cross platform, cross browser, richness, integration support and tool options leads the pack .

• Moreover because it’s concieved as a DSL language for UI dev, it’s the technology of choice for modelers, designers and developers.

• It terms of learning curve, any of the technologies would involve some degree of ramp-up time. GWT, being fully open source leverages the best practices and tools option of JavaEE and fits the bill for a quick dev cycles, even though there is a caveat of Javascript dependency.

• iFoundry does not either have a very flashy UI requirement nor it requires any of the features of offlining and datasynch.In this case flex with a more steeper learning curve would be an overkill and we are better off with GWT or even JavaFx, integrating with data services whoose implementation is open for discussion.

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Evaluation Ria Frameworks