Re: Beginners question: three-tier app with cocoa client
Re: Beginners question: three-tier app with cocoa client
- Subject: Re: Beginners question: three-tier app with cocoa client
- From: David Avendasora <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 07:21:41 +0100
While iTunes itself may be a cocoa/carbon/whatever application, so is
Safari. The part of iTunes that interacts with the Music Store
certainly doesn't act like a regular Cocoa application, it acts like
a, wait for it, web application.
The UI for the store is entirely contained within the right-hand
pane, and almost anything you click on sends a request back to the
server and loads a new page. There isn't anything in the UI of the
iTMS portion of iTunes that can't be done with HTML/JavaScript. Gmail
and Google Maps has far more user interactivity without loading/
reloading than iTunes does.
While the iTMS is not an HTML-based web application it acts just like
one. Instead of the server sending HTML to iTunes it sends XML.
iTunes then processes this XML to create the UI you see. This site
explains it well with just a few words: http://www.aaronsw.com/2002/
itms/ and here's someone that wrote their own front-end to the iTMS:
http://nanocrew.net/software/sharpmusique/
On the issue of non-web-based WO front ends, I am working on a Java
Client WO application right now and it has been an eye-opening
experience.
<vent>It is far more difficult, there is far less documentation, and
there is far less support for it. On top of all this, you still need
to know many of the same things that someone developing a web-based
WO application would need to know, there's no training classes, third-
party books hardly even mention that there is way to develop a
WebObjects application other than web-based, let alone help with it.</
vent>
Despite my venting, I recommend that if you REALLY need the
interactivity of a true application, go with the Java Client. Writing
a true client-server application where there is logic/data-processing
running on both the client and the server is much more complicated
and will generate far more network traffic than writing a web-based
application where all the processing is done on the server. Creating
a web-based application using AJAX is just going to present you with
the same data-synchronization issues as a Java Client application.
With Java Client at least you have tools provided by WO to help with
tasks such as keeping data in sync between the client and server
portions of the code. And if you application is simple enough, you
can even get by with using Direct to Java Client which will build the
UI automatically for you based on your EOModel.
As an additional benefit, your Java client application will be cross-
platform.
And I could use a little company around here! ;)
Dave
On Apr 21, 2006, at 8:51 AM, Frank Herzog wrote:
Or, to put it in other words: I've read that WO is the technology
behind the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes application itself is
pure Cocoa, I guess. But what is actually connecting the two?
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Webobjects-dev mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden