IBM DeveloperWorks : Web architecture : Technical library

Get an overview of the Abstract User Interface Markup Language (AUIML) Web Toolkit (AWT). Learn how the AWT makes it possible to develop Web 2.0 interfaces quickly and easily by merging the ease-of-use and expressiveness of the AUIML visual designer with the versatility of the Dojo toolkit. Rapid development of user interfaces is made possible thanks to the AUIML visual editor and also because of the availability of a number of ready-to-use patterns. Experience has shown that the combination of these two factors provide a significant increase in productivity, and this is even more true considering the fact that, currently, there is no comparable technology that targets a Dojo interface.

Adobe has released the free, open source Flex SDK framework to enable developers to create Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). The Flex framework provides you with a method of creating cross-browser, cross-platform Web applications that is quick and simple. Flex applications run in the Flash player, which is installed on the majority of Internet-connected computers, but Flex provides you with an object-oriented user interface framework similar to Java's Swing. In this tutorial, develop a Facebook application in Adobe Flex that displays a slideshow of a user's Facebook photo albums. The Facebook application will contain a Profile box listing all of the user's photo albums, each a link to a Flex slideshow of that album. The Flex application will use the Facebook REST API to fetch the photos of the selected Facebook album and dynamically generate the slideshow.

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) are staples of Web 2.0 development. In this installment of the Mastering Grails series, author Scott Davis demonstrates the native JSON and Ajax capabilities baked into the Web framework.

Just because IBM WebSphere sMash simplifies Web 2.0 application development and deployment doesn't mean you have to scarifice clustering and high availability. Learn how to use your WebSphere sMash application JVMs as a cluster in IBM WebSphere Virtual Enterprise, and how the On Demand Router component can help you easily manage request flows to these sMash applications. (IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal)

Developing mobile applications can be a daunting task. With hundreds of handsets to develop against and support, mobile application development can be time consuming and costly. Fortunately, Yahoo! Blueprint helps alleviate this pain by providing a single way to develop mobile applications. With Blueprint, you can author a mobile application one time that can be targeted at mobile devices with a browser (or devices that support the Blueprint platform), allowing you to potentially reach thousands of users. In this tutorial you will see how to develop a weather mobile widget using the Yahoo! Blueprint platform.

Do Firefox3 and Internet Explorer 7 look different? What's the best way to get these browsers to behave the same way? Should you use pixels or em values? Regular developerWorks author Judith M. Myerson shows you how to standardize displays on Web portals running on Firefox and IE. She gives tricks and tips for using em values to make the job of developing the contents of portals, including Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) applications, much easier.

XUL is a tried and true application framework. In fact, the recently released Firefox 3.0 is not only built using XUL, but provides a XUL runtime environment that enables any Firefox user to run other XUL applications. In this tutorial, you start to program in XUL and learn about some tools to help you develop XUL apps. Build a XUL-based blog editor as you enhance your Web development skills to build desktop apps with XUL.

You know Wikipedia, but do you know of the dozens of related sites that provide user-generated content that is just as valuable? Many of the related sites under the Wikipedia umbrella are very useful to Web developers. Learn how to enrich your information space with resources beyond Wikipedia, including examples of widgets applying data from these sites.

Wicket provides an object-oriented approach toward developing dynamic Web-based UI applications. Because Wicket is pure Java and HTML code, you can leverage your knowledge of Java programming to write applications based on Wicket, dramatically reducing your development time. This article gives you an overview of Wicket and describes how you can use Wicket to rapidly build Web-based applications in a non-intrusive and simplified way.

The Web has increasingly become a medium for showing off art. From candid snapshots taken by an amateur photographer to professional art galleries, Web pages are primary vehicles for displaying images. But a beautiful image is hindered--or aided--by its frame. Using a simple JavaScript library, you can "frame" your online images beautifully and provide an intuitive user interface along the way.

JQuery is emerging as the JavaScript library of choice for developers looking to ease their creation of dynamic Rich Internet Applications. As browser-based applications continue to replace desktop applications, the use of these libraries will only continue to grow. Get to know jQuery in this series of articles that takes a look at JQuery and how you can implement it in your own Web application projects.

Unit testing is an important part of quality software development, particularly in the agile and extreme programming development methodology. Traditionally, automated unit testing of Web 2.0 client-side user interfaces was difficult and often not attempted. However, Dojo provides a unit testing harness that lets you evaluate both JavaScript functionality and the visualization of the user interface. This results in a thoroughly tested user interface that will ultimately contain significantly fewer bugs. This article demonstrates the main features of the Dojo Objective Harness (DOH) and describes its superior capabilities compared with other test harnesses for Web 2.0 applications.

The Semantic Web envisioned by Berners-Lee, Hendler, and Lassila in 2001 was a grandiose vision that involved the use of agents to book doctor appointments and to find the best driving routes with the least hassle. The envisaged system was built upon formal ontologies that had already achieved a large following of scientists and agent developers. Although they raised some important issues and put forward interesting connections between technologies, they missed one thing: the fact that the Web had turned into a web of documents. Therefore, a middle way needed to occur between the formalism of ontologies and the informalism of documents. This is known as Linked Data. Linked Data coupled with agent technology is an ideal way of dealing with Semantic Web data. This article provides an overview of the Interlinked Semantic Web, agent technologies, and an example of the two combined.

Dojo is being used more and more in Web-based applications. Many developers have strong skills in Java programming, but only limited experience in JavaScript. They can struggle with the conceptual leap from a strongly typed, object-oriented compilation language to a dynamic, weakly typed scripting language. This confusion can make it difficult for developers to correctly declare Dojo classes. This article helps clear up this confusion, shows why it may be necessary to set context, and describes how to go about it.

An old Java technology hand and new Enhydra partisan, the author urges developers to consider alternatives to JavaServer Pages (JSP) servlets when choosing an approach to coding Web applications. JSP technology, part of Sun's J2EE platform and programming model, serves as a solution to the common dilemma of how to turn drab content into a visually appealing presentation layer. The fact is, Web developers aren't uniformly happy with JSP technology. Since many variations on the Sun technology are now available, you can choose from a number of presentation technologies. This article takes an in-depth look at JSP coding and explores some attractive alternatives.

Learn how to construct your own library cataloging system for your home using IBM WebSphere sMash to create a dynamic user interface and REpresentational State Transfer (RESTful) interface to a Derby database of books. You'll be able to do the usual list, create, retrieve, update, and delete (LCRUD) operations, but most of all you'll have fun exploring this fantastic new software. (IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal)

Mashups are a new, highly interactive Web development methodology. Essentially a mix of related content put together from disparate sources, mashups provide rich dynamic content for a superb user experience. Getting Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) and mashup chops into your development toolbox will benefit you with high demand in the evolving Web 2.0 workspace.

The Creative Commons (CC) initiative develops popular licenses for content, including Web content. Some people think using these licenses means giving up all your rights to content, but this is just one of many misconceptions. Learn how to choose and use CC licenses for your Web sites and applications and how to process these licenses in code.

Using Non-Blocking I/O (NIO) improves server performance drastically because of its efficient use of system resources (threads). The gain in performance is noticeable in Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax) applications with long polling mechanisms. It also lets you control system-resource usage on a server under pressure. This article explains how to optimize your server for performance during the handling of both Ajax and regular requests.

One of the best sources for geographical information for users and developers is a shining example of the power of open data. GeoNames is a database, Web service, and destination site for all things geographical. It has a rich, RESTful API and offers Semantic Web features using Linking Open Data conventions. Learn how to use GeoNames, as a user and as a developer.