Roadmap 2009
From Documentation
First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your continuous enthusiasm about ZK. Within three years since first release, ZK has accumulated nearly a million downloads. ZK has evolved from a feature-rich Ajax framework into a complete RIA solution for enterprise.
I'd like share our vision and new development of ZK in 2009 with you.
Contents |
ZK 5
ZK 5 is our next major release. While retaining the backward compatibility for ZK applications running in the server, ZK 5 Client Engine has been written completely to be the corner stone for the next generation RIA applications.
From the perspective of where an application runs, the architecture of an Ajax framework could be server-centric or client-centric. A client-centric framework is like a car with the manual transmission gearbox, which is more controllable but inconvenient. On the other hand, a server-centric framework is like a car with the automatic transmission gearbox, convenient but less controllable.
ZK 5 is aimed to be a manually controllable automatic transmission to provide the developers both controllability and productivity.
Server Computing
Many developers have boosted productivity with ZK's seamless integration of Spring, JPA, JSF and other enterprise infrastructure. In 2009, we will enhance the integration much further, such as a new generation of data binder and a truly Ajax-based Web flow.
Client Computing
ZK 5 provides full-fledged client-side UI objects (so called widgets), such that developers can access the widgets in the client directly. Depending on the resources and requirements, an application could be either one of the following cases:
- 100% server codes to maximize the productivity
- Mostly server codes and limited client codes to improve the response time for critical sections
- 100% client to have the offline capacity
GWT Integration
In addition to accessing ZK object-oriented widgets in JavaScript, developers will be allowed to program them in Java with GWT.
ZK Light
ZK Light is a stripped-down version of ZK 5 with the full-fledged widgets and the minimal server codes. It is designed for Web applications and websites that require the modern RIA user interfaces, but have no need to integrate with the sophisticated enterprise infrastructure.
Python, PHP and More Platform Supports
Python, Java, PHP, .NET, Ruby and Google App Engine are the potential platforms that ZK Light is going to support.
The Power of Simplicity
In addition to the full-fledged widgets, developers are allowed to design the user interface in ZUML -- ZK user-interface markup language. It is not only easier and cleaner to design user interfaces, but also more seamless to handle events occurring in the client with the codes running in the server in your favorite language.
ZK Studio
ZK Studio is not only a WYSIWYG visual designer, but also a complete RAD tool to boost productivity from UI design, to database access, to Web services, to Web flow control, and, even, to UML code generation.
Visual User Interface Design
ZK Studio provides a set of visual tools to simplify the UI design. It includes a WYSIWYG visual editor, ZUL editor, style designer and theme generator.
Visual Backend Integration
ZK Studio will also provide the visual tools to simplifying the binding and accessing of the back-end resources, such as databases and Web services. Binding the user interface with a back-end resource will be as straightforward as a few clicks through wizards.
Visual Product Development Flow
By and large, ZK Studio is aimed to streamline the whole product development flow with highly customizable templates and wizards. It helps developers, even beginners, begin a new project easily and customize it to meet the sophisticated requirements quickly.
NetBeans
Yes, we are going to support another excellent IDE -- NetBeans. Due to the resource limitation, the support of NetBeans will not be so complete as the Eclipse one in this year.
ZK Mobile
As of releasing ZK 5, the whole new generation of ZK Mobile will be released.
Offline Computing
Unlike the desktop environment, the communication overhead and instability is the big challenge for mobile devices. Offline computing is the number-one goal of the upcoming ZK Mobile.
Device Specific Support
Mobile devices vary from one to another. To develop a cool mobile application, we have to support device-specific features directly. The top candidates include BlackBerry and Google Android.
Wish you a prosperous 2009 and enjoy Direct RIA with ZK!
Yours Sincerely,
Tom M. Yeh
Founder, ZK
Disclaimer: This roadmap is for information only and represents current view of ZK product direction. None of the information should be interpreted as a commitment on the part of Potix Corporation. POTIX MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.