June 24, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Curl Nitro offline RIA samples available
As our sister publication ComputerWorld reported in April, RIA vendor Curl has taken on Adobe AIR with an extension to its RIA environment called Nitro. Curl calls Nitro a "Fit Client"; I'm not exactly sure what that's supposed to mean, but this is how they describe it:
Nitro provides the essential capabilities of the Fit Client such as support for rich user interfaces, complex application logic, and agile development. Curl has enhanced its desktop capabilities with the following new features:
- Applet installer and desktop controls - Curl applets can be installed on the desktop for online and offline operation in a secure sandbox. The installer creates shortcuts on the desktop and start menu with customizable icons and a skinnable user interface.
- Client-side database - Nitro enables developers to build applications with local databases using the popular open source SQLite database engine combined with standard Curl techniques for data presentation and manipulation.
- Demo applets - These Web-enabled applications run standalone on the desktop, update when connected and provide real business value to enterprises.
- Desktop security model - With Nitro, desktop applications use the same security model as Curl applets. They run in a secure sandbox with local data access but limited system privileges. Curl applications can also be fully privileged applications, which require a standard digital signature provided by an established certification authority -- self-signing is not allowed.
Recently, the Curl folks have released two sample applications for Nitro, a timeline viewer inspired by the SIMILE project at MIT, and a Facebook circle-of-friends visualizer.
Source code is available for both applications. Before trying to run either sample, download and install the Nitro runtime and/or the Nitro IDE.
Nitro isn't restricted to Curl: it "embraces and extends" Ajax, Flash, and Flex:
Curl Nitro will also enable HTML, JavaScript, Flash, and PDF documents to run in the Curl environment. Ajax and Adobe Flex applications will be able to execute with the same enterprise-level security and SQLite database access formally specific to the Curl platform. Curl Nitro is not just a desktop RIA solution -- it is a platform that supports Curl, Ajax, and Flex applications on-line or off-line, browser based or desktop based. Curl Nitro extends the Curl platform so that it is a RIA Desktop for the Enterprise.
Posted by Martin Heller on June 24, 2008 07:26 AM
May 28, 2008 | Comments: (0)
Curl 6 outperforms Flex 3 on CPU-intensive benchmark
As I've discussed in the past in my reviews of Curl 5 and Curl 6 and in this blog, the Curl RIA environment compiles its code to give it near-native performance. A year ago I thought that Adobe Flex 3 might be efficient enough to close the gap when it was released, but apparently it's not: Curl engineers just did a comparison of Curl 6 and Flex 3 as applied to a JPEG encoding algorithm.
Like all benchmark comparisons, this one's methodology is open to attack. In addition, the comparison didn't include Microsoft Silverlight. I expect Silverlight 1.0, which uses interpreted JavaScript, to be a tad slower than Flex 3; I expect Silverlight 2.0, which uses compiled .Net languages, to have speeds competitive with Curl.
Nevertheless, it's an interesting result, and a big enough difference to be significant. Here's the release:
RIA Technology Benchmark Test Finds Curl Outperforms Adobe Flex 3
Curl programming language is key factor in superior performance and developer productivity; outperforms Flex by factor of 8 to 10
Cambridge, Mass. – May 28, 2008 – Curl®, Inc. today announced the results from a recent performance benchmark test of the Curl Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform, Version 6.0, and Adobe Flex 3. The test aimed to compare the performance of these two RIA platforms and found the Curl language to outperform ActionScript 3, the programming language of the Adobe Flash Player runtime, by a factor of 8 to 10. This finding is particularly significant for developers seeking highly productive ways to build mission-critical, enterprise-class RIAs that require high performance capabilities.
The benchmark test, conducted by Curl engineers, comprised of implementing a JPEG encoding algorithm. This is an ideal test case for performance since JPEG encoding is a useful and common computational task. The engineers first translated an existing ActionScript program for JPEG encoding to Curl and compared the resulting performance for three images ranging from small to moderately large.
