This document discusses various options for building professional web applications and identifies Joomla with the SEBLOD extension as the most advanced web application builder (WAB). It outlines the limitations of building applications manually or with content management systems like WordPress, Typo3, Concrete5, and Drupal. Joomla with SEBLOD allows creating custom content types and applications through a web interface and exporting/importing them with a single click, making it the most flexible WAB discussed.
2. The scope
In main cases, Web Applications are built manually by using :
Direct programming language: PHP, ASP, JSP…
Framework/Platform/API:
Symfony2,
Joomla platform,
Drupal API…
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6. Offline WAB
AwareIM
Java
Creation of Content Centric Web Applications
Create « Business Object » defined by Attributes
Attributes are not exactly a type of input in a form but
more special cases
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7. Offline WAB
Always cost money (licenses per computer)
Don’t allow real time modification (use submit)
This tools relate often to the generation of specific applications to
manipulate internal data of companies (Application Databases).
Publication and content display topics are not managed by these
tools.
It’s old school, it’s the past
Very limited
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9. Wordpress
No content types, only one type of content: « Blog ».
Define custom fields, which you have to select again on
any content…
Very basic
Definitively not a WAB…
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10. Typo3
Between CMS & Portal (less pages but with a lot of content)
Content elements are inserted in a page
Content elements are not fields, but more like little applications included in
the core
A very light form builder
Typo3 doesn’t manage the concept of content types
Any extensions must be coded
Just generic search
Not a WAB
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11. Concrete5
Manages page types and allows the addition of attributes (few &
basic). Attributes are not fields but more like little modules.
A page type is the selection of HTML structure of the page
Like WP, all turns around a unique « Blog » content type
Includes a basic form extension
Basic search features with one text field
Not a WAB
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12. Joomla + K2
Creates « extra » fields and assigns them to a « Group »
Assign a group of fields to a category
Any content created in this category will have fields of the group assigned
to the category
Lots of « require » fields defined by K2 that you cannot hide
Basic form features (no require, no validation rules…)
For each contents, all « extra » fields values saved in JSON in one table
field
Basic search features
Not a WAB
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13. eZ Publish
Manages « Class » (content types) defined by attributes (fields)
Lot of attributes but always basic
Basic generic search features, but EzFinder exists
All attribute values are saved in a unique table…
In 2011, extends its notion of packages to « Content Class Export »
> export content types
Not a WAB, but in the right track…
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14. Drupal
In Drupal 7, only CCK part in the core
Content types (by default page & story)
Import / Export Content types
Drupal 6 had a separate table linked to one content type, no more in Drupal 7, all field values are saved in one table
View module (Search & List features)
Some advanced form features but not complete
No interface to design contents & lists
No “Application” concept
Not a WAB, but in the right track…
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15. Joomla + SEBLOD 2
Form & Content Types
List & Search Types
Control of the storage for each fields (tables, JSON… multi format of
storage)
Multi-objects (Articles, Categories, Users, VM Products, Hikashop
Product), can be extended
Just 3 examples : a simulator, a form & a search
The first real WAB
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16. So…
What can be considered as Web Application Builder?
Joomla + SEBLOD is the most advanced solution for making
applications through a web interface and it allows to export and
import it in 1 click!
Joomla + SEBLOD is the union between the best CMS architecture
(OOP & MVC) and the best flexible tool to build Web Applications
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