Tuesday, May 20, 2008

WaveMaker Review: a Web 2.0 Aha Moment

Lewis Cunningham, a database architect for EnterpriseDB, recently posted a review of WaveMaker Visual Ajax Studio that included an aha moment:

When I created my data model, it automatically turned that into a series of web services. This means that the data interface is completely separate from the logic to use that data, allowing data to be decoupled and changed at any time. You can build your UI without ever seeing your database.

Lewis has uncovered an important shift in development being driven by the Web 2.0 architecture: scaffolded development. Ruby on Rails originated the idea of scaffolding as a way to get a web application up and running quickly without having to connect all the back end pieces.

As the developer fills in the back end details for data and web service binding, the scaffolding goes away. Thus ushers in a whole new era of Web 2.0 rapid application development - in which business users can mock-up an application and iterate quickly on a user design, then hand off their prototype for IT to develop (with or without underlying dummy data).

Go ahead, download Wavemaker and get see where Web 2.0 and RAD are taking us!


2 comments:

LewisC said...

Hi Christoper,

Enterprise development always seems to leave a developer somewhere waiting for someone. The ability to have a UI designer designing while the middle tier logic is being built is huge.

BTW, that's an awful picture of me. I also have a beard now. ;-)

LewisC

Christopher Keene said...

Lewis -

I'm glad you like our tool, sorry you don't like the photo - I'll try to fish out one with your new beard!

- chris