[OT] applications

[John Dangler]

On Fri, 2007-02-16 at 10:13 +0100, Kristian Rink wrote:
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> John;
> 
> [John Dangler <jdangler at atlantic.net> @ Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:57:06 -0500]
> 
> > I'm looking to design a user interface for an application, and wanted
> > to ask the list if they have any suggestions for a "visual layout
> > tool" that would work?
> [...]
> > I'd like to do this app in a language that is scalable, web-enabled,
> > and can make use of xml doc files...
> 
> You should be more specific in what you want to build:
> - - Does "web-enabled" mean "web application", in your case? Or should it
>   also be a desktop-based application?
> - - What language / platform do you want to use? Java? LAMP? Some sort of
>   CGI? Zope/Python?
> - - Do you want to make use of some more "high-level" framework
>   (Ruby-on-Rails, django, grails, JSF, ...) or merely the lowest
>   meaningful abstraction level possible (in case of Java EE:
>   JSP+Servlets)?
java, python, ruby, php, xhtml, C, they all came to mind... that's why I
posed the question.  While I was looking more toward a visual layout
tool alone, I know I had an entire IDE in the back of my mind, which
would probably be optimal since it would certainly make the transition
go easier from logic/conceptual to physical modeling of the application.
(I'm not familiar with django)...  

> 
> If you want to go for a desktop application that also works "online",
> go for some Java-based solution and use a Java Application (for
> desktop) as well as a Java Applet (for web) project. NetBeans comes
> with the Matisse GUI builder that should provide pleasant support for
> building user interfaces for the both of them.
This sounds like the direction I have in mind.  I did the initial
backend design as a small star schema (only 18 core tables) in mysql 5,
and I already did an xsd version of the build, so putting the classes
together in almost any language wouldn't be too difficult.  I'm
envisioning this as (primarily) a desktop application that could be used
locally, but could also connect to a (presumably LAMP) server for the
backend work.  Having never rigged a server for java applications, I'm
not sure what that would entail, but I'm willing to give it a go, since
I did manage to get my Ubuntu server to run pretty well with Apache 2,
mysql 5, php5, qmail, and bind9 (it started with breezy and currently
runs dapper, although I really want to upgrade it to edgy).
> 
> If you want to go for a web-only Java solution, NetBeans also provides
> you with a "Visual Web Pack" that allows for building JSF based visual
> applications in rather short time, assuming you know all the gory
> details about the framework and do have some basic understanding of JEE
> development as well as deployment infrastructure - the NetBeans site
> comes with loads of tutorials that could be helpful here.
My java/J2EE is a bit rusty, but since I've been accepted to a
dual-degree program which starts this month, I've had a chance to speak
to one of my IT professors who tells me that I'll get plenty of chances
to bone up on it, since they're using java/net beans as the basis for
all of the OO coursework (I think they specifically mentioned Sun Studio
as an IDE).
> 
> If you want to build a "low-level" online application, go for some
> visual HTML editor (NVu, Seamonkey Composer, ...), create and style some
> XHTML forms and build some backend logic in your favorite environment
> to do the actual work. 
I thought about this, but I really want something more robust so that,
in the off chance that I can get this app off the ground, I'd like to
make it available to the Ubuntu community (primarily).  It's a sorely
needed application that I haven't seen too much out there that meets
this particular need...
> 
> Choice is up to you, however. :)
> Cheers,
> Kristian
I really appreciate the well thought out reply!  It really helps.  My
main skills are in data architecture and database
design/modeling/development, although I've done my share of UI's on a
couple of dozen application projects, but I really need a leg up when it
comes to going through the SDLC for myself.
> 
> 
> 
> - -- 
> Kristian Rink * http://zimmer428.net * http://flickr.com/photos/z428/
> jab: kawazu at jabber.ccc.de * icq: 48874445 * fon: ++49 176 2447 2771
> "One dreaming alone, it will be only a dream; many dreaming together
> is the beginning of a new reality." (Hundertwasser)
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