Hello,

I’ve been busy trying to get a prototype working (and learning javascript: It’s very interesting to see how this language evolved compared to Java….)

I have some basic U.I. elements working for the HTML editor, here is a screenshot:

You can see the Toolbar on the right (using jQuery), and you can drag and drop elements from the toolbar to your page.

This is a good progress for now, but the prototype is not ready yet (not even close) for real use.

Anyway, I will soon release it in a forge (I hope http://www.kenai.com) as GPL. I hope some javascript guru will find it enough interesting to take over this part of the Appliweb project.

The Appliweb project will involve lots of Javascript development.

I’m not really a fan of Javascript coding, because:

- I used to do some in 1997-1998, where it was impossible to write javascript compliant with I.E. and Netscape. Even between same versions of I.E. on different desktop you had a different behavior

- No debugger at that time, and very light ones years after.

I really code-as-you-think, so I really need a good debugger to see what’s going on.

I hope that now, years after my previous experiences, I will find some good ones. Here is a list I’ve found:

- FireBug: Waouw, seems to be a great tool, with html and css editor, maybe close to what I would like to do with Appliweb GUI editor. I will try that one first

- Venkman debugger:  I used it in 2005 to fix some hard to find javascript bug in a web application developped in Java Server Faces. It has worked great, but the tool was not pleasant to use.

- Yaldex: Seems only working in Windows, as my development computer is Linux…. It has a free edition though….

- Netbeans: Yep, netbeans, the java IDE. Last version has support for  javascript debugging. As a Java developper I know netbeans well, it’s free, and if the editor/ debugger is ok, maybe I’ll use it. It seems to support debugging under firefox and I.E. A Nice feature for crazy compatibilities issues between these two browsers.

- IntelliJ IDEA: My favourite Java IDE. It now supports javascript debugging too ! I’m sure they’ve done first class support for that, and I would be happy to use it, but it’s not free, and my current company don’t want to buy it…. Too bad really.

Here is a short roundup of the javascript debuggers I stumble upon. If you have any advice (I’m considering myself as a new guy in javascript development), please feel free to insert your remarks. I will test them and give the result in next post….

Bye.

GC.

Welcome to my new project : Appliweb !

With Appliweb, I’ll try to create a successfull opensource project, for a subject that I find most important: web development.

By successfull opensource project, I mean:

- A Project with lots of (other) people involved

- A Project  that will help people.

- A Project I will eventually earn money with.

For this,

- I’ve rent  a shared-server to an ISP: planetwork. A friend of mine (here) recommended them to me.

- I setup a Joomla project, with blogs and comments and forums

- I wrote some articles explaining my ideas and how to create them

It’s the  first project that I didn’t start by writing the code ! Others have failed, even if many people still looks into them….

Now the website is ready, I will begin to write some code (in javascript ! eechhhh).

I’m waiting to have something to show before I write about it in my favorite websites !

G.C.