WebObjects 5 WebObjects 5 Reviewer’s Guide June 2001
Contents 3 Introduction 4 The WebObjects 5 Architecture 5 Key Features 5 Automated data access with Enterprise Objects 5 Streamlined page generation with Web Components 6 Rich Java clients using EOAssociations 7 Integrated tools 9 WebObjects 5 Advantages 9 Rapid time to market 9 Built-in quality 10 Scalable Java deployment 10 Market-proven solutions 11 Positioning and Target Customers 11 Education 11 Publishing 12 Business 13 WebObjects 5 Background 13 Born at NeXT 13 Joining Apple 14 Moving to Java 15
Introduction WebObjects 5 is the powerful new release of Apple’s award-winning application server—now written in the language of the Internet: Java. This allows WebObjects to run on virtually any server; makes it easily accessible to millions of Java programmers; and enables it to easily integrate and interoperate with other Java-based solutions such as EJB containers, servlets, ORBS, and web services.
The WebObjects Architecture All web application servers are designed to solve the same basic problem: how to create and maintain dynamic information. Static websites store all their content, presentation, and navigation information in HTML files. Not only does this make it very difficult for webmasters to do rapid or complex updates, it also means that every visitor sees exactly the same information in exactly the same way.
Key Features WebObjects 5 offers a number of powerful features designed to speed application development, reduce errors, and permit easy updating and modification of your applications. These features include • Automated data access • Streamlined page generation • Rich Java clients • Integrated development and deployment tools For additional information, please see the WebObjects 5 data sheet in the “Tech Specs” section of www.apple.com/webobjects.
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 6 Today, most experts recommend using a template engine to generate web pages, an approach that isolates the layout and formatting issues from the logic of the application. This separation allows designers to create aesthetically pleasing HTML, and programmers to focus on efficiently generated code. WebObjects pioneered this idea (way back in 1996) with Web Components (sometimes called WOComponents, after the class name).
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 7 Integrated tools To help you manage all these abstractions and their associated property lists, WebObjects provides a comprehensive suite of tightly integrated tools. These tools are available for both Windows 2000 and Mac OS X (v10.0), although the versions for Mac OS X are newer and take full advantage of the Aqua user interface.
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 8 Deployment tools In addition to all of the developer applications listed above, WebObjects provides a rich suite of deployment tools. The centerpiece of these tools is Monitor, itself a WebObjects application that manages all the different WebObjects applications and the servers on which they are running. You can use Monitor to start and stop instances, generate statistics, and configure how applications are run.
WebObjects Advantages The comprehensive tools and frameworks of WebObjects make it an incredibly powerful way to create Java server applications. In particular, WebObjects provides four key advantages over competing solutions: rapid time to market, built-in quality, scalable Java deployment, and market-proven solutions. Rapid time to market WebObjects has long been the tool that demanding customers turn to when time is money.
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 10 Scalable Java deployment Most exciting of all, with this release, the power of WebObjects is now fully accessible to Java programmers. The WebObjects runtime is written to the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition v1.3, allowing it to run virtually anywhere. Now that WebObjects is available on Java, it is instantly familiar and accessible to the millions of programmers who prefer that language.
Positioning and Target Customers WebObjects is Apple’s incredibly powerful “Internet engine” for addressing the custom development, enterprise integration, and web publishing needs of educators, creative professionals, and other major Apple customers. It leverages the power of Java, XML, and open source code to enable the rapid creation of database-driven, cross-platform solutions for e-learning, multimedia workflows, and e-commerce.
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 12 Business A combination of outstanding technology and innovative partners has attracted some of the best-known brands in the world to WebObjects. Fortune 500 companies have trusted it for years for Intranet application development, personalized Internet content delivery, and e-commerce. WebObjects-based solutions in this market include cutting-edge Internet sites such as the BBC, Skymall, AAA, and MCI.
WebObjects Background WebObjects 5 continues a proud, longstanding heritage of industry-leading web technology. From predecessors that helped give birth to the World Wide Web to the current Java-based release, WebObjects has become ever more powerful, comprehensive, and sophisticated. Born at NeXT WebObjects has its roots in NEXTSTEP, the award-winning object-oriented development tools used by Tim Berners-Lee to create the original web browser at CERN.
Reviewer’s Guide WebObjects 5 14 At the same time, the professional services portion of AES was reformulated as Apple iServices, with a charter to focus on all of Apple’s Internet technologies, including WebObjects, Mac OS X Server, and QuickTime Streaming Server. Moving to Java In its first several releases, WebObjects was written in Objective-C, a simple object-oriented language that provided much of the inspiration for Java.
Pricing and Availability To help customers and the marketplace better appreciate the power of WebObjects, and to make it more affordable to smaller organizations, Apple has set the price of WebObjects 5 at $699 (only $99 for educational institutions). A single package contains both the developer tools and a full deployment license. The license has no transaction limits, and allows you to install the runtime on a separate machine—even a high-end server with multiple CPUs—at no additional charge.
System Requirements Development platforms • Mac OS X (v10.0) • Windows 2000 Pro Deployment platforms WebObjects applications are designed to work with any Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition v1.3 runtime environment, using JDBC 2.0 for universal database connectivity. Following is the current list of deployment platforms that Apple has qualified for use with WebObjects 5 and for which we offer technical support. For updates, please visit www.apple.com/webobjects. • Mac OS X Server (v10.
