+1 (Non-binding) 2009/1/5 Greg Brown <gkbr...@mac.com>
> Hello all, > > The Pivot team would like to present the Pivot toolkit for consideration to > the Apache Incubator. We are excited about the prospect of joining the > Incubator and are looking forward to your feedback. > > Thanks, > Greg Brown > > Abstract > Pivot (http://pivot-toolkit.org) is an open-source platform for building > rich internet applications in Java. > > Proposal > Pivot combines the enhanced productivity and usability features of a modern > RIA toolkit with the robustness of the Java platform. Pivot applications are > written using a combination of Java and XML and can be run either as an > applet or as a standalone, optionally offline, desktop application. > > Like other modern development platforms, Pivot provides a comprehensive set > of foundation classes that together comprise a "framework". These classes > form the building blocks upon which more complex and sophisticated > applications can be built. > > Pivot was designed to be familiar to web developers who have experience > building AJAX applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, it > provides a much richer set of standard widgets than HTML, and allows > developers to create sophisticated user experiences much more quickly and > easily. Pivot will also seem familiar to Swing developers, as both Swing and > Pivot are based on Java2D and employ a model-view-controller (MVC) > architecture to separate component data from presentation. However, Pivot > includes additional features that make building modern GUI applications much > easier, including declarative UI, data binding, effects and transitions, and > web services integration. > > Background > The web has become the defacto standard method for application delivery. > However, functional requirements for web applications have begun to scale > beyond the capabilities of the browser. Even with the addition of scripting > support, dynamic element manipulation, and asynchronous server > communication, it is difficult to create a user experience in HTML that is > truly on par with that of a desktop application. > > Rich internet application (RIA) development platforms are a means of > bridging the gap between the web and desktop experiences. Using browser > plugins, these platforms allow developers to build applications that look > and feel more like native desktop applications but are deployable via the > web, like traditional, HTML-based web applications. RIAs also often > incorporate visual effects intended to enhance the overall user experience, > such as animations and other dynamic behavior. > > Adobe Flex (http://www.adobe.com/products/flex) and Microsoft Silverlight > (http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight) are arguably the most high-profile > of these platforms; others include OpenLaszlo (http://www.openlaszlo.org) > and Curl (http://www.curl.com). Pivot itself falls into this category. > > Rationale > Pivot was created for two primary reasons: > > 1) To provide a viable option for developers who want to build rich client > applications in Java. Flex applications are written in ActionScript, an > ECMAScript variant; Silverlight applications can be written in either C# or > JavaScript; OpenLaszlo applications are written in JavaScript. Pivot allows > developers to write rich internet applications in Java (or any other > language that can run in a JVM). > > 2) Provide a freely-available, open source alternative for RIA developers. > Flex, Silverlight, and Curl are all proprietary platforms. We believe that a > large part of HTML's success was its due to its openness. While we certainly > hope that developers will use Pivot to build revenue-generating products and > applications, we believe that the platform itself should be free and driven > by its technological merits, not by corporate objectives. > > - Comparision to Other Java-Based RIA Platforms > Swing > While it is technically feasible to build an RIA in Java using the Swing > toolkit (http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing), Pivot offers a > number of advantages that make it a more compelling, modern alternative: > > - Provides an XML markup language called WTKX for simplifying user > interface construction. Flex, Silverlight, and OpenLaszlo all offer a > similar feature; web developers are comfortable with the markup metaphor, > and it can considerably reduce overall development time. > > - Components are not limited to an "atomic" preferred size; they are > allowed to report a preferred size as constrained by either width or height > - this facilitates such features as label wrapping, which Swing does not > support. > > - Defines a consistent data model that is used throughout the entire > framework; for example, JSON data returned from a REST service is serialized > into the same data structures used by a table view component to present > data. No additional translation is necessary, which can significantly > improve performance. A common data model also reduces the learning curve for > new developers. > > - Includes built-in support for REST-based data services, which Pivot calls > "web queries". This provides parity with Flex, which comes with > out-of-the-box support for RPC via the AMF protocol, and Silverlight, which > supports both SOAP and REST-style services. Swing does not include any > built-in facilities for server communication, making it less convenient to > work with. > > Note, however, that Pivot is not limited to REST for server communication. > Because it runs in a JRE, a Pivot application can take advantage of any > client/server protocol that has a Java API; for example: > - SOAP-based services via Axis (http://ws.apache.org/axis/) > - Flex RPC using the BlazeDS AMF client ( > http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/blazeds/Java+AMF+Client) > - Google Contacts via the Google-provided Java client ( > http://code.google.com/apis/contacts/docs/2.0/developers_guide_java.html) > > The current source includes examples of the latter two. > > - Includes built-in data binding support, which allows data returned from > web queries (as well as other types of data services) to easily be mapped to > form contents. > > - Includes platform-level support for visual effects and transitions (i.e. > animations). > > - Defines a single Application inteface that is used for deploying both > desktop and web-based applications - multiple codebases are not required. > > - Takes advantage of newer Java language features such as generics, enums, > for..each, and annotations. > > JavaFX > Pivot differentiates itself from the recently-released JavaFX primarily by > allowing developers to build applications in Java, rather than the new > JavaFX scripting language. Additionally, JavaFX's