The results of the test showed that Curl retains a substantial advantage in raw execution speed, attributed mostly to the significant difference in the two platforms’ programming languages. While the Curl language was architected to support compiling to efficient code, Adobe’s ActionScript was not. The end result is Curl’s superior performance for building enterprise RIAs.
“Curl was designed to be a very powerful, high-performing language and platform, and we have always been proud of this unmatched capability,” said Bert Halstead, vice president and chief architect, Curl. “However, in order to consistently demonstrate our dominance in this area, we understand the need to constantly test ourselves against other solutions on the market. The results of this test support our claims, and we will continue to expand on this study to further document Curl’s superiority for enterprise RIAs.”
Curl consistently outperformed Action Script in each of the three test cases. Specific results on the 2.26 GHz benchmark machine included:
- For the small image – 700 by 933, 0.65 megapixels and 72 kB in size – Curl performed in 0.16 seconds and Flex in 1.72 seconds.
- For the medium image – 1170 by 1560, 1.83 megapixels and 195 kB in size – Curl recorded 0.46 seconds with Flex at 4.43 seconds.
- For the large image – 2,560 by 1,920, 4.92 megapixels and 511 kB in size – Curl’s time was 1.36 seconds, and Flex’s was 11.69 seconds.
Multimedia: Curltech flickr page, Curltech photobucket page
Posted by Martin Heller on May 28, 2008 11:15 AM
April 07, 2008 | Comments: (0)
As Doug Dineley and I were discussing my draft review of Curl last week, now posted here, he asked me a serious question:
You essentially recommend readers to give Curl a try. Is there a way to tell who is the best kind of match for this product? I mean, what sort of developer, in general, trying to meet what sort of need?
My answer about the need being addressed made into the final review. On the other issue, I responded:
The sticking point for a lot of developers is that the Curl language is different from what they already know.
In the early 1980s I ran a software development, publishing and sales business focused on engineering and scientific applications. One of the products we resold was Asyst, which was based on Forth. (There are still companies doing business under that name, but I doubt that any of them are related to the one that produced this product.)
After handling many returns of Asyst, I told the sales staff to ask the customer what kind of calculator he or she used, as a screening mechanism: if the answer was TI, then Asyst probably wasn’t for them, but if the answer was HP, then they’d probably be able to learn Asyst because they already knew Reverse Polish Notation.
I haven’t found a similar touchstone for Curl, but then again I’m not trying to sell it. I’m fairly sure that anyone who has learned Lisp, Scheme, Smalltalk or Logo will pick up Curl very easily; most people who have learned OOD/OOP in any language will be able to pick up Curl without encountering any serious barriers.
Since it’s a free product for evaluation purposes, however, the simplest way to tell if you’re going to like Curl is to try it.
So there you have it.
Posted by Martin Heller on April 7, 2008 06:51 AM
August 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
In my review of Curl 5.0, which posted today, I called out a generic page for Curl demos, but I didn't go into the details.
First, before you run any Curl demos, download and install the Curl RTE.
There are three demo areas:
- Enterprise software demos: prototypes of various enterprise-related applications, highlighting Curl capabilities that can help build better business applications.
- Fun and games: Have some fun. Kick back and relax a bit, while getting a different perspective on the capabilities that Curl has to offer.
- Code Samples: See how to use various capabilities of the Curl platform, particularly in the areas of dynamic 2D and 3D graphics.
The Enterprise area has 7 demos: Stock Performance Calculator, On-Line Map Exploration, Order Entry, Live Tax Form, Mailing Label, RSS Reader, and Web-Based Training.
The Fun and Games area has 4 demos: Chess, Chinese Checkers, Maki, and Match-it.
The Code Samples area has 9 demos, all with source code. Three samples cover 2D graphics, 4 cover 3D graphics, and the two miscellaneous samples implement a Whack-A-Mole game and a PDF viewer.
In my screencast, I spent a lot of time on the Ray Tracing demo, which personally I found impressive. On the other hand, the Enterprise software demos might shed more light on whether Curl could help your company.
Posted by Martin Heller on August 6, 2007 01:56 PM
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