• Links - Rethinking Java Applets

Feb 17 2009: cheap servlet hosting ?
Feb 5 2009: more links to applet demos

A few ill-formed thoughts so far ...

Java is The Enterprise Language. Most Java applications are not applications so much as pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of the enterprise integration architecture. In short, they are big, complex and expensive.

Java Rule Engine Applets ?

Big and expensive does not necessarily need to be the case for the kind of light-weight rule engine applications considered in this . An engine could also run as a small, efficient Java applet in the client web browser, often used for graphically-intensive applications scuh as rule editors. For inference engines, this implementation option is also attractive since it pushes the bulk of the heavy CPU-memory demand off the server. In fact, the client may have as much if not more crunching capacity as shared server.

The critical factors may be:

• Applet size, probably 100k at a maximum.

• XML request/response between the Java applet on the client and whatever is on the server, PHP, Ruby, Python. Not Java, in other words.

Json or SOAP may be the easiest route. I'm not sure if JavaFX is going to be a help or hindrance - see Sun Adds a Little Zip to Java.

The Coming Age of Cheap Servlet Hosting ?

A combination of applets and servlets is not completely out of the question. The idea is that the rule cruncher part of the application would still run as an applet on the client but a servlet would handle rulebase and database access and session management in an integrated, Java-like manner. Building to a a simple interface standard might make the applet pluggable for a variety of server environments, PHP is especially important.

Some ISPs offer entry-level plans at around $100 per year, such as addr.com. See a full list of ISPs supporting servlets.