By definition, an application server is a software framework dedicated to the efficient execution of programs, routines and scripts for supporting the constrcution of applications. An application server acts as a set of components accessible to the software developer through an Application Programming Interface defined by the platform itself. For web applications, these components are usually performed in the same machine where the web server is running, and their main job is to support the construction of dynamic web pages (Ince, 2004).
Given that Web sites today are complex, dynamic, applications which interact with their users and as the world embraces Web Services and technologies such as SOAP, XML, and WDSL, the ability of application servers to integrate these technoilgoies is being viewed as critical. This need for integration plays a critical role, as e-commerve evolves, in how B2B will provide greater resources for users. Integration aims to bring components of different systems together to form a larger or more powerful system. A relatively basic example of this integration is an online store which has an online catalogue and secure payment facilities provided by differing web technologies.Whilst this is basic, in order to achieve the integration of enterprise software architectures there are a number of technologies which are being used to bring software components and utilise them as one system, some of these technologies include AJAX and JQuery. With the growing complexity of websites, which are utilising many web services and technologies on a single site, the need for integration is critical.
2. What is the relationship of AJAX to JQuery (jquery.com) and the lightweight Web 2.0 javascript framework called MooTools (mootools.net) within the enterprise software architecture?
Asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX) is considered an approach, as opposed to a technology, used on the client-side which allows web applications to communicate with a back end server asynchronously to allow pages to contain dynamically generated content without disrupting the contents of the page. The use of Ajax techniques has led to an increase in interactive or dynamic interfaces on web pages. There are a growing number of technologies that have incorporated AJAX techniques (Wikipedia, 2010).
jQuery is a lightweight cross-browser JavaScript library that emphasises interaction between JavaScript and HTML and incorporates AJAX technologies in order to achieve this. Simply put AJAX offers users a seamless way to work with your a web interface, whereas jQuery has a set of tools to make AJAX easier to implement. MooTools ., as described on the Mootools Website, is also a lightweight web application framework which is actually a javascript web application framework which is used to create a framework to utilise technologies such as jQuery and AJAX. The integration of these technologies not only aids in the development of dynamic web sites but also allows web system to efficiently utilise client side processing. This contributes to the creation of powerful and dynamic web pages
3. What are the similarities between the object-oriented development using model-view-controller (MVC) in Ruby on Rails 2.0 and Action Script 2.0 (Flash animations)?
The basic principle of model-view controller (MVC) is the separation of responsibilities. In an MVC application, be it Ruby on Rails 2.0 or ActionScript 2.0, the model class concerns itself only with the application’s state and logic. It has no interest in how that state is represented to the user or how user input is received. By contrast, the view class concerns itself only with creating the user interface in response to generic updates it receives from the model. It doesn’t care about application logic nor about the processing of input; it just makes sure that the interface reflects the current state of the model. Finally, the controller class is occupied solely with translating user input (provided by the view) into updates that it passes to the model. It doesn’t care how the input is received or what the model does with those updates (Wikipedia, 2010). Both Ruby on Rails 2.0 and ActionScript 2.0 are object oriented languages which utilise a MVC Architecture. Other similarities between these two include the fact that both have functionality for prototyping, and both use freeform languages.
4. What does it mean to develop RESTful practices into our web applications
In 2000 Roy Fielding coined the term Representational State Transfer (REST) to describe the networking principles that characterise the World Wide Web. Conforming to the REST constraints is often referred to as being ‘RESTful’. REST describes how distributed data objects, or resources, can be defined and addressed, stressing the easy exchange of information and scalability. In the broadest terms, REST outlines how to define and address sources of specific information, commonly known as resources. Resources are referred to individually with a universal resource identifier, such as the URL used for Web addresses. The term REST often describes any simple interface used to transmit domain-specific data over HTTP without the need for additional messaging layers or session tracking. Systems that follow Fielding's REST principles may be called RESTful and "Restians" argue that retaining this very simple semantic structure is the best way of preserving interoperability between all Web participants (Costello, 2009).
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