Barber’s Pole

Backbase (Ajax)

Posted by Simon
May 28, 2005

I happen to find this website called Backbase which uses 100% AJAX technology from the following location http://www.ajaxmatters.com/. Backbase provides Rich Internet Application software that radically improves the usability and effectiveness of online applications, and increases developer productivity. With Backbase you can build web applications with a richer and more responsive user experience.

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Information: May 28th, 2005; 12 Responses

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Reader Comments

Comment Number:: 1
Written by:: Jack
Posted on:: May 28, 2005 at 11:45 am

Looks nice, but have you seen the price? Ridiculous.. Some $8000 per CPU. You can almost get Flex for those kind of money.

Comment Number:: 2
Written by:: Simon
Posted on:: May 28, 2005 at 12:00 pm

The pricing looked a bit heavy to say the least. Flex could be a better alternative for the extra money. That is if you are going to spend that sort of cash anyway

Comment Number:: 3
Written by:: M. Schopman
Posted on:: May 28, 2005 at 4:19 pm

Backbase like Flex, is still a niche product, however the speed and featurerich set of functionality that comes with Backbase is much higher than Flex currently provides.

This is a product for the high end market, where people make enough money to invest in products that might have a dramatic influence on sales, cost savings, etc. Don’t let the price fool you, 8K is nothing, ever looked at the licenses for servers like websphere, licenses for ms sql server, or oracle 9i/10i?

Comment Number:: 4
Written by:: Carlos Rovira
Posted on:: May 29, 2005 at 4:46 am

But…What’s the reason to use Flash in some examples??? There’s a map locator example in the BackBase site that uses Flash to render the map!!!

�? :_|

Comment Number:: 5
Written by:: M. Schopman
Posted on:: May 29, 2005 at 5:46 pm

It is because Flash still is king of the hill towards vector images. As you already noticed, the map is a vector image allowing it to be zoomed in or out. This is something where you should not use DHTML.

I am a firm believer in the right tool for the right job. So in this case, Flash was the best solution for the map. However using Flex for datagrids is imo a wrong solution with the current Flash player. DHTML would do much better there.

Data Entry / Data Management = DHTML, Media/Effects/Video = Flash

Comment Number:: 6
Written by:: McVirusS
Posted on:: May 30, 2005 at 11:14 am

I am a big fan of DHTML techniques but somehow I think Backbase will fail simply because of lack of community. Flex/Flash has a much bigger community behind it. This is a huge plus. For me Flash is a more sensible choice then browser depentend scripting (should not really be an issue anymore with DOM scripting, hence the should). Somehow the Flash Player seems much more reliable then all those different kind of browsers.

Btw, hi Gordijnstok :).

Comment Number:: 7
Written by:: Simon Drijver
Posted on:: June 3, 2005 at 5:25 pm

At this very moment, we have updated the site to run on the new version of BPC (Backbase Presentation Client). This new version also comes in a community edition, meaning it can be used free of charge for non-commercial purposes.

Comment Number:: 8
Written by:: Menno van Slooten
Posted on:: June 6, 2005 at 9:34 pm

I am a big fan of DHTML techniques but somehow I think Backbase will fail simply because of lack of community.

Well, that’s what why we need you guys to download the free version and completely fall in love with it. Or not, it’s up to you. With time, I trust enough people will like it to form a strong community. Backbase has strong intentions to support a community like that.

(btw, hi Gordijnstok & McVirusS)

Comment Number:: 9
Written by:: airtonix
Posted on:: June 20, 2005 at 2:54 am

What about svg for vectors?
Ive been using inkscape which has an xml editor. simply copy this svg code to a certain page of your likng, and display in a browser capable of rendering svg.

but not many browsers render svg. grrrr. profit driven world sux.

Comment Number:: 10
Written by:: airtonix
Posted on:: June 20, 2005 at 3:05 am

oh yeah, i have my site running the backbase community edition. Mannnnnn i love it.

Im keen on building interface for my mates encyclopedia on comparative mythology, there are a few entries already under artciles.

I also would like to implement a “permalink” system (similar to twiddlywiki and dojo), that allows bookmarking of page but not state.

Previously i was creating a similiar project using microbians genLIB, i had created tons of widgets from window managers to notepad emulators.
So i reckon it is entirely possible that i will continue this trend with backbase.
Of course there is no point to me creating these if i dont release them for the rest of you.

If anyone finds any errors and can be bothered too let me know then send an email to:
airtonixBackbaseErrors@pookmail.com

Thanking you.

Comment Number:: 11
Written by:: thinman
Posted on:: June 30, 2005 at 7:28 pm

That price seems excessive.

Comment Number:: 12
Written by:: airtonix
Posted on:: October 15, 2005 at 12:17 pm

yep would be great if i could use it in my clients sites for a REALISTIC price…

anyway, i’ve ditched backbase, and am developing my own based on either prototype or mochikit.

Backbase (Ajax)

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