ICEsoft Challenges Conventional AJAX

May 23, 2006; 09:46 AM
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is revolutionizing the web by delivering a far richer level of user interaction to web applications. However, as Java developers are finding, the revolution comes at a heavy price.

Because AJAX requires developers to develop in JavaScript, not to mention manually integrate client-side components with server-side business applications, the platform threatens to actually complicate web applications and raise development costs. Clearly businesses want the benefits of rich Internet applications—but not at the price of unmanageable code with unpredictable behavior.

To address this unnecessary complexity and overhead, ICEsoft plans to unveil ICEfaces, its no-JavaScripting Java-based AJAX application development environment, at the 2006 JavaOne Conference in May. ICEfaces is a complete rich web application development and deployment solution that is more accessible to existing Java EE developers than conventional AJAX solutions because it is based on established Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) standards. It integrates with leading Java development tools such as Java Studio Creator and Eclipse, and deploys to application servers from leading Java EE vendors.

Rather than requiring developers to have knowledge of intricate client-side JavaScript code, ICEfaces users can work within the well-understood application development dynamics of Java. ICEfaces’ fundamental ease-of-use lets developers create and maintain richer, more responsive enterprise AJAX-based applications more efficiently, and at lower cost, than through conventional AJAX techniques.

“ICEfaces provides significant advantages over AJAX solutions that require JavaScripting,” says Chris Erickson, CEO of ICEsoft. “ICEfaces gives enterprise Java developers the benefits of AJAX rich web applications in a pure Java solution that integrates seamlessly into their existing Java EE infrastructure, tools, and skills.”

“ICEfaces is really breaking the mold for what AJAX applications can truly mean for the enterprise,” said Ron Schmelzer, Senior Analyst at ZapThink. “For most companies today, AJAX represents a hodgepodge of scripts and widgets that require the developer to know too much about how the client operates, and has very little maintainability and predictability as the quantity of AJAX explodes on the client. ICEsoft faces this challenge head on by thinking first about the needs of building rich applications in the context of existing client-side heterogeneity.”

One of ICEfaces’ key advantages is Server-Initiated Rendering, a unique server-side feature that asynchronously initiates updates to the client user interface. This powerful capability enables developers to create web applications that update instantly in response to changes to the server-side state. Server-Initiated Rendering also supports broadcasting a single state change across multiple client sessions, making collaborative applications easier to create.

“For example, a stock ticker application created with ICEfaces can instantly update the client web page whenever the price of stock changes, without the user or client-side JavaScript initiating the update,” explained Steve Maryka, CTO at ICEsoft. “In a traditional web application, the user would need to refresh the page to receive the updated price information.”