Oracle Helps Next-Generation Web 2.0 Application Development With Contributions to Open Source Community

May 17, 2006; 06:02 AM
Oracle announced a series of contributions to leading open source initiatives. Oracle has donated more than 100 Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) Faces components to the Apache MyFaces project. Oracle also announced plans to augment this donation by contributing its next generation Asynchronous Javascript And XML (AJAX) user interface technology to the open source community.

Oracle also announced its plan to support open source scripting communities such as Groovy and Grails and the new JSR-223 specification to enable scripting languages such as Groovy, PHP and Grails to be used in Java Server-side Applications. Open source standards initiatives such as MyFaces and scripting communities like Groovy and Grails have become the resources of choice for the development community to simplify Web application development. Oracle's donations help strengthen these initiatives and simplify the development of sophisticated, Web 2.0 applications.

Oracle is will donate a set of Ajax-enabled rich user interface components to the open source community in the next few months. JavaServer Faces technology simplifies building user interfaces for JavaServer applications. Developers of various skill levels can quickly build Web applications by: assembling reusable UI components in a page; connecting these components to an application data source; and declaratively tying user interface events to server-side event handlers. Oracle has integrated AJAX technology with Java Server Faces to provide rich, highly interactive user interfaces that run 100 percent within a browser with no downloads. The combination of AJAX and Java Server Faces technology radically simplifies the ability to build Web 2.0 user interfaces by eliminating the need for developers to program in Javascript and providing a rich set of pre-built components and visual tooling. These offerings are part of Oracle's ongoing strategy to simplify next-generation application development by providing developers with advanced tools and flexibility to use development platforms and components of their choice.

"Java, open source, and scripting languages are key elements for the development of the next wave of Web applications," said Ted Farrell, chief architect and vice president Tools and Middleware, Oracle. "Oracle's support of open source projects like MyFaces and participation in scripting communities like Groovy and Grails is not only making Java available to a broader base of developers, but it is also providing them with resources they need to build and deploy applications quickly and easily."

In addition to its many contributions to the Apache MyFaces project, Oracle is helping to build support for Java development by becoming the first independent software vendor to allocate resources and to participate in scripting communities like Grails, an open source Web application framework that leverages the Groovy scripting language for Java Web development. Grails is an open-source Java framework that comes with a simplified development environment that significantly increases the productivity of Web application development by eliminating the need to assemble deployment units and enabling developers to begin immediately. The goal of Groovy and Grails -- to attract a new category of developers to the Java platform -- is closely aligned with Oracle's efforts to expand the Java development community.

"I am extremely pleased to have the support and participation of Oracle in the Grails project," said Guillaume Laforge, software architect and open source consultant, Octo Technology, Groovy Project Lead and Grails follower. "There is a wealth of Java expertise in the industry; having that along with a highly-respected expertise in enterprise application development is what Oracle brings to this project."

Oracle's Commitment to Java Developers
Oracle has been a leading supporter of Java since its inception in 1995 and recognizes that a key element in driving the adoption of the next generation Java Platform, Java EE 5, is simplification of development around EJB 3.0 and JavaServer Faces (JSF), a Web application framework designed to enable developers to more easily build user interfaces for enterprise Java applications. As the co-specification lead for the recently approved EJB 3.0 specification, Oracle has donated significant time and resources toward developing standards and donating technology that will simplify application development. In addition to providing TopLink® Essentials as the JPA reference implementation, Oracle is leading the JPA Eclipse project, Dali. Oracle is also a founding member of the JavaServer Faces expert group in the Java Community Process (JCP) and is spearheading a JSF tooling project within the Eclipse Foundation open-source community to be released later this year. Oracle also joined the Apache MyFaces project as a core contributor.

Developers can visit Oracle Technology Network (OTN), otn.oracle.com, for access to a wealth of additional information and in-depth coverage of key development topics, specifically designed to assist developers.

Oracle and Ajax: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/ajax.html

Oracle and Grails: http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/java/grails.html

Oracle JDeveloper: http://www.oracle.com/tools/index.html

Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J): http://www.oracle.com/appserver/index.html

About Oracle
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