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Open source to Adobe: Apollo, move over!
The Dojo open source Ajax development framework has released a beta of its Dojo Offline tool. The tool provides developers with an easy to use way to add offline functionality to their services.
Think about being able to access you Gmail or Yahoo mail at all times, regardless of your network status. Or being able to use Google's Documents and Spreadsheets applications in a way that is similar to Word, with the added advantage of data sharing and online storage.
Adobe has been beating its marketing drum for its Apollo technology since early this year. But following the Dojo release, Apollo looks mostly like a bloated attempt to squeeze more software revenues out of develops by creating a new platform.
Essentially, Dojo requires a 300KB download that will be delivered in an intuitive way. Developers add a few lines of code (more if they require granular customization) and their application receives offline capabilities. Furthermore, the user experience is essentially the same for both the online and offline application.
With Apollo, developers have to create an entirely new application that users access as a regular application. The Ebay auction tool that the company has been showing off for instance doesn't look anything like the user interface on the Ebay.com website.
Users furthermore don't have a clear incentive to download a special runtime engine (6MB for the Windows version) that allows Apollo applications to function.
Looks like open source wins again.
Spanish
Hi, I'm not sure how these two efforts could be compared...?
The Apollo project on Adobe Labs is an effort to help normal browser apps move to the desktop. An API for occasional connectivity is one aspect of that work.
Have you checked into the actual Dojo implementation? This might also help dispel such comparisons.
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:dojotoolkit.org+flash
jd/adobe
Posted by: John Dowdell | April 25, 2007 2:56 AM
Re: John,
I'm not sure how these two efforts can't be compared. Both Dojo Offline and Adobe offer a way for applications to make online applications act like regular desktop applications. Adobe is seeking to do this by moving online apps from the browser to a dedicated application. Dojo has chosen to use the browser as its platform.
For license revenue reasons Adobe is choosing to support technologies such as Flash. Dojo chose Ajax instead.
Regardless of the underlying technologies, the Dojo and Apollo promise virtually identical functionalities, they just choose to take different routes to get there.
Posted by: SV Sleuth | April 25, 2007 5:35 PM
As someone who's done intense development in Ajax (using Dojo, Prototype, Yahoo UI) and Flex/Flash, I'd readily volunteer that the two technologies do not at all "promise virtually identical functionalities."
Yes, from the mile-high view of an analyst, they could be interchangable: Rich Intenet Applications and offline clients.
From an on-the-ground developer and user perspective, Flash powered clients make Ajax feel like a toy.
Reasons:
1. Data Binding
Data Binding is a key concept in Flex development that allows client side controls to automatically react to changes in their underlying data.
2. Vector Graphics
Create a pie chart in Javascript. Now, create a bar chart linked to the same dataset. Last, have them both animate their changes when any given value in their underlying dataset changes.
Doing so is rudimentary Flex development.
3. Two-way communication
Flex allows push, data synchronization across clients, and integration with two-way audio/video streaming that's native to Flash.
Posted by: Joe Rinehart | April 26, 2007 12:25 PM