Edinburgh is the hometown of Runtime Revolution Ltd, the guys behind Revolution - and the scene of this year's RunRevLive conference. After the huge success of last year's conference in Las Vegas, it has the makings of yet aother groundbreaking conference, focusing on the revWeb browser plug-in, the new product line-up (revMedia for free, revStudio and revEnterprise for extremely affordable prices) and the unveiling of revServer (the engine behind On-Rev).
When the crew asked me to present at this conference, I jumped at the chance to not just be there as one of the many attendees, but share my experiences with the rest of the community - as I have done for years on the use-revolution mailing list and the official forums. After submitting proposals, I got the green light for three presentations: 'Working with Java Classes', 'Desktop Databases with SQLite' and 'Basic Reports & Output.'
'Working with Java Classes' (Day Zero) delves into the various ways Revolution applications can interact with Java classes: a half-hour rollercoaster ride along shell commands, process comunication, socket communication, web services, message queues and externals.
'Desktop Databases with SQLite' (Day One) will take you on a trip through a straightforward desktop application where the data is stored in an SQLite database. By the end, you should have a pretty good idea how to quickly develop a database front-end with revStudio or revEnterprise.
'Basic Reports & Output' (Day One) will use the same desktop application to demonstrate various ways of reporting: generating HTML and RTF documents, using Excel as reporting vehicle in multiple ways, sending stuff to the printer using the built-in commands, and (obviously) how you ca make your life easier with Quartam Reports and Quartam PDF Library for Revolution.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the conference, both familiar and new faces - there are few things better than finally meeting someone you've only known through exchanging emails, or going for drinks with someone you only get to see via these get-togethers. Plenty of good stuff, and no jet-lag for me as it's only a hop accross the channel :-)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
revMedia 4 - a Revolution on the Web
First announced last year at the runrevlive'08 conference in Las Vegas, the RunRev team has unveiled the first public alpha of their revWeb browser plug-in - the easiest way to create RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) for use on Mac, Windows and Linux. [click here to read the press release]
And to top it off, the revMedia toolkit will be absolutely free. No longer do you have to cobble together an AJAX-based RIA using JavaScript in the browser and PHP or something else on the back-end; you can stop wondering why the Flash designer tool just doesn't think like you and me; gone are the days of pondering if Microsoft is going to cripple Silverlight on other platforms; and you don't even have to place bets on whether or not JavaFX is really such a splendid idea from server-focused Sun (the beleaguered company that is soon-to-be-gobbled-up-by-Oracle, if you're not keeping tabs on that platform).
This is it: start of with revMedia, and deploy to the web; move up to revStudio when you need to build desktop applications that are native for each platform and don't require a 50 MB runtime download; and move up again to revEnterprise when you need Oracle or SSL; and when you need easy hosting that uses the exact same language to create dynamic websites, On-Rev is your platform of choice.
To be frank, I've always expressed my dismay regarding browsers as a deployment platform for 'real' business applications. Maybe if XUL had taken off, building a feature-rich application running inside a browser would have made more sense. But including miles and miles of JavaScript to try and mimick a desktop app, that was clearly an impressive workaround, but still a hobbled experience.
So I'm glad to see that the Revolution has hit the web, and we'll see a renaissance of good ol' HyperCard: easy to program and easy to run. Keep up the good work, RunRev team!
And to top it off, the revMedia toolkit will be absolutely free. No longer do you have to cobble together an AJAX-based RIA using JavaScript in the browser and PHP or something else on the back-end; you can stop wondering why the Flash designer tool just doesn't think like you and me; gone are the days of pondering if Microsoft is going to cripple Silverlight on other platforms; and you don't even have to place bets on whether or not JavaFX is really such a splendid idea from server-focused Sun (the beleaguered company that is soon-to-be-gobbled-up-by-Oracle, if you're not keeping tabs on that platform).
This is it: start of with revMedia, and deploy to the web; move up to revStudio when you need to build desktop applications that are native for each platform and don't require a 50 MB runtime download; and move up again to revEnterprise when you need Oracle or SSL; and when you need easy hosting that uses the exact same language to create dynamic websites, On-Rev is your platform of choice.
