Skip to main content
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [List Home]
Re: [e4-dev] E4 for Ajax applications? 
Hi Alex,
what you describe is a scenario we follow in the RAP [Rich Ajax Platform] project. RAP allows you to write application based on the Eclipse technology stack (OSGi/Equinox, Workbench) and remoting it to a browser of your choice. I think the diagram on this page describes best how the architecture of RAP is done: 
http://eclipse.org/rap/introduction.php
As e4 is concentrating on being a good platform for multi-user applications, RAP can now reuse the e4 stuff as-is to write powerful ajax applications without the need to write the UI in JavaScript/HTML. 

Take a look at the second part of the e4 webinar to get some more insight:
http://live.eclipse.org/node/783

You may also take a look at one of the wiki pages how to run e4 on RAP:
http://wiki.eclipse.org/E4/RAP_Integration/Experimental
One of the biggest advantages of this approach is that you don't need to reinvent the client-side on your own but can reuse existing technologies and knowledge. Furthermore with OSGi on the server-side, you're still able to put in bundles at runtime as you wish. You can even reuse the JavaScript Bundle support to write your application if you want. 

Hope that matches your idea of "e4 as a killer Ajax platform" ;-)
If there are any open questions, feel free to ask!

Regards,
 Ben

Axel Rauschmayer wrote:
I'm currently evaluating client/server solutions for Ajax applications. Does the following scenario make sense? Will this be supported in a future E4 version? When? 

- Server: OSGi modules written in either Java or JavaScript
- Client: Dojo
- Client-server communication: via JSON-RPC
- Server-side plugins should be able to contribute client-side modules. How would this be done? One possibility is for the server-side modules to contribute server-side directories that are accessible from the client. This kind of server-side file system contribution would be desirable for static content (HTML, CSS, images, ...), too.
If all of this worked, it would make E4 a killer Ajax platform. E4 would be a lightweight alternative to Spring, Aptana Jaxer, etc.
I do realize that this is the SWT/Browser Edition approach turned inside out, but it would give one excellent modularity while having more control over the GUI in the browser. Plus, server-side language agnosticism is also a cool feature. 

Axel

Back to the top