Web Info & Tutorials

The Dojo team released v0.9 last week which included some big enhancements to the Dijit component library, the core of Dojo and DojoX. While its always good to hear about new features coming out, it’s equally important to know who is benefiting from the enhancements.

Alex Russell, lead developer of the Dojo project, did just that in a recent blog post:

In particular, Plaxo Pulse, AOL’s TinyBuddy (app here) and the new Bloglines beta are all 0.9 based and the experience really shows it. They’re all “data stream” apps, things you fire up and then leave open or spend lots of time in, and they’re amazingly useable, responsive, and useful.

These are impressive names and really shows the power that the Dojo framework provides. Great job Alex and the Dojo team!

Last week I posted about AjaxRain.com and at the end of the post I asked for links to other sites that were along the same lines. Well, someone posted about another very cool site called WebAppers.com which has amassed an amazing collection of widgets, apps and content.

So I hit it up today and BAM, the first widget I find is a very cool file upload control for Jack Slocum’s Ext framework. Ext is known for its rich UI controls so any widget made to compliment it is usually pretty sweet looking as well and this one follows suit. While very simple in appearance, it seems to pack some nice horsepower:

Files are first added to an “upload queue” and then they are uploaded to the server. Any file can be individually removed from the queue before upload or the whole queue can be cleared.

It seems every major library is on a mission to build a nice and stable file upload control and it seems that the Ext community has found one of its own.

Adobe AIR is rattling effort a aggregation of advise and I hit to feature that I am a follower of the technology. Having embellish from a client-server background, its pleasant to investment the technologies that I’m currently using to physique screen apps.

There are pros and cons, though, and I conceive Tim playwright has finished an superior employ of organisation whatever of the beatific and intense of Adobe AIR:

Some pros:

1. Fast execution. ActionScript 3.0 has a JIT (just-in-time) compiler, swing it on a par with Java or .NET for nakedness performance.

2. Cross-platform. AIR apps module separate on Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X (PowerPC and Intel), UNIX (though not in the beta).

3. Easy transmutation of existing Flex or HTML applications. It’s the aforementioned base runtime. In the housing of HTML, AIR apps rely on WebKit, the set factor in Apple’s Safari scheme browser.

4. Easy installation. Provided the runtime has installed successfully, instalment AIR applications is probable to be be trouble-free, since every the files go into the covering directory.

Some cons:

1. Limited extensibility. AIR apps hit enter access, clipboard access, hold binary windows, hold inspire and drop, and crapper causing notifications (”toast” in Windows). If you app needs to interact with the screen in another ways, the chances are that AIR is not suitable. For example, there’s no admittance to COM automation, and no artefact to fulfil outside applications. The think is to reassert cross-platform compatibility. That’s a commendable goal, but it would be beatific to hit a artefact discover of the sandbox. Unlike Java or .NET, you cannot modify AIR with bespoken autochthonous cipher libraries. Nor crapper you call operative grouping APIs.

2. Database admittance restricted to SQLite or scheme services.

3. Enterprises requirement to listing discover applications over the meshwork in a dominated manner. AIR has no limited hold for project deployment. On Windows, AIR does not ingest the Windows Installer service. Either Adobe or 3rd parties module requirement to create deployment wrappers to overcome this.

4. Proprietary technology. AIR applications depend on Adobe’s runtime.

Two things that I’m not quite in distinction with are his concerns most the copyrighted nature of AIR and section concerns. First, existence “proprietary” doesn’t stingy its a intense thing. I actualise that grouping hit embellish habitual to OSS but that doesn’t stingy that EVERYTHING needs to be OSS in visit to be a priceless solution.

Secondly, I had a enthusiastic word call with Adobe regarding the section considerations with antiquity AIR apps and crapper feature that they are rattling such in set with this. They’ve had word calls with whatever JavaScript business heavyweights and are attractive section VERY seriously.

Overall, though, Tim does contact on whatever rattling key points and its definitely a beatific feature for those considering Adobe AIR.