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Servoy is WAY there

First of all, the post that I am replying to is misinformation from
someone who doesn't know Servoy at all. I won't take the time to
rebut point by point but suffice to say that this person is way off.

I love FileMaker Pro 7's instant web publishing. I really think that
they are on to something there. It is easy to build a form with, it
is easy to deploy, it is now multi-threaded all the way to the
database -- just very cool technology.

That being said, IWP has its limitations. You would not choose
IWP to build a web based accounting system (as the article
alluded to). It is appropriate for work group setting type of stuff.

The biggest strength of FileMaker Pro is that it is usable by
"knowledge workers." The biggest drawback of FM is that your
data is stored in FM, not in an SQL back-end. IWP extends the
ease of use of FM to include web forms. But IWP is not a
replacement for full-blown web apps or even mid-range web
apps using middleware.

The neat thing about Servoy is that it was built from the ground
up to be a RAD GUI tool for SQL data sources. It deploys as a
Java thin client so you get all the advantages of a RAD GUI tool:
fast and easy to develop with, powerful functionality, rich user
interfaces, versioning control, the list goes on....

With Servoy you get MOST of the advantages of a web
application: a zero
deployment client. However, the initial thin client download is
about 2MB (there after the client just checks for updates). In
counterbalance to this drawback is the fact that a Servoy client is
a persistent connection to the server (if a client changes a
record, all other clients see the change immediately).

One neat thing about Servoy is that you can build an application
that has any number of data sources. One source can be your
accounting data in MS Sequel Server. Another source can be your
mobile sales data in Sybase iAnywhere. Another source can be
your web backend data in MySql. You can be interacting with all
of these data sources in real time with one application using
Servoy.

Scenario #1: If you have a complex ordering solution that you
want
customers to manage their account with, a web based
application could take 10's
of thousands of dollars to develop it with. Develop in Servoy,
deploy worldwide as easy as a web solution, and save yourself a
bundle of money on development costs.

Scenario #2: If you have an ordering system that the masses use
to purchase, develop as a web application using middleware and
use Servoy to integrate the online purchases with your inventory
system and your accounting system.

In conclusion, FileMaker has something with their IWP -- great
for the business professional. Servoy has something in that it
can deliver complex applications that html based apps can't
touch and deploy almost as ubiquitously to boot. Add to this
that Servoy can interact with any SQL data source, it's almost as
easy to develop with as FileMaker Pro 7 (you have to delve into
JavaScript and understand separation of the data sources -- but
no SQL needs to be written by the developer), it scales to
thousands of users (and no client install), runs on any platform
that has Java 1.3 (1.4 is better obviously) and you can see why
Servoy is making some serious noise in the IT community.

Cheers,

David Workman
www.data-mosaic.com

Posted by: salpinx   Posted on: 06/29/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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