on the subject:
"IS TAPESTRY JUST TOO WIERD/ESOTERIC…",
it pretty much can be said for most of other web app building patterns.
It is always difficult to move people from one camp to another.
There are still plenty people not even using Hibernate,
and that can be another big hurdle for Java devs,
and even mor for devs new to java (comming from php or sth else.).
Tapestry tutorial is is same as ever.
by looking at it BeanEditForm looks like cool component, while
at the same time people are dicouraged from using it (especially
when they try to push it's limits.)
While you limit JS tweaking and use tapestry components,
it is rather nice to work with. Even a zone here and there.
The pattern for building web apps fits ok for backend admin interfaces.
Other patterns could be added (like better gwt integration), so one could
build a standard web backend app with plenty admin pages with forms,
and then add a page that is more interactive using GWT (or JQuery).
I would suggest when adding support for other approaches to keep an open
mind, and integrate it even if it means you can not combine classic tapestry
approach on that page with the new one.
For example
- can only use components without javascript
- layout component must not have javascript associated with it
- then use JQuery and RPC on that page (or GWT + rpc)
How much of tapestry internals could be usefull with 0% tapestry JS code
How much of tapestry internals could be usefull with extremly minimal
tapestry JS code (page init + sth crucial)
RANT: (based on T5.2.4)
As soon as I tried use zones in bit more complex situations and
nested a zone insinde one/other all hell broke loose.
- forms submit all buttons (all buttons call onSelected event)
- after changing outer zone, inner one breaks (set id="xx" and t:id="xxx"
seems to fix it)
And the worst part about zones is that for some reason I am forced to
return zone content myself from each event handler.
- why on earth would I return different zone from one defined in link
attribute zone="xxx"
if I want different content I can use delegate just fine.
END:RANT
Davor Hrg
