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Re: tools for programming applets

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On Mon, 23 May 2011 12:32:11 -0700, horos22 wrote:

> 
> Think about it this way: an applet is a client in the same sense of the
> word as a browser is a client.
>
About the only way I can think of to meet your requirement is to start by 
coding the applet so it can be run both as an applet and as a free-
standing client, i.e. it must implement the applet interface and have a 
normal main() method which will invoke the applet methods when run 
outside a browser. This lets you test most of the applet's operation 
against a remote server *but* it will still need to be loaded from the 
server to confirm that it works correctly when invoked as an applet by 
the target browser(s). 

> Instead of serving up html, you serve up code. This code is run locally,
> with potential input from the server, and it passes back output directly
> to the server.
> 
You're missing a major point. The applet *must* be downloaded at least 
once by the browser and again each time the browser's cache is cleared. 
The browser is the only client of the web server. The applet is just 
something the browser can download from the web server and use as an 
enhancement to let it communicate with a second (non-web) server sitting 
alongside the web server.

> Now, in your paradigm of development, it may be helpful to *think* of
> the applet as a server-side object
>
Not 'helpful', but essential since it must be downloaded from the host 
computer by the web server that the user's browser is talking to. 

>it really is a client - one hosted on a server, but a client nonetheless.
> 
Yes, but its not a client of the web server, just a mandatory payload 
that must be requested from a web server sitting alongside its target 
application server. Them's the rules and you're stuck with 'em.

I really don't see what you're kicking about, though. Its pretty trivial 
to take an archive file containing the target web and application servers 
and install copies on your desktop box. Since you're not concerned with 
response time during development, even a fairly feeble desktop box should 
cope: I've run Tomcat alongside the web browser on an NT4 box with no 
problems and currently am running Apache, PostgreSQL and a full set of 
Java development tools on a 512MB, 866MHz P3 box under RedHat Linux 
(Fedora 13). Both set-ups handled development and testing quite 
adequately.
  

-- 
martin@   | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org       |

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Re: tools for programming applets horos22 <ed.peschko@gmail.com> - 2011-05-23 12:32 -0700
  Re: tools for programming applets Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2011-05-23 17:06 -0400
  Re: tools for programming applets Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2011-05-23 23:01 +0000

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