[Laszlo-dev] lazlo4java ideas

[Geert Bevin]

Hi Candide,

this is a great initiative!

> would be slower for rendering and I think that, indeed, it could  
> even be faster.

I'm sure it will and the memory handling and garbage collection would  
be much better.

> Another big advantage: with a java implementation of laszlo at  
> hand, one could easily develop builder tools so it'd be easier to  
> defeat Flex et al.

Good point

> Rendering
> How do we perform efficient animations in java using Java2D? Do  
> animation frameworks already exist on this

http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/animation/index.html is worth a look

> platform? Should we use them, or implement a strategy from scratch?

... but I only skimmed the docs, never really used it though.

> Javascript
> Does rhino need the laszlo objects to implement a specific  
> interface. If so, is byte-code instrumentation a good idea (e.g.  
> javassist) ?

I have quite some experience with ASM for bytecode manipulation, so  
if you need help there, shoot!

> Compiler
> What portions of the existing compiler can be reused? Validation  
> for instance is probably a good bet. Besides, is javac the only  
> choice for compiling plain java generated code. Or are there other  
> strategies (e.g. javassist, again). Or maybe everything could be  
> evaluated at runtime? Or? or?

I think that the trip though javac should be avoided, it's very slow.  
I used to do this for a template engine that generated java source  
code, which it compiled to bytecode. I converted this to direct  
butecode generation with ASM and it was really magnitudes faster. It  
wasn't that much more difficult to do.

> Development
> How to be XP and still be rigorous with respect to design  
> principles? A project like this requires that every aspect be taken  
> into account. But at the same time we all know that development  
> works only by small increments...
> What would be the most natural milestones that would be compatible  
> with the "grand vision"?
> Is it a good idea to target an intermediate level of implementation  
> where views would be only static (i.e. no animation) so they could  
> serve as building blocks for would-be builder tool projects?

I think it's best to initially start from hello world style examples  
and getting them to work from the original LZX source code. The  
component object model should first be implemented I think, since  
most other things rely on it. After that, it's a matter of what  
people feel comfortable with and what they're exited about to implement.

Best regards,

Geert

--
Geert Bevin                       Uwyn bvba
"Use what you need"               Avenue de Scailmont 34
http://www.uwyn.com               7170 Manage, Belgium
gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com    Tel +32 64 84 80 03

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