WebApp
WebApp is a web application framework in Perl: Visit the WebApp Home Page.
WebApp stresses consistency, security, and separation of form from
function. It is released under a BSD license.
This node is the root of the developer wiki. In order to modify and
add to it, you have to have an account. At this time, registration for
accounts is not open to the public, but that will change. For now,
please send email to webapp@cluefactory.com with a Subject that
contains the token [webapp wiki]. Ask in plain English (or Spanish)
to be given an account, and we'll get back to you.
Why WebApp?
Although there are many things in the world that claim to be web
application frameworks, it seems somehow that I mean something
completely different when I say those words than everyone else does.
This is a good thing, I think: diversity in opinions, especially when
backed up by code, can only improve the world.
My idea of a framework is something that holds things together, and
which allows its users to concentrate on their tasks to the exclusion
of other considerations, for as long as possible in the design and
implementation process. Simple stuff should be taken care of.
I also feel strongly about other parts of the software lifecycle. For
instance, maintenance. Maintenance is what we like to call a "super
bitch" in the business. Yes, that's the correct technical term.
Anyone who has ever been stuck trying to run an actively spanked web
server with however many separate apps, by separate people, and who
then faces the task of upgrading e.g. HTML::Mason, or PHP, etc. knows
what a "super bitch" is. WebApp was in part a direct result of the
author's disgust at the sheer number of chickens one was forced to
sacrifice in order to get HTML::Mason Version fidglefaddle to live in
relative amity with mod_perl, Apache, expat, and whatever other hair
and mud might be laying around. Then, assuming I win (yay?) that
battle, there's the concern that some existing (yet critical!) app
will go all wounded and lame, having not been able to deal with the
upgrade.
These kind of concerns led me to seek a simpler path, one which
insulated me (or anyone) from these kinds of concerns, instead of
causing me pain due to them.
Web Applications
A web application is a piece of software that provides some
service via a web browser. In the early days of the web,
this meant a piece of software that ran on a web server.
Increasingly, though, this is no longer strictly the case:
modern web applications are often comprised of software
that runs both inside of the browser and on the web server.
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Write me.