It is no secret that there are two development environments to consider when developing Rich Internet Applications -the client-side and the server-side. How to integrate these two environments can pose a perplexing problem for developers, leading them to search for a solution like WebORB.
While many developers are skilled in either client- or server-side programming, few are experts in both and fewer still are experts in integration. Typically the painful task of writing the integration code falls to the server-side developers, who are only too happy to find a better way to do integration. WebORB was created to take the burden of integration off the shoulders of developers, enabling them to focus more on their core areas of expertise. As a result, WebORB enables workflow to be more efficient and the following 5 integration problems resolved.
Problem #1: How can I, as a developer, create and manage a complex integration code base that is spread across multiple environments? WebORB Console offers a powerful way to learn about, create, test and manage your integration code all from within a single user interface. In fact, the Alcora Group, a purchasing and logicstics company, recommends WebORB for agile projects, because “We have constantly changing requirements and the WebORB data management console is a great tool for reducing our development time.”
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Problem #2 Uggh! I’m spending all my time writing integration code, when I really would like to be spending time writing my application logic. Now I’m behind schedule. Is there a better approach? WebORB provides access to many code generators and in Version 4, you can add your own custom code generators to the WebORB console. Essentially, with the touch of a button, you can auto generate the client-side ActionScript code that provides all the plumbing required to integrate client applications with server-side services. This is an important tool when it comes to producing repeatable blocks of code or functionality. In addition, WebORB Data Management for Flex (WDMF) provides a powerful way to do fully managed CRUD operations. According to global digital marketing agency LBI, Inc., “We never considered any alternative to WebORB, because WebORB offers a reliable way for my team to minimize their deployed code base and focus their efforts on the user experience and visual design elements.”
Learn More About WebORB Code Generation and WDMF
Problem #3 I feel like I’m working in the blind. I’d be more productive if I could just visualize and access the information I need most from a single UI. WebORB Console includes both a service browser and server monitor. The service browser graphically visualizes the deployment structure for all deployed assemblies, including the classes and methods. Server configuration and monitoring can be done directly from within the console too. Digital Matrix states, “One of the features we like the most is the performance monitor. We like to see data that we can manage and the console allows us to do that. When a problem occurs, we can see rather quickly if it is on the client-side or the server-side.”
Learn More About WebORB Service Browser and Performance Monitoring
Problem #4 I feel like code is being bounced back and forth between the client and server development teams and it’s driving me nuts. If I could just code, test and move on, I’d be way more productive. WebORB Console includes an intuitive invocation test drive feature for invoking server methods in those services that can be exposed as remoting services. This enables server developers to test their remoting services and confidently pass them off knowing the methods work before any client-side code is written. Pepper’s Ghost Productions, maker of web-based educational games for kids, loves this feature, because “It allowed us to run existing methods and see the generated output without the client code. Had we not had the Invocation Test Drive feature, we would have had to throw out the client code that invoked these methods and then try to guess what the results were in order to parse the data.”
Learn More About WebORB Invocation Test Drive
Problem #5 I use a common IDE and would rather not have to figure out how to make my IDE work with yet another development environment. Getting started with WebORB is really easy. To make things simple, we’ve provided integrations into Visual Studio, FlexBuilder and FlashBuilder. We’ve also created Visual Studio project templates for .NET and Silverlight developers. Eclipse users working with Flex Builder or FlashBuilder can use the built in project wizards included with the IDE. According to Global Village Publishing, “WebORB allowed us to get up and running very quickly and provides the perfect interface for us. We can just update the components or make changes to our database calls all without knowing anything about Flex. This enables us to turn around new requests very efficiently and quickly.”
Learn more about IDE Integration
As always, we’d like to know if you found this post helpful and encourage you to provide feedback especially if you can share how some of these WebORB features have helped you.
The wait is finally over! You can now download WebORB for Java 4.0. Just as we did with WebORB for .NET 4.0, we’ve added many new developer productivity tools and feature enhancements to ease the process of developing and integrating online applications. We’ve also fixed a number of reported bugs and are now working to update the documentation. We’re very excited for you to give the new release a try and let us know what you think. Some of the major new and enhanced features include:
