Alternatives To Applets On The Client Side? 21
Choron asks: "Anybody will agree that Java Appplets are great for developing complex applications for the client side, with good (but not perfect) portability. Now apart from Tcl/Tk or esoteric technology such as embedded Inferno or developing a plugin (so much for the portability), are there other solutions for developing both portable and advanced GUI applications embedded in a browser?" Currently, I think Java applets are the only way to do client-side applets with any degree of portability, but who is to say that this will always be the case. What may the future hold for applets, and will Java be the sole driving force behind the technology?
applets (Score:2)
WebStart (Score:3)
Take a look at Sun's Java WebStart [sun.com]. It looks to be Sun's successor to applet technology.
The idea is basically to create a web-enabled application. It allows you to create full blown Java applications. Every time you run a WebStart application, it checks to see if there are updates for the
Re:WebStart (Score:3)
The Applet-Desc Element
Java Web Start has support for launching Java Applets. This support provides easy migration of existing code to Java Web Start. An Applet is launched using the applet-desc element instead of the application-desc element. For example:
The JAR files that make up the Applet are described using the resources element as for applications. The documentBase must be provided explicitly since a JNLP file is not embedded in an HTML page. The rest of the attributes correspond to the respective HTML applet tag elements.
The main-class attribute is used instead of the code attribute. The main-class attribute is assigned the name of the Applet class (without the
Note: Applets must be packaged in JAR files in order to work with Java Web Start.
I hope that helps. My original suspicions (that WebStart does support applets) is now confirmed.
Cheers!
Re: Flash5.... (Score:1)
The last time I remember a "speed" like that, was on my rusty 4.77MHz 8086 (later upgraded to Nec V30) using MS Word 5.0 in (Hercules) graphics mode...
Re:What is the goal of your application? (Score:1)
Personally, I would look into using a java Applet and use some EJBs for the data access and session management. Keep as much logic as possible out of the applet and keep it in the bean. You'll have the advanatage later on of possibly converting the Applet to a series of html pages and the business logic is still confined to the bean.
What is the goal of your application? (Score:2)
If your application is just presentation like where the data stands by itself (customize a {fill in the blank}) once it is launched - then Flash may be the way to go since all the data can be confined to the Flash applet. Flash can talk to the external world also in a worst case scenario - its just the degree of difficulty of programming goes up.
portable & advanced == 0 (Score:2)
You don't mention lightweight. On that count, only JavaScript qualifies.
JPython, etc (Score:2)
You don't really make clear what you're trying to do or what your problem with the standard Java applet scheme is, so it's hard to be much more helpful than this. If you just want to make applets without using Java (I don't care for the language myself, as it happens) then something like this might help you. If on the other hand you want a more fundamental change, circumventing applets altogether, then it doesn't really matter what language you're writing them in. In that case, then some of the other suggestions (Flash, Quicktime, etc) may be more appropriate for you.
Flash5.... (Score:2)
try it out and see if it fills your needs, its a bit pricy to get the developer licience, but actionscript is pretty nice with the new changes and most things work well. Damn developer env. is not avail. on linux (runs ok in vmware though!)
Re:Flash5.... (Score:2)
QuickTime is a good cross-browser option (Score:1)
http://www.matthewpeterson.net [matthewpeterson.net] has some cool exmaples, including alarm clocks, drawing app and a chat app.
Re:Flash5.... (Score:1)
Re:WebStart (Score:1)
Re:portable & advanced == 0 (Score:1)
Re:What is the goal of your application? (Score:1)
Re:JPython, etc (Score:1)
However, having a VM run inside the browser (with the Java plugin or not), consumes much resources and the startup time is a little long (several seconds on even a decent computer).
That's right, I don't really mind about what language to use, it could either be Python or Flash script, but it should be lightweigtht, portable and ideally should come with a bunch of standard "advanced" components (formatting fields, tables, trees,...).
I know it's tough requirements, but there must be a damn product/project down here that meets them, isn't it ?
Re:QuickTime is a good cross-browser option (Score:1)
Re:WebStart (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:JPython, etc (Score:1)
Larry Wall was asked about that when he spoke at the Cincinnati GNU/Linux Users Group [clug.org] last night. He pretty much rolled his eyes, shrugged, mentioned a masters candidate's thesis he'd just passed that had asserted that it would be very difficult to do, and went on to talk about a conversation he'd had with someone from Sun who'd admitted that part of the design goals included making it extremely difficult to port C to the JVM.
Re: Flash5.... (Score:1)
ps. I hate flash.
-- Eat your greens or I'll hit you!