Mainfram Reality

Here is a quite from the Fiddler website describing what Fiddler id:

What is Fiddler?Fiddler is a HTTP Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP Traffic, set breakpoints, and “fiddle” with incoming or outgoing data. Fiddler is designed to be much simpler than using NetMon or Achilles, and includes a simple but powerful JScript.NET event-based scripting subsystem.

Fiddler homepage

I’ve had a play with zumiPage on a rather large ASP.NET project I am working on. It worked, but some of our controls do not work with it, especially the Microsoft.Web.UI.WebControls.TabStrip control. When time permits, I will try to integrate zumiPage into my existing .NET Application framework and web controls. Definitely give zumiPage a try.One thing to keep in mind is that zumiPage does not effect how the ASP.NET server side code is executed, so the entire page code on the server still runs. For purely AJAX application the idea is to have an API on the server that returns specific pieces of information, so not all the page operations are executed on the server, only the ones that are required. zumiPage is still great for making existing ASP.NET applications more responsive and with some elbow grease can be used to deliver full AJAX applications.

Over last few weeks I’ve been researching Ruby on Rails. One of the main reasons why I like Ruby on Rails is because it fits really well with Agile Development approach wikipedia. In my experience, and especially with large projects, software development teams are slow to adopt new technologies and generally do not try to make their product better. This is the case where standard waterfall methodologies are used and many programmers get comfortable in developing software the same way day in and day out. In these types of teams no one has the real full picture of what the system does, because communication is not in person but is done through lengthy documents. The client does not have any contact with the programmer developing the applications in most cases.Agile gets away from that approach and encourages close relationship between developers and clients. Here is the Agile Manifesto that talks about the main principles of Agile development.

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customerthrough early and continuous deliveryof valuable software.Welcome changing requirements, even late indevelopment. Agile processes harness change forthe customer’s competitive advantage.Deliver working software frequently, from acouple of weeks to a couple of months, with apreference to the shorter timescale.Business people and developers must worktogether daily throughout the project.Build projects around motivated individuals.Give them the environment and support they need,and trust them to get the job done.The most efficient and effective method ofconveying information to and within a developmentteam is face-to-face conversation.Working software is the primary measure of progress.Agile processes promote sustainable development.The sponsors, developers, and users should be ableto maintain a constant pace indefinitely.Continuous attention to technical excellenceand good design enhances agility.Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amountof work not done–is essential.The best architectures, requirements, and designsemerge from self-organizing teams.At regular intervals, the team reflects on howto become more effective, then tunes and adjustsits behavior accordingly.

Resources:Agile AllianceAgile PlanetTest Driven Community Website

Bindows Framework is an object-oriented platform for developing AJAX wikipedia applications. Their demo looks like a windows application, and the speed is great (I tried it on Firefox 1.5.0.3). The only downside is that Bindows Framework is not free, but if you are working on a large commercial project and want a nice clean interface that users will be familiar with, few hundred dollars is not a big deal.

I know that most AJAX wikipedia people out there will shoot me for saying this, but the new Macromedia Flex application looks very interesting. Over the last few years almost every website out there that drew gasps of visual delight was either developed in Macromedia Flash or had questionable content.The Adobe website describes the Flax product quite well:

The Flex product line delivers a standards-based programming methodology and runtime services for developing and deploying the presentation tier of applications that combine the richness of the desktop with the reach of the web.

It is good to know large companies are taking notice of the new Web 2.0 wikipedia movement and are developing tools to make the transition to Web 2.0 easier.