InfoQ

InfoQ

News

My Bookmarks

Login or Register to enable bookmarks for unlimited time.

The content has been bookmarked!

There was an error bookmarking this content! Please retry.

ExtJS Ecosystem Continues to Expand

Posted by Nick Laiacona on Jan 28, 2008

Sections
Development
Topics
Rich Internet Apps ,
Java ,
Javascript ,
Web Frameworks
Tags
AJAX

New server-side tools are sprouting up around the ExtJS client-side Javascript framework. Community developed server-side support now exists for Java Enterprise Edition, Cold Fusion 8.0, Google Web Toolkit, and Ruby on Rails 2.0. The goal of all of these tools is to normalize the interface between their respective platforms and ExtJS.

ExtTLD is a JEE tag library for ExtJS. It enables content assist documentation and integration with Java based frameworks. Developers can describe their interfaces declaratively using XML. ExtTLD will translate the markup into ExtJS interface objects. ExtTLD validates field properties of the XML interface description.

Two promising solutions in the ColdFusion space are in early development: cfExt by Dan Vega and ColdExt from Justin Carter. Cold Fusion 8.0 shipped with Ext JS 1.0 but since then the library has gone to 2.0, a dramatic improvement. These tools allow Cold Fusion developers to interface with the latest Ext JS while staying in Cold Fusion's tag library.

MyGWT is an open source Java library for the Google Web Toolkit. Google Web Toolkit allows developers to write client side applications in Java which are then compiled into Javascript. MyGWT is a plugin to GWT which wraps its native UI components with a ExtJS skin. GWT applications can acquire the polished ExtJS look and feel using this tool.

A plugin also exists for Ruby on Rails. The Ext Scaffold Generator Plugin provides a jump start for developing CRUD based applications with Ext JS and Ruby on Rails. According to GL Networks' website:

The Ext Scaffold Generator Plugin can be viewed as a drop-in replacement for Rails’ standard Resource Generator. Accepting the very same options, it will generate views using data grid and form components from the Ext JS Javascript GUI framework as well as a controller acting as an Ext-compatible JSON web service. The generated code can be used as a starting point for further implementation and outlines solutions on how to integrate the Ext JS library with Rails as a backend.

Ext JS already provides impressive facilities for developing Rich Internet Applications. It has one of the best implementations of a Javascript data grid. It seamlessly interoperates with all of the major core Javascript libraries (Prototype, YUI, jQuery). Coupled with these new tools to speed adoption and reduce learning curve, Ext JS is a RIA development platform worthy of consideration.

Interesting. by Porter Woodward Posted
  1. Back to top

    Interesting.

    by Porter Woodward

    I wonder why there's not as much excitement around something like Helma and Trimpath Junction? I just sort of like the fact that you can do the app end-to-end in JavaScript. Or is that EcmaScript?

Educational Content

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Alex Papadimoulis discusses ugly code, where it comes from, how to avoid it, and how to get rid of it.

Architecting Visa for Massive Scale and Continuous Innovation

John Davies examines Visa’s architecture and shows how enterprises have architected complex integrations incorporating Hadoop, memcached, Ruby on Rails, and others to deliver innovative solutions.

Max Protect: Scalability and Caching at ESPN.com

Sean Comerford unveils ESPN.com’s architecture, what components are used and why, and the current changes the website goes through.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Enterprise Agile Adoption

Are there repeated patterns of failure on Enterprise Agile Enablement efforts? Sanjiv and Arlen discuss Seven Deadly Sins to avoid when adopting Agile in an enterprise.

Questions for an Enterprise Architect

Erik Dörnenburg answers: What is Enterprise and Evolutionary Architecture?, discussing 4 issues: Turning strategy into execution, Ensuring conformance, Where do the architects sit? Buying or building?

Wrap Your SQL Head Around Riak MapReduce

Sean Cribbs explains what Map-Reduce and Riak are, why and how to use Map-Reduce with Riak, and how to convert SQL queries into their Map-Reduce equivalents.

Polyglot Persistence for Java Developers - Moving Out of the Relational Comfort Zone

Chris Richardson shows how he ported a relational database to three NoSQL data stores: Redis, Cassandra and MongoDB.

The Golden Circle – Why How What

Jean Tabaka challenges the audience to reflect on what Agile practices they are employing, how they are using them, ending with the questions “Why have their organization chosen to go Agile?