What's new in Web4?
The improvement to Web 4 is as much about what you don't see as what you do see. All of our controls are pure client side based and we are using a new control vendor for our components. In both Web 2 and Web 3 we relied on Microsoft ASP.NET life cycle technology and Telerik components. This has for sure been doing the job for us for quite some years, but as we moved over to a more client side enviroment we had to look for new control vendor to replace the server side controls. After evaluating a set of packages we ended up with DHTMLX which so far has been a great choice.
In Web 4 our main goal has been performance, rapid development, flexible applications, uniform applications, easy development environment and easy deployment concept. We believe we are quite close to meet all of these goals. Hopefully our developers will have the same feeling once they start using the Web 4 framework.
Performance
As we rely on client side controls and all of our code is rendered on client we don't get any bloat from the server, only data. In modern browsers (Chrome, FF, IE 9) this renders very fast. But also in IE 6/7 and 8 the performance is very good. In most cases it's all about how you design your app and how much you choose to build into the app.
The new major change in Web 4 is that we keep all the applications in the database. We have a database structure for our controls. That means that we don't have one app on the IIS per developed and published app. Instead we have one app on the IIS which renders the applications based on how it is structured and build in the database. You will see this clearer once you start using it.
As we have all this definition stored in db we are able to have a cache model on server which gives the apps even higher performance.
Flexible applications
DHTMLX has a control package which gives us the possibility to design good and flexible apps. The components have rich api and many features. For more details visits the DHTLMX website.
Uniform applications
During the development the focus on CSS has been important. We still have a way to go in order to get a good CSS framework, but after all we have a CSS structure which is quite good and easy to change.
Development environment
In Web 2 and Web 3 Visual Studio has been our development environment. In addition we also used the local IIS for running the applications. In Web 4 we don't use a local ISS nor Visual Studio. Instead we developed our own tool in CR3, Web 4 App Designer, were you construct the app and write your CSS and JavaScript. Unfortunatly we don't have intelisense on the javascript controls. Instead you need to rely on development tools in the browsers or documentation to find properties and functions.
Easy deployment concept
The source code is stored in the database and is also deployed via the database. You don't need to push the app out to an IIS but only save a new version of the app. This is a procedure which is executed via the designer.
What's next
Hopefully you will enjoy the new framework and give us feedback of your pros and cons. We recently released connect.omega.no which is built on AppFrame Web 4 and so far this has been a success. Our main focus now is getting everything stable and robust and make the days for the developers out at clients easier. We will start the process of getting good documentation of our API. In additon you will find good documentation of DHTMLX components on their website,
www.dhtmlx.com