Aldo Bucchi wrote:
HI,
Scanning the thread on Parallax I see some terms reoccurring:
Outgoing Connections.
Lenses.
Lists.
Facets.
Free text search.
IFP to IRI resolution.
Find documents that contain IRIs
etc...
They are all implemented in different ways but tend to share semantics
across different browsers and services.
How far are we from defining a modular framework so we can mix and
math these as atomic interaction pieces?
Both services and probably UI parts.
Of course, RDF and HTTP can be used to describe them and deliver the
descriptions and, in the case of widgets, some OOTB implementations.
XForms, Dojo widgets, SWFs?
I have done something similar but much simpler in a Flex platform ( I
serve Flex modules, described in RDF and referenced by Fresnel vocabs,
but only for presentation ).
And then on a functional side I have several services that do
different things, and I can hot swap them.
For example, the free text search service is a (S)WS.
Faceter service idem.
I guess we still need to see some more diversity to derive a taxonomy
and start working on the framework.
But it is nice to keep this in sight.
The recurring topics.
Best,
A
Aldo,
Really nice to see you are looking at things holistically.
As you can see, we are veering gradually towards recognizing that the
"Web", courtesy of HTTP, gives us a really interesting infrasructure
for the time-tested MVC pattern (I've been trying to bring attention to
this aspect of the Web for a while now).
If you look at ODE (closely) you will notice it's an MVC vessel. We have
components for Data Access (RDFiztion Cartridges), components for UI
(xslt+css templates and fresnel+xslt+css templates), and components for
actions (*Cartridges not released yet*).
We've tried to focus on the foundation infrastructure that uses HTTP for
the messaging across M-V-C so that you get:
M<--http->V<---http--->C
Unfortunately, our focus on the M&C doesn't permeate. Instead, we find
all focus coming at us from the "V" part where we've released minimal
templates with hope that 3rd parties will eventually focus on Display
Cartridges (via Fresnel, XSLT+SPARQL, xml+xslt+css, etc..).
btw - David Schwabe [1] also alluded to the architectural modularity
that I am fundamentally trying to bring to broader attention in this
evolving conversation re. Linked oriented Web applications.
The ultimate goal is to deliver a set of options that enable Web Users
to Explore the Web coherently and productively (imho).
Humans can only do so much, and likewise Machines, put both together and
we fashion a recipe for real "collective intelligence" (beyond the
buzzword). We desperately need to tap into "collective intelligence"en
route to solving many of the real problems facing the world today.
The Web should make seeing and connecting the dots easier, but this is
down to the MVC combo as opposed to any single component of the pattern :-)
Links:
1. http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-lod/2008Aug/att-0106/00-part
--
Regards,
Kingsley Idehen Weblog: http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
President & CEO
OpenLink Software Web: http://www.openlinksw.com
