Session 609: Developing Desktop Applications with WebObjects

This was a cool demo and intro session. Both Cocoa/EOF and JavaClient technologies were highlighted. Cocoa/EOF is a two-tier environment (the client connects directly to the database). JavaClient, on the other hand, is a three-tier configuration: the client app connects to a server (WebObjects) and the server connects to the database. JavaClient has a different architecture than most three-tier systems, designed to minimize communication with the server which improves security and performance.

Wizards for both will take an EOModel (object relational description) and generate feature complete applications.

Even better than JavaClient, IMHO, is Direct To JavaClient, which is a mix of Direct To Web and JavaClient. This is some of the most exciting technology to come around in a long long time. I wish I had time to use it.

One remaining issue for the Cocoa/EOF variant is redistribution of the EOF libraries. Not sure if there's a resolution yet.