Web V2R0
Posted: March 15, 2007 Filed under: Abe Batthish, System i, Web 2.0 17 Comments »(Updated Mar. 20/2007): Added tentative overview of session below.
George P. and I are working on a new session called “Web 2.0 for System i” … though after coming up with this post’s title I’m reconsidering the name. :)
The session will make its debut at the Toronto User Group (TUG) TEC 2007 conference, April 17-19. And if all goes well, it may work its way to a conference near you.
I feel the proper marriage of these two entities is long due. The system is well known for its reliability, security and flexibility, but can gain from a “cool factor” in cetain aspects that Web 2.0 related technologies and concepts can provide. It may be just what System i needs to ignite a new interest in the system. Is “coolness” that important? Well, let’s just say I’ll be watching sales of Vista to see if coolness is more important to people than reliability or security. ;)
Back to the session…
The content will be divided into two parts: the first attempts to answer the ever popular question “What is Web 2.0?” by going through various examples of related applications and concepts, the latter then describes various ways as to how Web 2.0 related solutions and technologies can be consumed (hosted) and produced (developed) on System i.
Usually a session needs to wait for its first set of feedback forms after its debut before the authors of that session are provided with useful suggestions of what they would’ve liked to see added in future revisions. But in this modern Web 2.0 world… why wait till then!
Here is a tentative list of the topics covered:
- Concepts: Blogs, Wikis, Social Bookmarking, Mashups
- Technologies at play: (P)AMP, Ajax, Syndication Feeds, JSF, Dojo
- What is Web 2.0? Why is it important?
- Consuming: Blog, Wiki, Lotus Connections
- Producing: JSF Web Tools, Ajax Toolkits, PHP IDE
Is there a particular Web 2.0 technology or concept you are curious about and want to see covered by this session? Feel free to give suggestions here via comments.
Call it “feedforward”.
Please keep in mind this instance of the session is a 45min intro.
As a precursor, here is a YouTube video with an interesting way of explaning what Web 2.0 is all about…
Did I hear you say, “cool!” ? :)
Abe,
Excellent idea! I don’t know enough about Web 2.0 and would like a way to ramp up on it, especially how it interacts with the System i.
After you have presented it once or twice would you be willing to upload a netcast (audio and visual) of it?
That’s a pretty cool idea, video recording some talks uploading them to youtube and perhaps creating a “WDSC Theater” on this blog. We’ll have to look into how realistic it is, but definitely something to consider.
Thanks Doug.
Besides this blog, we were also considering a podcast series as a secondary medium. Overviews of certain talks we’ve given are certainly good candidates there. I’ll have to looking into that again.
Curious, if it is feasible, would people prefer audio or video format? Furthermore, would you listen/watch it on the go (via iPod, etc) or just on your computer?
I think the “cool factor” is definitely important and often underestimated. “Coolness” is really good at getting people interested to begin with, but it will probably be the reliability/security/flexibility that’s the hook, especially for businesses.
btw, you did indeed hear me say “cool!” :) That was an awesome video!
Thanks Dave M. for introducing me to that video…
Hi,
Having just finished a web 2.0 project using WDSC, there are two topics I would like to see discussed:
1. How to debug javascript in WDSC?
2. How to see the generated source for a JSP?
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for the input, but your suggestions are slightly out of the scope of the talk, which will be explaining Web 2.0 at a higher level. In general though, debugging javascript from within an IDE is difficult. Personally, I use FireBug these days for all my javascript debugging needs. Basically, all the powers you would expect through any normal Java/C debugger you get with FireBug (just in a browser and for javascript). There are many more like Venkam and others which run in IE. In terms of seeing the generated source I would just go to view -> source in firefox.
– George
I’ve added a tentative list of the topics covered. As noted, please keep in mind this initial instance of the session is a 45 min intro.
Regardless, suggestions that may be beyond the scope of this particular session will still be considered for future (possibly broader) instances of the talk.
Thanks.
I’d be happy with audio podcast.
Hi Spencer,
We won’t have time to go into JS Debugging in detail since this is a 45min talk, but we can certainly highlight tools that can help you with that.
Thanks for the feedforward :)
I have to comment on:
“Well, let’s just say I’ll be watching sales of Vista to see if coolness is more important to people than reliability or security. ;)”.
Was IBM thinking the same thing when Windows ME, 2K, and XP came out too?
“coolness”, of course, is not more important than reliability or security, but it arguably ranks pretty high up there for both developers and users in my opinion. I have heard a customer say they had to get a Web version of their app. running even with less function because it was deemed as “cool” by users.
Besides, Web 2.0 is a lot more than being cool, it’s about being more productive. For example, wouldn’t be “cool”, if I could in WebFacing for example, use AJAX to pre-fill a combo box with relevant info. rather than trying to figure out how do it in Websettings (helps to separate the logic from the view)?
Or, was that a wink in your eye?
Hi Sherry,
In regards to your comment “Was IBM thinking the same thing when Windows ME, 2K, and XP came out too?”
These postings reflect the views and opinions of the the individual authors not IBM. So in this case it is Abe’s views and opinions which may be different than IBMs views and opinions.
- Don.
Of course you are more than welcome (and encouraged) to disagree with Abe’s opinions and views :)
Just pointing out a personal observation of what people may be willing to endure in exchange for something “cooler”. Highlighting its importance. Don’t think this differs from your opinion.
Thanks for the WF feedback. I agree, Web 2.0 has introduced us to new ways of making both our tools and their resulting apps (hate to say it again) “cooler”, be it through rich experience or ease-of-use. And certainly all this will be considered as we explore this space.
I think I’ve now overdosed on the word “cool”…
If you end up podcasting, I think audio only would be fine most of the time, but of course video would be more useful in some cases – live demos, for example :D
I would be most likely to consume a podcast at home as opposed to on a portable device – might be nice if an open format like ogg was used.
Looking forward to the presentation …
Yes, I agree, if we decide to produce tutorials and demos, video is the way to go, yet maintain a separate audio podcast for news, overviews, and interviews. Thanks for your feedback.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there on Wednesday.
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