Re: The responsive web site debate

It seems to me if we're going to build web sites and hybrid apps that use DB2 data and/or programs on an IBM i, we need to know our options for developing the front ends of those sites and apps. HTML, CSS and JavaScript have become de facto web standards for the front end. Responsive web sites and single page apps (not the same thing) are two options we have for the front ends or web sites and hybrid apps that are different than traditional web pages for desktop browsers.

When we use PHP on the IBM i to develop a responsive web site, are questions having to do with the responsive front end of that web site questions for WEB400? When we use Java or the Integrated Web Services to create a RESTful services that pulls DB2 data into a single page app, are questions about the single page app on the front end suitable for WEB400? What about when we try to create a hybrid mobile app using HTML, CSS, JavaScript or Cordova? None of these are IBM technologies. But the IBM Mobile First\Worklight initiative has made Cordova a central tool for developing mobile apps. Are questions about the HTML, CSS or JavaScript code inside a Cordova hybrid app proper for WEB400?

I really like the Midrange.com lists, and I'm happy to play by the rules.

So here's my question:

Is WEB400 an appropriate forum for discussing the front ends of all the web sites and mobile apps we are building?

Or is WEB400 only appropriate for the back ends of those web and mobile technologies (web servers, server-side scripts, CGI programs, web services, RESTful services, etc.) when those back ends are running on an IBM i?

Thanks,
Kelly

-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Henrik Rützou
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2015 5:29 AM
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
Subject: Re: [WEB400] The responsive web site debate

Kevin



You are quite right, WEB400 or any other IBM i specific forum/groups isn’t the right place to discuss either SPA or web client frameworks. This will tend to be discussions between very few people where any web client framework has their own specific forums/groups that seldom are server centric or specific.



I use EXT JS and am a member of a cross server platform group specific to EXT JS and HTML5. Most of the members is PHP or .NET guy’s but we are also
4 IBM i ISV’s that participates and we meet much more regular that any IBM i user group.



There are clear advantages to participate in other groups, they are Front End related, they are able to attract experts on the technology and frameworks they cover and they widens ones network of people with a common technical preference outside the IBM i frame.



In regards to their main forums there is however a drawback. There are many people in them (up to 500.000) so the coziness and the personal relations we experience in IBM i forums are gone and it is very hard to get answers on ‘newbie’ questions or personal guidance to specific problems.



With all due respect for Kelly and Nathan’s interesting discussion I have been following on the side line I personal don’t think it is the right path. They use hours to try to set up a simple SPA homepage you are able to make in WordPress in two hours. But more important – WordPress creates applications that is content management not business applications. Kelly and Nathan are playing with the same – simple content management, while
90-95 % of a business application is handling menu’s, grid’s and form’s that has to interact with each other and services on the server. To me that’s a whole other ballgame.



But that is another discussion – e.g. are the IBM i suitable for running CMS and business applications side by side even though it can?

On Sun, Jul 12, 2015 at 11:11 AM, Kevin Turner < kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Oh, and it also uses web sockets to communicate with the nodeJS server
as well as HTTP.

-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kevin
Turner
Sent: 12 July 2015 10:03
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
Subject: [WEB400] The responsive web site debate

"How would Bootstrap be an improvement?"



I didn't really see an answer to this question, and as I had no real
practical experience of bootstrap I decided to have a go at a
prototype that used it so that I can judge for myself. This topic is
not really anything to do with the IBMi platform, it is more to do
with general web design and tooling - perhaps WEB400 is not the right forum?



Anyway, one of the things we want to do pretty soon is have a platform
agnostic solution - something that we can run on the IBMi and any
other platform (Unix, Windows) if it is appropriate. So as well as
trying out something that used bootstrap, I also wanted to try
something that used a nodeJS server solution rather than Apache.
While I was at it, I might as well get some practical experience of
Angular as well, so that I can really compare it with our own Renaissance 6 Framework.



So this is the opposite end of the spectrum. Nathan is rather "anti"
frameworks and libraries as they can be allegedly over scoped. This
little prototype at http://kpturner.co.uk:1337 will therefore fill him
with horror, because I have used Angular, Bootstrap, JQuery and a
NodeJS server
- all glued together with a Framework called Sails (sailsjs.org). I
haven't created any documentation for it at the moment - it is just a
proof of concept really so that I can get to understand what all these
libraries have to offer. However, the source can be viewed on github (
https://github.com/kpturner/sails_events). As an aside, we are now
using Git on our IBMi to manage all our source code, RPGLE etc included.



I haven't reached any hard and fast conclusions yet. I have had plenty
of problems trying to fathom out the best way to do things, mainly due
to my lack of experience in the tools/libraries. I would definitely
consider using bootstrap in Renaissance, but Angular (so far) I find less intuitive
than our own offering (no surprise there then). What really is exciting
(can't believe I am using that word in this context) is the use of
nodeJS as the server platform. JavaScript is by far my favourite
language, so being able to write the server-side code in JavaScript is
liberating. I can debug using node-inspector, and have access to all
those node goodies (node-machines included).

The only fly in the ointment so far, with regard to running it on the
IBMi, is the database access. This prototype uses MySQL. The SailsJS
framework uses an ORM called Waterline that provides an integration
layer to lots of different databases, but DB2 isn't one of them. That
is a hole that I intend to fill one way or another.



Anyway, I thought I would share my experiences as well as making
Nathan feel nauseous :)



Kevin











-----Original Message-----
From: WEB400 [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathan
Andelin
Sent: 07 July 2015 20:07
To: Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries)
Subject: Re: [WEB400] 7 lessons from my first responsive web site



Aaron,



Yes, I've already read about Bootstrap's "grid" options and played
with them on one project. But I'd like to hear about some practical
examples of people using them, to better understand what might be
entailed. My understanding, which is admittedly limited, is that
developers may select from "extra small", "small", and "large" CSS
classes for HTML elements. CSS Class names indicate whether they are
targeted for use with various screen sizes. But what is "responsive"
about that? What about GUI elements that automatically adapt to screen sizes?



Kelly's site demonstrated the use of "media queries" which
automatically toggle the visibility of a "menu bar" for larger screens
or an optional "drop-down" menu for smaller screens. How would Bootstrap be an improvement?







On Tue, Jul 7, 2015 at 12:48 PM, Aaron Bartell <aaronbartell@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:aaronbartell@xxxxxxxxx>>

wrote:

*>For those who advocate for Bootstrap, what does it really take to

make it adapt to multiple screen sizes?*

Check this out: http://getbootstrap.com/css/#grid-options

Aaron Bartell

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This is the Web Enabling the IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries) (WEB400)
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