You want them to to use wave to collaborate on a web application, you want to use wave as a content management for a separate web application, or you want them want them to create some sort of tool that can be used in the context of collaborating on a wav?. They all involve different aproaches. But if it is the latter I would say you should cover gadget api. That is the more mature with WAIB, though tbh, you might be better off using GWave or at least given the student an option to demonstrate in one or the other.
The idea of wave is it is federated that means data is not centralised. This applies to gadet instances aswell. Wave gadgets are like other web gadgets that use the open social protocol, except it is extended to fit the context of wave collaboration. Datata fo that instance is stored in relation to the wave, and therefore that would set the state of the gadget. Using robot api is another thing. Although robots can work with WAIB, it is not mature to the level of Gwave. Any to give you a rough idea the protocol is like the specification of how federated collaboration should happen. Wave servers follow the protocol. Although the conversation model is technically sort of separate from the protocol, models also follow a specification. Gadgets are like client side widgets contained in a iframe, but using the gadget api, you hook them to a wave instance (embedded in a blip), and that allows them to have a shared state among the participants. Robots are like participant on the wave, except they are not human. Most are hosted on appengine as that used to be a requirement but now they could be hosted anywhere. They communicate with server using JSON RPC calls. The client is the front end. However theoretically you could use different clients. To confuse matter further there is a sort of lightweight client called a data API client that uses robot protocol to communicate. it is not really an interactive or fast but it can be a mobile alternative. Personally I would recommend researching it a bit more, and try out developing something yourself. WAIB is very young any not totally stable, but it probably ok for gadgets. Federation is the ultimate aim, however few example exist right now and they are mainly for testing. But it is possible. Although you could do some federation, it is probably not necessary for this project. ----- Original Message ---- From: Giacomo Piva <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 24 February, 2011 16:23:08 Subject: need some advice I just joined the list and this is my first message, so in first I want to say "Hello" to all :) Let me introduce myself, I'm a Professor at the University of Ferrara (in Italy) and I teach in the "web technologies" class. In the next month I would like to assign to my students a project that involves the wave protocol as a main technologies on which develop a web application. Maybe I'm wrong but this is what I understand about the technology. It is a set of three layers: - the protocol (lower) - the platform (a set of API) - the product (front end) I would like to express a project that let the students to write a new front end using the API to exchange information with the protocol. Where can I find information on how to start? I downloaded the server and the full client but I can't find such a "getting started" page on how to use the APIs to develop an application. Thanks to all.
