Application Development

Here are my notes on developing useful computer systems. Let me know what you find helpful or missing.

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Attributes of Good Apps

1. Fast
2. Accessible — Easy to setup and install solutions such as contact tracking, order processing, and sales force automation which use server-side programs which provide services such as database and connectivity.
3. Open and Portable: Can run their programs on all the major platforms (Windows 95, NT, Sun & HP UNIX, AS/400, even IBM MVS mainframes) without having to change code.
4. Fault Tolerant (resilient) — able to recover.
5. Available — works all the time (24x7)
6. Reliable — no bugs
7. Consistent — works the same way.
8. Scalable — as more people use it -- like around the Christmas shopping season.
9. Secure — no security holes.
10. Customizable — Content presented are customized to what was requested at that moment (not just a user's "profile" from a stored cookie).

My application development tools

Great resource: Annotated PowerPoint slides, exercises, etc:
Basic .NET Object Oriented Programming (C#)
Advanced .NET Object Oriented Programming (C#)

Cross-Reference of Competing Technologies

Functionality	Sun	MS Before .NET	MS.NET
Client Interface		Winsock	ROPE Proxy
Wire Protocol	CORBA/GIOP, Java RMI/JRMP		SOAP
Payload Format	RPC on a special port (blocked by some fire walls)		XML goes thru standard port 80 thru firewalls
Server Service	...	...	BizTalk
Server Request	...	DCOM	Service Description Language for COM.
Listener	...	MTS	SOAP ROPE.DLL ASP_Listener\Listener.asp or ISAPI for C++
State	IIOP over RPC	Stateless HTTP	Stateless HTTP & XML
Business Transaction Protocol	EDI, XAML, BEA-OASIS ebXML, RosettaNet	MSMQ	?
Parser	...	Faster: In memory	IE5 Slower: Loaded every time
Development Environment	JavaCafe, Allaire's JRun, etc.	Visual Studio 6	Visual Studio.NET
Development Language	CGI, Perl, Java	Visual Basic & Visual C++	VB#, C#, etc.

Application Development Environments

• Microsoft's Visual Studio v6 suite of development tools includes Visual Basic, Visual J++, and Visual C++ (if you want to mess with pointers and memory management).

• IBM offers VisualAge for Java and CBConnector
• IBM's San Francisco Project is defining comprehensive data models based on Java.

• Symantec's Visual Cafe for Java features an incremental debugger and visual programming.
• Borland's JBuilder ( Sybex's No Experience Book)
• Sybase PowerJ Enterprise
• Progress has the Aptivity Java database system. Pre-sales Support: (800) 477-6473 ext. 4900 Sales: (800) 477-6473 ext. 4700.

• Net Dynamics version 3
• WebObjects and OPENSTEP from Steve Job's Next (now owned by Apple)
• Sapphire/Web from Bluestone
• Cold Fusion 3.1 from Allaire ( Get their free eval)
• Silver Stream is a pure Java development system, built by former Powersoft people. It's "client/server meets Internet content." Partners with NexGen SI of Irvine. Costs $100 per seat.
• www.peapod.com Active-X thin client on Solaris/NT
• The Ambrosia Event Management System provides real-time event notification, multiple levels of security, guaranteed delivery, and transaction support.
• Report generation tools ReportMill and Business Objects.
• WebGain
• J2EE server vendors BEA< IONA, ATG, iPlanet.

Microsoft's portal for developers is its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN)

AppAttrib News' 12/97 Users' Choice Survey: AppAttrib development environments

Developer Communities

• The Air Force maintains a list of Sites about developing your own web page.
• Windows magazine
• Yahoo's Intranet Executive newsletter.
• Rank This. Acclaimed as Yahoo! Internet Life's most useful web site for 1997. As a webmaster or web site owner, you should be concerned about how your site "ranks" in the search engines: it is, after all, a measure of how easy it is for potential customers to find your web site. RankThis is a free online tool to help you determine your "ranking" on different keyword sets in eight of the major search engines.
• Web Help for Churches.
• Mekelmedia has a Virtual Library in its Web Developer site.
• Wayne's Web resources for html tutorials, cgi scripting, javascript, ActiveX, web graphics, and Visual Basic.
• Philip Greenspun wrote Data-backed web sites and the Web Tools Review.
• Software NCTWeb.
• Swiss MIT.
• KDCO.
• Wizcom
• WebWeek
• Web Techniques (New Architect)
• Websmith magazine, an offshoot of the SSC Linux Journal.
• Que Digital Bookshelf.
• Inquiry.COM is a free online database of over 100,000 published technical articles for software developers and information technology professionals.
• Building Corporate Intranets Amazon # 3D047116268X
• Convergent Media Systems
• Executive Arts
• Organic Online
• Proxima, Inc.
• Renaissance Multimedia
• Richardson, Myers & Donofrio, Inc.
• WebGizmo