Ajax sets off tools race

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The rise of Ajax is also being aided by the adoption of Web standards in most modern browsers. In theory, that ensures that one application will work the same on any Web-enabled machine.

"The real power of Ajax is not so much in its (technical) innovation. Its real power is in the adoption model--it's predictable. Browsers will have the capabilities to use it, and you can deliver it anywhere," said Danny Sabbah, general manager of IBM's Rational Software development tools division.

Sabbah said that IBM is building several frameworks, or IDE add-ins, for simplifying the process of writing Ajax-style Web applications. The company intends to build that tooling into its Rational Eclipse-based tools for Web development and Web portal development.

Mix and match
In the past few years, developers and designers who used JavaScript and other Web technologies sought out specialized tools, said Burton Group's Monson-Haefel.

As use of Ajax becomes more widespread, development tool companies that cater to mainstream programmers, rather than front-end designers, will likely become the prime Ajax tool suppliers, he said.

"Developers that used JavaScript and CSS (cascading style sheets) and the like a few years ago were all client-side Web developers. Now we're seeing Ajax being deployed on the server side by application developers who tend to use Java and the like," Monson-Haefel said.

He expects that Microsoft, Eclipse-based wares, and several specialized tool companies will dominate the market within a few years.

John Loiacono, Sun's executive vice president of software, said the strategy at Java creator Sun is to embrace Ajax and scripting languages. The release of Java Studio Creator 2 demonstrates that the company can mix Java with scripting languages within a single product, he said.

"A lot of people said this will kill Java, but have you ever tried to build a mission-critical application with Ajax? You can't," Loiacono said. "The point is you use different tools for different purposes."

[iqula]

Cool but not for an online desktop or office

It looks like a lot of VC's are handing out dollars for AJAX applications that aim to create an online desktop or a common application. That is best left to services like <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cosmopod.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.cosmopod.com</a> who have decades worth of mature applications already avaliable over the web

[baswwe]

cosmopod doesn't compare

Cosmopod is cute, but it doesn't compare.

It won't integrate with google earth.

[Captain_Spock]

"A lot of people said...

... this will kill Java, but have you ever tried to build a mission-critical application with AJAX? You can't," Loiacono said. "The point is you use different tools for different purposes." One should guess, this is where the REXX Language (as can be applied with regards to OS/2) demonstrates its "superiority"! ;-)

Lumenation - AJAX Desktop/ Framework/ Environment

Lumenation is a mature AJAX based environment / framework which provides for a complete browser based environment with Mozilla and IE compatibility which features Lumenations Interactive Desktop System (LIDS). It also features LIDs Interactive Components (IC's) for its 30+ plug-n-play modules such as email, calendar, Help Desk Manager, Survey Management, and much more. Lumenation has been in productive use for over 3 years and has its own SDK as well. System provides developers with an extensive developmemnt suite of tools to build applications and IC's which operate within the environment which utilizes PHP and jscript.

[gpatnude]

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