Introduction Rich Internet Applications OpenLaszlo as an RIA Examples Community Competitors OpenLaszlo Architecture OpenLaszlo XML Structure Dealing with Data An IDE for Laszlo

What is OpenLaszlo Development platform for delivery of rich internet applications. Consists of LZX programming language and OpenLaszlo Server Licensed as open source under Common Public License Started in 2000, development led by Laszlo Systems

The Goals of Web 2.0 Web-based applications need to be as interactive as desktop applications. Application development shouldn't be limited to large development teams. The hypertext-based heritage of the Web needs to be preserved. Democratization of the Web should empower users.

HTML vs. RIAs Static page orientation Master-slave relationship Application state stored on server Fluid behavior that mimics desktop applications Independent Adds data cache to browser – maintains its own sense of state

OpenLaszlo as RIA Advanced windowing components Drag-and-drop services Vector-based graphics, audio, and video OpenLaszlo conforms to open standards and is able to operate across differing platforms. Can be used to create hybrid applications that simultaneously execute across multiple platforms. Allows Flash-based apps to be searchable by web crawlers

Example Sites Behr Pandora Gliffy Wal-mart Full list here ons

Competitors Adobe Flex  Not open source, only a non-commercial/Non institution version Microsoft Silverlight  Not open source  Incompatible with Linux

LZX LZX is a declarative language – a domain-specific language (DSL) Based on XML Combined with JavaScript to create RIAs Accesses supporting JavaScript library, the OpenLaszlo Runtime Library (ORL), which contains the Laszlo API.

Declarative Features Class-based inheritance Hierarchical parent-child addressing Parent-child attribute propagation Built-in event handling Animation Constraint notation support for event handling Data binding to XML elements

OpenLaszlo Explorer Laszlo current release: Version 4.3 Download from:  You can also see the Laszlo Explorer on the website's “Getting Started” section: 

Deployment SOLO  You use the OpenLaszlo compiler to “precompile” programs and make the binary available on your server.  Apps are easier to deploy and sometimes better- performing Proxied  The OpenLaszlo Server runs on your machine  Apps can do a few more things than SOLO but can be troublesome and have slower performance.

Client and Server Architecture Server  O.L. Server is a Java app that executes in a J2EE servlet container.  Apps written in LZX.  Supported run-time environment, Flash 7 or higher.  O.L. Server outputs bytecode in the SWF file format.

Client and Server Architecture Client  Consists of the OpenLaszlo Runtime Library.  None of these classes rely on Flash or use the Flash object module. The Flash player is used soley as a rendering machine.  When app is running and is idle, it still maintains a connection with the server.

Laszlo Community Multiple mailing lists Development forums:  Uses JIRA to track Bugs

Openlaszlo IDE IBM developed a plug-in for OpenLaszlo: IDE4Laszlo.   Unfortunately, even thought the plug-in graduated into the Eclipse project, it was archived due to community inactivity. Activity on the Laszlo forums still demonstrate a large demand for a solid IDE.

Resources To Get Started A great resource...  OpenLaszlo's page...  A great book.... 