Wednesday, April 3, 2002

Scripting Rules! Linux App Writer Wows Skeptics. SashXB is a scripting language just released by IBM that lets non-Linux programmers write Linux code using HTML and JavaScript. By Michelle Delio. [Wired News] 9:38:17 AM     Sun's Java versus open source Java. Sam Ruby cites this: Jon Udell: Java may have arrived late to the Web services party.  Grrr.  There are plenty of Java implementations.  Many are very good.  Some have been postively groundbreaking.[Sam Ruby's Radio Weblog] Agreed. I ought to have said something like "Sun's official Java platform." [Jon's Radio] 9:22:46 AM     It's time to start some R&D within the company. The folks who use Flash and the folks who develop applications need to both spend some time looking at MX. Maybe a pilot project is needed here, something that is used in-house on an everyday basis. 9:21:43 AM     Flash MX: From fluff to serious application builder? at Builder.Com - a review of MX from the application viewpoint. [link via Flazoom] "Traditionally, developers build GUI applications by tying together multiple discrete objects using code. In Flash MX, developers build an application by tying together animation frames in a movie with code" No,no,no - this is what MX get's round, you can put all your code in one place and use event handlers to drive the app, just like in your beloved VB. Sure, you can use frames for different application states, but surely this is just the same as using different forms in VB.  Again, it's a case of setting Flash up for a fall. Comparing Flash and VB is like comparing apples and aeroplanes - they're solutions to totally different sets of problems. [Flash Blog] 9:19:46 AM     It's obvious from the applications we have built here at Latitude360 that Flash might be a better solution than force-fitting HTML. The stateless nature of web pages does not lend itself well to transactional interactions that would naturally span pages. Frames and other work-arounds bring their own shortcomings. Point solutions within a web framework might be the best mix of technologies. 9:18:38 AM     Vision of Flash-based Web raises doubts on CNET - a pretty nothing article with the general tone being 'Flash might be bad, or it might not" with the usual factual inaccuracies (Video clips in separate windows a benefit of Flash MX? Has this guy used Quicktime in the last few years?) The same old usability points get mentioned that have been covered a million times before - we've got bookmarking in MX and Google seems to index PDF's pretty well so I don't see the problem with doing the same thing with SWF's. The Application is the key concept here - HTML has never been a good platform for applications, it's just not got the capabilities that a good UI driven app needs (kludging around with form elements and DHTML is not the way forward) Even Donald Norman agrees! When people compare Flash with HTML they're missing the point. Dale Doughton of O'Reilly says "What are the unintended consequences of building an entire application in Flash and kind of defeating a lot of the benefits that have developed around the Web?"  - in reply, I'd say building an entire application (not website) in Flash may actually get you something that's useable and on a par with modern desktop applications - what exactly are these wonderful application-specific benefits your losing? If your actually talking about building entire websites in Flash, that's a whole different conversation. [Flash Blog] 9:14:45 AM     Soft security, Wiki, blogging, IO. Dan Green, aka DotNetDan, passes along a really thoughtful page from the MeatballWiki on tenets of SoftSecurity. It begins: AuditTrail. An audit trail tells you who did what, when. It doesn't necessarily allow you to undo what they did. It does let you know who was responsible. ReversibleChange. If anything that can be done, can be undone, no damage need be permanent. Version control is one way of making changes reversible. You can reverse a change without knowing who made it originally. DelayAction. When you can't reverse a change, delay that action until PeerReview has a chance to prevent disaster. EnforceResponsibility. Knowing who was responsible is not enough. There must be consequences. PeerReview. Your peers can ensure that you don't damage the system. Dan also wonders how Wikis and blogging/IO compare. I'd say the most basic difference is that Wikiites inhabit shared spaces, while bloggers and IOers occupy individual spaces which they then agree to federate in various ways. But it's a continuum, not an either/or distinction. Wikis also federate, and blogs and IOs can become shared spaces. Many modes to explore, many ways to learn and share. [Jon's Radio] 9:04:12 AM

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