Mark: New page: ==Architecture Ideas== :Online tool - web application :Offline tool - stand alone program ::Plug-in Architecture ::Generic Framework ::*? ==Exploration of Ideas== We look at the main ...

2008-02-15T20:03:22Z

New page: ==Architecture Ideas== :Online tool - web application :Offline tool - stand alone program ::*Plug-in Architecture ::*Generic Framework ::*? ==Exploration of Ideas== We look at the main ...

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==Architecture Ideas==
:Online tool - web application

:Offline tool - stand alone program
::*Plug-in Architecture
::*Generic Framework
::*?

==Exploration of Ideas==
We look at the main points of each idea, advantages/disadvantages and potential problems.

Each idea is also given a difficulty estimate.

===Online Tool - Web Application===
'''Overview'''
:*Thin Client
:*User accesses tool within their Internet Browser.
:*All the code generation/page analysis is done by the servers.
:*The tool would need to be written using php/asp/js etc.
:*Can get the client to do some of the work using javascript.
:*Pages need to be (or seem to be) dynamic. AJAX?

'''Advantages'''
:*User doesn't need high speed computer.
:*User can access content from any computer.
:*Users don't need to download the program.
:*Users don't need to download additional content/updates.
:*Don't need a 'proper' framework.

'''Disadvantages'''
:*User needs a decent Internet Connection.
:*Servers need to be a lot more powerful (calculations and bandwidth) than an average web server.
:*If servers go down, no one can use the tool.
:*Need the site to work in all the major browsers (rewrite same code a few times).
:*PHP is a pain to test.

'''Potential Problems'''
:*University hosting ''might'' be too slow (page scraping etc).
:*Need to request additional services from University (AJAX?).
:*We don't know AJAX or ASP.
:*Online tools are harder to test properly.
:*Dynamic editing might be hard to do.
:*Dynamic editing might crash slower PC's anyway.

'''Difficulty Rating:'''
9/10

===Offline Tool - Plugin Architecture===
'''Overview'''
:*Light weight program
:*Stand alone program which runs on Windows platform (We assume the majority of Linux users can program - could be later converted which is beyond the scope of our project).
:*Written in .net or Visual Basic?
:*Consists of basic framework with plugin interface.
:*Functions for mashup types can be encapsulated in plugins.

'''Advantages'''
:*Plugins can be developed independently written after initial framework is established.
:*Decrease memory usage as all plugins are not loaded on startup.
:*Easy to extend the tool.
:*Original download is small, so the server bandwidth does not need to be huge.
:*Pass some of the work onto other developers.

'''Disadvantages'''
:*Users need to download additional content.
:*Users cant access their content from anywhere.
:*Need to check updates for every plugin the user has aswell as the main application.
:*Plugins may not work across versions (like some Firefox plugins - this is a problem for the plugin developer, not so much ours).

'''Potential Problems'''
:*Plugin interface may be hard to implement (no experience)
:*No experience with .Net and VB.
:*Framework may take a lot of time to develop properly.
:*Bad framework design might lead to poor UI.
:*Might not have time to do real life UI testing.

'''Difficulty Rating:'''
8/10

===Offline Tool - Generic Framework===
'''Overview'''
:*Heavy weight program.
:*Stand alone program which is a complete tool.
:*Written in .Net or Visual Basic for Windows platform.
:*Program will a finished tool which users can download.

'''Advantages'''
:*All the functions are automatically included (no need to download more).
:*More secure than plugins (some users might write malicious plugins).

'''Disadvantages'''
:*Complete program may be large which will use a lot of bandwidth to download.
:*Can't add to the program once it's released (new content will have to come in updates)
:*Could require a lot of memory to run.
:*We have to write ''all'' the functionality.
:*Users need to download updates.

'''Potential Problems'''
:*Wont be able to develop all the functionality for all the possible mashups (in the scope of our project).
:*No experience with .Net and VB.
:*Framework may take a lot of time to develop properly.
:*Bad framework design might lead to poor UI.
:*Might not have time to do real life UI testing.
:*Have to make the project open source for people to continue adding functionality.

'''Difficulty Rating:'''
8/10

[[SE401:33:Mashup_Creation_Tool|◄ Back]]

SE401:33:Architectures - Revision history

Mark: New page: ==Architecture Ideas== :Online tool - web application :Offline tool - stand alone program ::*Plug-in Architecture ::*Generic Framework ::*? ==Exploration of Ideas== We look at the main ...

Mark: New page: ==Architecture Ideas== :Online tool - web application :Offline tool - stand alone program ::Plug-in Architecture ::Generic Framework ::*? ==Exploration of Ideas== We look at the main ...