widget support is based on > Swing, which suffers from the limitations outlined above. > > In a sense, Pivot represents what we think Sun should have done instead of > JavaFX. > > GWT > While GWT allows developers to use the Java language to write web-based > applications, the runtime enviroment for a GWT application is the browser > itself, not a JVM. This has a number of drawbacks: > > - The compiled code executes as interpreted JavaScript, not bytecode. > - The only libraries available are those that have been ported to GWT by > Google. > - All presentation must be done via CSS and DOM manipulation rather than > via a true 2D drawing API. > > Additionally, GWT does not support an XML markup language - all UI elements > must be created programmatically. > > Pivot allows developers to efficiently construct RIAs that can truly take > advantage of the Java platform. > > Current Status > Pivot began as an R&D effort at VMware. It was announced as an open-source > project in June of 2008 under the Apache 2.0 license. Version 1.0 was > released in October, 2008, and version 1.1 is targeted for release in early > 2009. Pivot is currently hosted at http://pivot-toolkit.org with > development at http://code.google.com/p/pivot. > > - Core Developers > Thus far, Pivot has been developed primarily Greg Brown and Todd Volkert of > VMware. > > - Community/Meritocracy > The Pivot team is actively striving to build a development community around > the Pivot platform, consisting of both users and contributing developers. > Although we are pleased with the progress we have made to date, Pivot is a > large undertaking that needs the support of a larger developer base if it is > to succeed and thrive. > > We have written numerous articles and blog entries about Pivot to help > generate interest in the developer community, and will continue to do so as > new features are added and new versions released. We have established a > Google Group for discussion of Pivot-related issues ( > http://groups.google.com/group/pivot-toolkit) where feedback is solicited > and highly encouraged. > > As developers (hopefully) begin to express an interest in using and helping > to expand Pivot, their contributions will be evaluated and incorporated as > appropriate. Several contributions from several external developers were > actually accepted before we released version 1.0 - notably, both the Pivot > Explorer tool and the pivot.core.util.Resources class used for localization > were provided by outside developers who volunteered to join the project > after reading our initial announcement. > > - Alignment > We use Ant to build and deploy Pivot, and we host our web-based components > in Tomcat. > > The Apache developer community is representative of our target audience - > developers who seek out and advocate high-quality, open-source software > projects. We consider ourselves to be members of that group, and we are > hoping to share our work with other like-minded developers. > > Known Risks > - Orphaned Products > This project will not be orphaned. The developers have already invested a > significant amount of time in the project, much of it in off-hours. Greg has > been working on Pivot since August 2007 and Todd since January 2008. We pay > to host the project site, pivot-toolkit.org, out of our own pockets. > Additionally, at least one production application is currently being > developed with Pivot. We want to see this project become successful, and we > will continue to invest whatever time is necessary to help make it so. > > - Inexperience with Open Source > Pivot has been conceived as an open-source project since day one. However, > though we are longtime users of open source software and have some > understanding of the process, we have no prior experience managing an > open-source effort. We are hoping that the community experience within ASF > can help bring our understanding to the next level. > > - Homogenous Developers > While Pivot's primary developers work for VMware in Boston, Massachusetts, > Pivot is not a VMware project. Most Pivot development takes place outside of > work hours. > > Pivot is a highly-modularized framework that lends itself well to > heterogenous development. We have already received code submissions from > developers elsewhere in the U.S., Germany, Italy, Canada, and the U.K. We > are hoping that, as the capabilities of the framework expand, it will lead > to an increase in overall developer interest and an acceleration of the > development process. > > - Reliance on Salaried Developers > Pivot began as an off-hours side project. It was officially supported by > VMware for a short time, but was dropped in June, 2008 when the company > decided to pursue an off-the-shelf UI solution instead of a homegrown one. > It has continued as an off-hours project since then. > > The *lack* of an ability to rely on salaried developers for development may > actually be more of a risk to the project. Most work must be done in > off-hours, which may occasionally limit our ability to make progress. > > Documentation > Additional information is available from the project site: > http://pivot-toolkit.org. > > Initial Source > Source code for Pivot is currently hosted at Google Code: > http://code.google.com/p/pivot. > > Source and Intellectual Property Submission Plan > VMware released Pivot as an open-source project under the Apache 2.0 > license in June, 2008 but retains a copyright on the code. VMware has agreed > to sign a software grant for the codebase; a signed copy of the agreement > was faxed to the ASF on 12/22/2008. > > External Dependencies > Pivot is a Java-based toolkit and relies on a JRE for execution. Pivot's > charting library currently relies on JFreeChart (http://jfree.org) 1.0.9; > however, charting is an optional package and JFreeChart is not integral to > the implementation (i.e. it could be replaced with another charting package > with no impact to the Pivot charting API). > > Required Resources > - Subversion repository > - Issue tracking > - Dev., user, commits, and private mailing lists > - Wiki space > - Web hosting (for content currently hosted at pivot-toolkit.org) > - SSL certificate (for code signing) > > Initial Committers > Greg Brown, Todd Volkert - VMware (http://vmware.com) > Eugene Ryzhikov - Florida Power and Light (http://www.fpl.com) > Christopher Brind - unknown > Sandro Martini - Technomind (http://www.technomind.it) > > Affiliations > No relevant affiliations. > > Sponsors > - Champion: Niclas Hedhman > - Nominated Mentors: Niclas Hedhman > - Sponsoring Entity: Incubator PMC > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscr...@incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: general-h...@incubator.apache.org > > -- Gurkan Erdogdu http://gurkanerdogdu.blogspot.com
