Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

thestandard.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–18 of 18 posts

Re: Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

#11

Post by edw519 »

90% of AJAX apps are just like 90% of Windows apps which are just like 90% of mainframe apps: they suck. A greater percentage of AJAX apps suck because the technology is newer, that's all.

I've seen plenty of great AJAX apps, especially for the enterprise. The problem is NOT with the technology, it's with the programming.

Forrester obviously doesn't understand that. They don't find any good AJAX apps (one wonders where they're looking), so something MUST be wrong with AJAX. Their recommendation: explore other technologies, including Microsoft's.

Run, don't walk, the other way from "research" like this. Look on the bright side - you're not the poor sucker who had to pay for it.

Re: Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

#12

Post by edw519 »

jksmith wrote: post #8

Here's the issue with these kinds of studies: They take examples of building apps using build 0 of a toolkit or technology, then by the time the study comes out, that same toolkit or technology is on build 100. The usability of web apps (specifically speed) is improving faster than we can develop our non-trivial apps for this platform. In short: time your version 1.0 with the assumed capability of the host platform a…

Here's another issue with these kinds of studies:

The researchers are either incompetent or on someone else's payroll. Either way, they're useless.

Re: Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

#14

Post by tx »

edw519 wrote: post #11

90% of AJAX apps are just like 90% of Windows apps which are just like 90% of mainframe apps: they suck. A greater percentage of AJAX apps suck because the technology is newer, that's all. I've seen plenty of great AJAX apps, especially for the enterprise. The problem is NOT with the technology, it's with the programming. Forrester obviously doesn't understand that. They don't find any good AJAX apps (one wonders whe…

Especially for the enterprise? No wonder. Enterprise software represents the absolute lowest form of life among all softwares: the requirements are relaxed, bandwith is fat and users are paid money to use such software, not the other way around. Makes me smile every time I hear "enterprise class" attached to something.

Just a little funny fact: in nearly all enterprise software UIs I've seen, even tab order wan't assigned on dialog panels.

That is not a test for technology, even junk like Oracle survives there.

Re: Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

#16

Post by tx »

bprater wrote: post #13

Remember hackers: You can still have you cake and eat it. Rails + Flex makes a sexy combo. (There is a book by the name too, "Flex on Rails". Great stuff.)

Flex is not a technology. It's a marketng BS. In the end your "platform" is a lousy browser plug-in which is already having a hard time catching up to the variety of web-platforms (no iPhone yet, Linux implementation is buggy as hell, etc) while a new wave of Internet enabled portable hardware is just around the corner.

Re: Analyst claims power business users disappointed with AJAX apps

#17

Post by dhimes »

tom_rath wrote: post #9
dhimes wrote: post #3

Do you think it's possible for Java applets to make a comeback, or has that ship sailed for good?

I'm not sure about applets, but full Java applications deployed through Java Web Start have been a win for us.

I've done a desktop app myself in Java. It just seems like it could be a seamless integration from desktop app to hybrid web/desktop app (but I must confess I've never written a real applet).
Post reply on HN