<p> Master of Science Final Project at Backbase</p><p>Subject MS Final Project – Backbase / TU Delft Period 2006/2007 Location Backbase (Amsterdam) Supervisor Mark Schiefelbein (Backbase), Arie van Deursen (TU Delft)</p><p>Project 1: Mobile AJAX</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code.</p><p>Backbase technology has been designed to work with any browser and currently supports IE, Firefox, Mozilla, and Netscape. Support for Opera and Safari is under development.</p><p>A new generation of browsers running on mobile phones and PDAs is currently entering the market. Examples of these “mobile browsers” include: - A mobile Safari derivate developed by Nokia - The Mozilla Foundation’s Minimo - Opera Mobile™ and Opera Mini These browsers are based on the same standards as the PC based browsers (XHTML, CSS, JavaScript). They are therefore well suited to run Ajax applications on them, and actually many applications do run on those browsers without changes.</p><p>However, there are many differences between PC-based and mobile browsers, both technical and usability, including: - Small screen size - Performance and memory limitations - Different interaction model - Server connectivity</p><p>The objective of the project is to research and implement support for “mobile AJAX”. The deliverables will include 3 parts: - A document that describes differences and how to address them - Changes to the AJAX engine - A sample application that demonstrates mobile AJAX for a typical use case</p><p>Project 2: Object oriented Ajax development</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code. The out-of-the-box UI widgets (e.g. tree, menu, data grid) and behaviors (e.g. field-level validation, drag&drop, etc.) are at the heart of successfully building AJAX interfaces.</p><p>The widgets consist of several parts and need to be extremely flexible: - There is a visualization and there are behaviors - There is a client and a server part - There is a widget and a skin - There is an out-of-the-box part and customizations - There are different usage and implementation patterns</p><p>Widgets and behaviors are therefore developed in an object-oriented way as part of a widget and behavior hierarchy.</p><p>The objective of the project is to research and implement support for “object oriented widgets”. The deliverables will include 3 parts: - A document that provides a complete overview of AJAX widgets and behaviors, and places them in a classification - A collection of widgets with a client part (DHTML/AJAX) and server part (.NET and JSF) - Samples that show the widgets and behaviors in action</p><p>Project 3: Ajax and Data Management in a disconnected environment</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code.</p><p><TODO> - Loosely coupled data services. - Web services. - Data bindings to AJAX widgets.</p><p>Project 4: Migrating Struts/HTML applications to JSF/Ajax</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code.</p><p>JSF is the emerging standard for Java-based web presentation frameworks. It is pushed heavily by large platform vendors such as BEA, IBM, and Oracle and also has a large following in the open source community through Apache MyFaces.</p><p>AJAX is quickly replacing more static HTML front-ends as companies want to either make their web applications richer or move legacy client-server applications to the web.</p><p>A typical use case is an existing web application, using Struts / Spring / Tiles / JSP or similar, with a static HTML front-end. Backbase has a solution to allow development and execution of advanced JSF / AJAX front-ends.</p><p>The objective of this project is to research and implement migration paths from the existing JSP / HTML front-ends to new and improved JSF / AJAX front-ends.</p><p>The project deliverables will include: - An overview of migration approaches (big bang, gradual, etc.) - An overview of technologies that can be used (e.g. tools, Apache Shale, Apache StrutsFaces, etc.) - An implementation of combined tooling and run-time support for one of the scenarios - A complete example that uses the above implementation to migrate an existing application</p><p>Project 5: Push Server</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code.</p><p>The web model, for security reasons, requires all browser / web server communication to be initiated by the client, i.e. the end user clicks on a button or link and thereby requests a new page from the server. There are, however, many use cases where it is important to update the client-side interface in response to server-side changes. For example: - An auction web site, where the users needs to be averted that another bidder has made a higher bid - A stock ticker, where stock prices are updated</p><p>Today, these types of applications are usually implemented using client-side time-outs. These solutions have many drawbacks such as infrequent updates, high server load and difficult code.</p><p>AJAX technologies allow for better solution that make it possible to trigger the update from the server.</p><p>The objective of this project is to research and implement push technologies.</p><p>The project deliverables will include: - An overview of push solutions with their advantages and drawbacks - An implementation consisting of (1) the push client that receives the updates, (2) a .NET push server and (3) a JAVA push server - An example that implements a typical use case using the push client and server</p><p>Project 6: Migrating ASP.NET applications to Ajax</p><p>The Backbase AJAX technology is targeted at developers who want to create more compelling AJAX web interfaces for any type of software application. It can be used to “ajaxify” existing web applications and it can be used to build powerful single page user interfaces from scratch. It is both used for regular web applications, as well as for embedded applications where Backbase is shipped as part of a software or hardware product (OEM).</p><p>In any application that makes use of the Backbase software, the Backbase technology takes care of all the AJAX plumbing work and makes AJAX development fast and easy. It integrates with any type of technology that can output (X)HTML.</p><p>The Backbase technology makes developers more productive in several ways: It leverages existing development skills in HTML, XML, and server-side scripting languages. It extends Eclipse, Visual Studio and DreamWeaver to allow developers to continue working from their already familiar IDE. A large set of out-of-the box UI widgets allows developers to quickly assemble interfaces from existing components. Backbase is supported by a large community of developers and shipped with extensive documentation and sample code.</p><p><TODO> - ASP.NET architecture versus Backbase AJAX architecture - Mixing and matching widgets - Migration paths - Tools</p><p>Information For further information please contact:  Mark Schiefelbein, Backbase, [email protected]  Arie van Deursen, [email protected]</p>