Java Symposium: Web development issues raised

23.03.2006
Obstacles to developing Web applications was a critical issue on the minds of Java developers at TheServerside Java Symposium on Thursday

Web application development technologies include scripting offerings such as AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript plus XML) and frameworks such as JavaServer Faces, Struts and Tapestry. Audience members and panelists, during an opening interactive session, focused primarily on issues with AJAX, although a need to boost programmer productivity in Java in general also was cited.

One attendee predicted AJAX and POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) would make a big difference in building of Web applications. Also, symposium panelist Patrick Linskey, an engineer at BEA Systems, predicted that in 2006, someone will find a meaningful way to wire up a server-side AJAX framework with a non-browser-based client side. "That's where I think Web 2.0 starts to get really interesting," said Linskey, who had been the CTO at SolarMetric, which was acquired by BEA.

But another audience member questioned the viability of running multiple AJAX applications in a browser, which could result in crashes. "How much can you load into a browser?" the attendee asked.

A rush to AJAX also was a concern. "We've noticed major architectural decisions that were very poorly thought out," because of rushing to AJAX, an audience member said.

AJAX also lacks good tools, according to panelist Cedric Beust of Google. "Writing AJAX applications is a lot more challenging than writing client applications mostly because of the tools," Beust said.