To be frank, I've always expressed my dismay regarding browsers as a deployment platform for 'real' business applications. Maybe if XUL had taken off, building a feature-rich application running inside a browser would have made more sense. But including miles and miles of JavaScript to try and mimick a desktop app, that was clearly an impressive workaround, but still a hobbled experience.
So I'm glad to see that the Revolution has hit the web, and we'll see a renaissance of good ol' HyperCard: easy to program and easy to run. Keep up the good work, RunRev team!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Another Batch of New Items on my Bookshelf
Packt Publishing Ltd is celebrating its 5th Anniversay - and I couldn't resist their special deal of 5 books for 75 euros. So my book collection got expanded with the following titles.
Service Oriented Architecture with Java was the first book that caught my eye. It gives a broad overview of why SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) is a good approach to developing new and combining existing applications. It also does a good job explaining the difference between tradition EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and SOA, and why using an ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) is a good idea to assemble all the parts.
Having finished this book the dame day as it arrived, I have to say I liked the content, but was a little confused by some of the sentence constructs; it doesn't help when both the authors and the reviewer are non-native English speakers; I had it a little easier since I worked with developers from India in a not-too-distant past. Even though a technical book doesn't have to read like poetry, an editor should prevent from adding to the complexity of the material.
Service Oriented Java Business Integration was the logical next item, as JBI is one of those items I have a particular interest in. Even though this book is centered around Apache ServiceMix, I'm sure I'll be able to apply its principles to the alternative Glassfish OpenESB open-source project backed by Sun. Especially when I combine its contents with what I learned from the book Building SOA-Based Composite Applications Using NetBeans IDE 6 that I picked up last year.
Java EE 5 Development with NetBeans 6 continues the theme of my desire to learn more about Java EE development with NetBeans and Glassfish. Currently about a third into this book, I find it a good companion to the book Java EE 5 Development using GlassFish Application Server by the same author, which I also picked up last year - naturally, there is some overlap, but I have the memory of a goldfish and the author really does a good job of explaining things.
EJB 3 Developer Guide wraps up the enterprise-oriented book tour. Packed with practical examples, it gets straight to business. When I want a more architectural point-of-view, I can always refer back to the book EJB 3 in Action, published by Manning, which is three times the size but also contains more of the theory and differences between EJB 3 and older versions - and how the introduction of Java EE 5 really did simplify development a lot.
Swing Extreme Testing may seem like the odd-one-out, but what's the use of building an enterprise application back-end, if no one can see the contents? Having built a number of Swing-based front-ends, I can attest it takes time to get it "right" - and I'm sure I'm still doing things wrong. I sure wish someone would publish a book that explains best practices for Swing user interface development like Effective Java does for the Java language.
But I digress. While I've gradually converted to using JUnit for writing unit tests for the classes that make up the domain model, I still have to decide on a framework for testing the user interface. Once I've worked my way through this book, I'll be sure to check out FEST (Fixtures for Easy Software Testing) as the online articles I've read are quite favorable to this framework.
Ah, so much to read, so many experiments to conduct - and only so little time...
Service Oriented Architecture with Java was the first book that caught my eye. It gives a broad overview of why SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) is a good approach to developing new and combining existing applications. It also does a good job explaining the difference between tradition EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and SOA, and why using an ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) is a good idea to assemble all the parts.
Having finished this book the dame day as it arrived, I have to say I liked the content, but was a little confused by some of the sentence constructs; it doesn't help when both the authors and the reviewer are non-native English speakers; I had it a little easier since I worked with developers from India in a not-too-distant past. Even though a technical book doesn't have to read like poetry, an editor should prevent from adding to the complexity of the material.
Service Oriented Java Business Integration was the logical next item, as JBI is one of those items I have a particular interest in. Even though this book is centered around Apache ServiceMix, I'm sure I'll be able to apply its principles to the alternative Glassfish OpenESB open-source project backed by Sun. Especially when I combine its contents with what I learned from the book Building SOA-Based Composite Applications Using NetBeans IDE 6 that I picked up last year.
