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LAMP Grid Application Server, No More J2EE
An anonymous reader writes "Check out this blog entry in Loosely Coupled about ActiveGrid's new open source Grid Application Server based on the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Python/Perl) stack. Not to start another PHP vs. Java flame war, but it looks like LAMP is starting to grow up, and that it is much better suited for next generation applications than J2EE."
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Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Who needs EJB when there's Hibernate http://www.hibernate.org/ and Spring http://www.springframework.org/. Persistence, Transaction Management, and SQL generation in one tidy package. And it works on any J2EE app server, no matter how lightweight or robust.
Not that I have qualms with any attempt to provide these services in PHP. It's not a matter of having just one tool in your toolbox, but rather knowing which tool is right for which job. My only response to the original poster is "I don't want to start a flamewar, but if you aren't a sound enough engineer to know when to use which tool, you pretty much suck."
Zope kicks both of their [censored] IMHO.
Zope has:
Built-in object database (hence Z Object Publishing Environment - ZOPE).
Built-in http server (Medusa), and ftp server.
Ability to integrate with other http servers (i.e. Apache).
Built-in scripting/application language (Python - and you can add Perl if desired)
Built-in ability to connect to traditional relational databases, if needed.
WEBDAV compliant.
Built-in support for XML, HTML, DTML, TAL, TALES, METAL, and CSS.
Ability to extend the environment by building modules that become integral to the site.
Web client based development and administration - with access control built-in and fully configurable to your needs. If you can reach it from the network, you can develop and administer it.
A large stable of free/open source modules that can be loaded (Plone - a full function CRM solution, Zwiki - wikiwiki web clone, just to name a few).
Built-in ability to cluster a site across multiple machines (can be architected to serve behind an SLB for scalability, or in seperate geographical locations to provide local access to shared resources).
This is the fastest development environment I have seen - bar none. The biggest benefit comes from the object database - you don't have to think about a logical or physical data model beyond the needs of your application - you don't have to worry about how structures are defined in the database. You can move your data structures inside of your scripts directly into the object database as-is without having to monkey with table structures and all of the other baggage a relational database carries with it. Once you understand and use the object database, you never want to go back. Of course, you can attach to SQL databases, and do the silly walk if needed.
I set up a CRM solution using Plone that has been up and working for 6 months now with minimal time babysitting it. Adjunct to that, I have built several unique apps far quicker than our IT department could possibly accomplish using J2EE (we have several projects through that group that are years overdue and over budget - hence my move to Zope for internal development of critical support functions that can not wait).
Among the principles behind the Agile Manifesto are several that are instructive:
"Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software."
"Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage."
"Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale."
Zope has helped me be successful with all of the above. How do your tools measure up?
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
What ZOPE doesn't have.
.... Many Many more thing that are in J2EE but not in zope.
Ability to publish zope objects with SOAP
CORBA support.
Message queues
Object relational layer
transaction support for relational databases
RMI or it's equavalent in python
Common logging infrastructure (log4j)
Timed services (cron like device for calling certain code)
Naming directory.
But what it lacks more then anything else is good documentation. Yes there are lots of products but the vast majority of them have no more then a one sentence explation.
FInally a plea to whoever is reading this.
I hate Java, please please please build a J2EE like container for python or ruby make sure it has everything I have listed above.
evil is as evil does