RE: AJAX vs. Xforms

XForms Team,

FormFaces is built to bridge this gap - provide XForms maintainability
benefits while providing adequate client-side forms. FormFaces is built
using pure AJAX, with the complete XForms model implemented client-side.

We can use FormFaces to demonstrate how XForms is here today. When
browsers obtain XForms capabilities built-in, the need for FormFaces
will dissipate. This is okay, our drive is to get XForms widely accepted
through implementations.

Very respectfully,
Gary 

-----Original Message-----
From: www-forms-request@w3.org [mailto:www-forms-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Nunn
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 15:15
To: www-forms@w3.org
Cc: www-forms@w3.org
Subject: Re: AJAX vs. Xforms


I think that there is necessarily reasonable to compare XForms and AJAX.
AJAX leverages DOM 1, CSS1, and HTML forms.
XForms is the standard that is applicable and very useful for DOM2,
CSS2, and XHTML.
One of the real world problems faced with AJAX, is maintainability.  The
inability to use HTML to create an adequate client side form is why AJAX
exists but we need to view it as a mature technology with a very high
development and maintenance cost (speaking from experience here :-).
So XForms is the leading edge of web development and should be viewed
that way.  Most browser vendors have some form of plan to support XForms
and given time it will become ubiquitous, just the same way that early
browsers did not have javascript or even DHTML.
There are real advantages to using XForms, and comparing it to the take
up of proprietary systems such as flash is not reasonable.  The same
comparison could also be made of adobe pdf, which is of course
everywhere.
My point here is that AJAX and XForms are complementary not competing.  
AJAX is mature and widespread, but XForms promises and can deliver on a
host of other benefits as well as still being able to use AJAX
technologies (not that I recommend that at all :-).

Received on Tuesday, 1 November 2005 02:51:19 UTC