Java EE 5 Development with NetBeans 6 continues the theme of my desire to learn more about Java EE development with NetBeans and Glassfish. Currently about a third into this book, I find it a good companion to the book Java EE 5 Development using GlassFish Application Server by the same author, which I also picked up last year - naturally, there is some overlap, but I have the memory of a goldfish and the author really does a good job of explaining things.
EJB 3 Developer Guide wraps up the enterprise-oriented book tour. Packed with practical examples, it gets straight to business. When I want a more architectural point-of-view, I can always refer back to the book EJB 3 in Action, published by Manning, which is three times the size but also contains more of the theory and differences between EJB 3 and older versions - and how the introduction of Java EE 5 really did simplify development a lot.
Swing Extreme Testing may seem like the odd-one-out, but what's the use of building an enterprise application back-end, if no one can see the contents? Having built a number of Swing-based front-ends, I can attest it takes time to get it "right" - and I'm sure I'm still doing things wrong. I sure wish someone would publish a book that explains best practices for Swing user interface development like Effective Java does for the Java language.
But I digress. While I've gradually converted to using JUnit for writing unit tests for the classes that make up the domain model, I still have to decide on a framework for testing the user interface. Once I've worked my way through this book, I'll be sure to check out FEST (Fixtures for Easy Software Testing) as the online articles I've read are quite favorable to this framework.
Ah, so much to read, so many experiments to conduct - and only so little time...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Vive la Revolution!
It has been a busy month of April at the Runtime Revolution HQ - last week we witnessed the release of Revolution 3.5, with its data grid and behavior scripting, and this week they've announced the On-Rev web hosting initiative.
Since the unveiling of the RunRev web strategy at the runrevlive '08 conference, last year in Las Vegas, Rev-afficionados around the globe have been eagerly anticipating the day where they can do away with the mix-and-match (or should that be 'mismatch'?) of technologies needed to build modern, Internet-enabled applications.
With customers and end-users requesting applications that work on desktops and web-browsers alike, developers have been forced to use combinations of JavaScript, Flash, .NET, Java and a myriad of frameworks to deliver solutions where not all features might have been fully implemented accross the different client interfaces.
With the Revolution of the Future, developers will finally be able to build those same solutions with a comprehensive technology stack based on one language, and have it work as a desktop application or in a web browser, backed by business logic with database access on the server-side.
Java promised us this 15 years ago, and then kinda-sorta forgot about this promise. Granted, Java SE 6u10 finally fixed the Applets experience, and Java EE 5 definitely simplified server-side development; but in their panic to provide an alternative to Flash, they produced JavaFX with a new scripting language that doesn't even work like Java.
In short, I think the RunRev team has a winner on their hands - and I am definitely looking forward to putting these new Revolution technologies to good use.
Since the unveiling of the RunRev web strategy at the runrevlive '08 conference, last year in Las Vegas, Rev-afficionados around the globe have been eagerly anticipating the day where they can do away with the mix-and-match (or should that be 'mismatch'?) of technologies needed to build modern, Internet-enabled applications.
With customers and end-users requesting applications that work on desktops and web-browsers alike, developers have been forced to use combinations of JavaScript, Flash, .NET, Java and a myriad of frameworks to deliver solutions where not all features might have been fully implemented accross the different client interfaces.
With the Revolution of the Future, developers will finally be able to build those same solutions with a comprehensive technology stack based on one language, and have it work as a desktop application or in a web browser, backed by business logic with database access on the server-side.
Java promised us this 15 years ago, and then kinda-sorta forgot about this promise. Granted, Java SE 6u10 finally fixed the Applets experience, and Java EE 5 definitely simplified server-side development; but in their panic to provide an alternative to Flash, they produced JavaFX with a new scripting language that doesn't even work like Java.
In short, I think the RunRev team has a winner on their hands - and I am definitely looking forward to putting these new Revolution technologies to good use.
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