March 24, 2007

Jolt Award 2007 (& Apollo)

Jolt Award 2007 Winner 出爐囉!
照例來看看 Book 的部分:
1. Books General
Jolt Winner:
  • Agile Software Development by Alistair Cockburn (Addison-Wesley Professional)
Productivity Winners:
  • Catastrophe Disentanglement by E. M. Bennatan (Addison-Wesley Professional)
  • Practices of an Agile Developer by V. Subramaniam and A. Hunt (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
  • Software Estimation Demystifying the Black Art by Steve McConnell (Microsoft Press)


2. Books Technical
Jolt Winner:
  • Head First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design by B. McLaughlin, G. Pollice, and D. West (O'Reilly Media)
Productivity Winners:
  • Code Quality by Diomidis Spinellis (Addison-Wesley Professional)
  • Refactoring Databases by Scott W. Ambler and P. J. Sadalage (Addison-WesleyProfessional)
  • CSS: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland (O'Reilly Media)


那本 Practices of an Agile Developer 快讀完了,Code Quality 還在 list 上,
其他有些也準備要列進 list 了...:PPP


再來就是 Web Development 的部分...
Jolt Winner: Adobe Flex 2 (Adobe Systems)

去年可以說是 RoR 的天下,今年看到的則是 Adobe Apollo/Flex 的崛起...

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.


Adobe® Flex™ 2 is the most complete, powerful application development solution for creating and delivering rich Internet applications (RIAs) within the enterprise and across the web. It enables enterprises to create personalized, multimedia-rich applications that dramatically enhance user experience, revolutionizing the way people interact with the web.


今年 Apollo/Flex 這話題不斷,我大概一路這樣看下來:
專訪Adobe資深副總裁暨軟體架構長Kevin Lynch (蔡學鏞)
另一個阿波羅冒險故事的開始...從市場面介紹Adobe Apollo (蔡學鏞)
Hybridizing Java by Bruce Eckel
Adobe Apollo alpha released - vgod's blog
The origins of Apollo - EDGE

讓習慣開發 Web application 的人,
能用熟悉的方式:HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, Flex 來開發 Desktop application...
一直夢想這種東西的出現...
而且,Apollo 還有 online/offline 串起 desktop app 跟 web app !

(還是想強調一下我在 [Chat] desktop app in web 2.0 era ? 提到的:)
太多時候 desktop app 都太獨立,置身於網路之外,
在 web2.0 的 “web as platform” 時代裡,
dekstop app 可以做的不是只能消極地將自己的技術轉移至 web platform 裡,
它應該繼續存在在 local 端的世界裡,
只是,加上與 web 搭上關係的功能…
這麼說好了,
web app 最大的好處其實在於 mobility、portability,
dekstop app 不可能在這方面與之匹敵,
能做的其實就是扮演 web 與 local 溝通橋樑的中間角色…
當 web app 盛行,
desktop app 不只要與其他 dekstop app 共同合作,
現在更要加上與 web app 的溝通共享…

web app 上是帶著走的,
desktop app 則是方便編輯使用存放資料,
而兩者之間要達到真正 seamless 運作,或許還是要靠 desktop app…
全偏往 web app 或者只著重 desktop app,都是不可行的,
我認為,最好還是讓 desktop app 扮演溝通橋樑,與 web app 有良好互動,
且致力於兩者之間的 seamless 運作…

(其實我也有想起 Mozilla application framework (CSS/XUL/JS))
(Mozilla Application Framework in Detail)

之前有過到底是要以 AJAX 或是 Flash 來開發所謂 RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) 的議題,
現在看起來,目前好像變成是 Flash 這一掛的佔上風哦......:P
(當然,Apollo 也可以沒有 Flash/Flex :P)

看 video 最快:Mike Chambers interviews Christian Cantrell about Apollo (Video)
不然安裝 Apollo runtime 然後再玩個 sample,也可以看看大概囉 :P
Update 22:00
剛剛才發現原來 TechCrunch 早就有這麼一篇 Best Apollo Demos,可以到那些網站玩玩看看...:p