Web Technologies:Enter the Next

Gone are the days when Internet was only a bunch of static web-pages. Today, it's a live and happening place, full of interactivity, thanks to a set of technologies collectively known as Web 2.0. It's become so popular that now, even enterprises want to use them. In this story, we explore these technonolgies, and how they can power next-generation enterprise portals. Plus, we take a peek into the future of Web 2.0

Friday, August 10, 2007

In order to understand and appreciate the next generation of web technologies, it's important to understand what the current generation has to offer. For a long time, websites were nothing but a bunch of web pages put together for people to click and browse. While it proved to be a terrific source of information, there were many limitations in it. For one, people couldn't interact on it. There was just one sea of pages to go through. If two people were browsing the same site, they had no way of knowing that. If you wanted to modify a web page or a part of it, then you had to be familiar with HTML coding. Plus, you had to modify the complete web page. There was no way to change parts of it. Over a period of time, websites started springing up like mushrooms on a rotting log. The situation became that 'if it moves, then it must have a website'. With so many websites offering the same set of static pages, life became rather boring on the Internet. Something was needed to break this monotony.]

That something was web 2.0. It didn't spring up over night. In fact, it has been there for many years now, gradually getting into our lives. It comprises of many technologies that we've all heard of already, like JavaScript, XML, ASP.Net, PHP/Perl, MySQL, etc. These gave the web a different way of dealing with data. Using these and other similar technologies, software companies started giving a web front-end to all their existing applications. Others started building applications solely for the web. We've all heard of Intranets and knowledge management solutions, online CRM packages, etc. All of these have in some way or the other contributed to building the next generation web technologies. Unfortunately, they've all gone by relatively unnoticed.

It was only after some one put these technologies to some real creative use that it started getting noticed. All of us have heard of blogging, wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr, etc. All of these have converted the web into more of a platform rather than a static source of information. Blogging allowed ordinary users to post their thoughts on websites without knowing a word of HTML. Wikipedia allowed users to edit what others have written online. YouTube and Flickr need no introduction. They've become the torch bearers for the world of social networking. Their names are the first to come to mind whenever someone says 'web 2.0'. All these applications have given the web a new identity. Users can now, not only access data, but also participate and add value to applications. Integration of applications in the browser, freedom for the user to modify content in real-time, interaction between several users, accumulation of content from other sites and feeding of the same into one's own site, having the desktop hosted on Web, watching video on a Web browser, blogging-all these are possible now, thanks to major development in the Web technologies.

The emergence of Web 2.0 offers several opportunities for enterprises as well. With the integration of several applications, like Wiki, blogging, RSS feeds, they can make their portal solutions much more interactive and useful for users. When ever reference to technologies behind Web 2.0 is made, AJAX is the first name that comes up. So, let us start with it and as we move on, we will cover some other essential technologies that are shaping up the new Web.

AJAX

Today, every second Internet user has a Gmail account, most of us use flickr to upload and share our pictures on the Web, and some of us use Google Maps to locate the area we are travelling. Surely, you must have realized that a completely new variety of dynamic Web applications are emerging. Most of these applications have looks and feel similar to that of desktop applications. AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is the technology that has enabled this. It makes webpages more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server, behind the scene, so that the entire webpage doesn't need to reload every time the user makes a request. This helps

improve the overall interactivity, speed, functionality and usability of the webpage. JavaScript is the main programming language wherein AJAX function calls are made and using XML the asynchronously retrieved data is formatted and kept. Being a cross-platform technology enables it to be used across different operating systems, computer architectures and Web browsers. Web apps always had more benefits than desktop apps. They were easy to use, install, and develop, but interactivity was lacking. AJAX solves that problem as well.

AJAX is a combination of several technologies each thriving in its own right, gelling together in a powerful way. We can incorporate a standard-based presentation using XHTML and CSS. Dynamic display and interaction can be incorporated using Document Object Model. Data interchanging and manipulation is mainly the work of XML and XSLT. Data is retrieved asynchronously with the help of XMLHttpRequest and finally JavaScript, residing on client side, binds everything together and dynamically displays and interacts with the information. XMLHttpRequest object has been the key to the success of AJAX, as it enables asynchronous data exchange with servers.

An enterprise can also implement AJAX in its portal. With AJAX you can build applications with rich and dynamic content, by offering simple features like drag and drop and auto-completion. AJAX is a framework model and is now relishing support from both Java and .NET. After the introduction of Microsoft's ASP 2.0, the things have become still easy for developers working on Web 2.0 compliant Web applications. To the extent that you don't even need to be an expert in AJAX to use it. With ASP 2.0, a Web developer can compose a page out of separate working parts that communicate independently with the server.

Online spread-sheets spell a new era where desktop applications being overtaken by browser-based applications

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