Robbie Cheng

Can a Good RIA Framework Overcome Financial Recession? To overcome the financial recession, a good RIA (Rich Internet Application) framework is far from enough since Ajax experts are rare and costly to hire; moreover, it’s time-consuming to begin the project. Thus, an integrated development environment is necessary to help enterprises deliver time-to-market rich Internet application efficiently with the minimal cost. In 2009, RIA builder plays a key role on decide which RIA solution will be adopted by enterprise since it helps them save IT investment greatly. Good RIA Framework is Far from Enough Good RIA frameworks are far from enough to deliver Rich Internet application cost-effectively due to the following three reasons: Rare Ajax Experts Finding an Ajax Expert is one of the major difficulties of creating rich Internet application since it requires developer to maste... (more)

Building RIAs with a Direct RIA Solution

My submission to 7th International AJAX World RIA Conference & Expo has been accepted. I will have a session at 7th AJAXWorld Conference on June 23, New York. Topic: Building Rich Internet Applications with a Direct RIA Solution Summary: Building an enterprise application is never an easy task, not to mention enriching its user experience at the same time. Scaring JavaScript spaghetti, tedious asynchronous communicate between client and server, and the danger of exposure of business logic to the client make Web application complex, less secure, and un-maintainable. ZK is a Direct... (more)

Converting Excel Spreadsheets Into Enterprise AJAX Apps

ZK Spreadsheet enables AJAX applications to deliver the rich functionality of Excel to browsers in pure Java. With embeddable Excel functionality in pure Java, developers can create collaborative and dynamic enterprise applications like never before. ZK Spreadsheet 1.0.0 RC2 supports MicroSoft Excel, developers can import existing Excel files to ZK Spreadsheetwith ease. Moreover, most Excel functions are supported, user can the same experience with Excel, including 225+ Excel formula functions, fabulous styling, selection, highlighting, merging-cell, freezing row and column, undo... (more)

How to Choose an RIA Solution

There are currently more than 200 RIA solutions available, and this number grows daily. Each RIA solution has its strengths and weaknesses, and the levels of security, accessibility, and integration vary. Choosing a suitable RIA solution for creating or enhancing Web applications becomes more difficult for both software architects and software project managers. Since it's easy to select the wrong RIA solution, the following is a guide covering both perspectives that will help you evaluate RIA solutions and choose the right one. Top 10 Criteria for Both Architects and Managers Th... (more)

Direct RIA + Google App Engine = Simplicity + Scalability

Direct RIA is a robust and comprehensive rich Internet applications engine which turns any client (web browser, mobile device) into an efficient and engaging environment. Direct RIA maximizes developer productivity by direct access of user interface, database, and web services. Direct RIA minimizes the development cost by transparent and automatic synchronization between client and server. ZK is a Direct RIA framework to increase developer’s productivity by integrating frontend and backend of applications transparently to deliver rich, and engaging user experience. Watch Live D... (more)