Eclipse Takes the RAP

The Eclipse Foundation just keeps on cranking it out. "It" being frameworks, plug-ins, and other associated development tools. The latest to clear the gates is the Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) 1.0, a freely downloadable Ajax server for creating and deploying Rich Internet Applications.

According to the Foundation, RAP 1.0 is the first Ajax platform that lets you create Rich Internet Applications (RIA) using the Eclipse component model, based on the OSGi standard. OSGi is a service-oriented, component-based environment that promotes the interoperability of applications and services. In other words, you can use RAP to create Ajax and RIA applications that are component-based and integrate into existing enterprise systems.

RAP 1.0 features include:

• The ability to create and deploy RIA or RCP applications from the same Java code base, allowing organizations the flexibility to create browser-based RIA application or desktop-based rich client applications.
• Support for creating Ajax applications based on the OSGi component model.
• Java development tools that tightly integrate with the Eclipse platform and allow developers to quickly develop, test, debug and deploy RIA applications.
• A complete set of frameworks for creating Ajax applications that support scalable user interfaces, complex widgets, databinding and loose coupling for UI elements.

"Out of the gate running" is probably too mild for what's expected of RAP. My guess is that it will really start driving RIA development.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 03:35 PM  Permalink