[OT-Rodeo] Still waiting for the aha moment

[Sarah Reichelt]

> You can then connect to those web pages with any webkit based browser from
> any OS.  So its not really mac-centric, and not even Rev centric, if I have
> understood it properly.

Correct - Rodeo is web centric, but we based it's scripting style on
Revolution scripting, so Rev people will find it easier to get
started. They will also have the benefit of the Rev-Rodeo Transfer
stack.


> They will shortly introduce the ability to run those pages on your own web
> server, again through a webkit based browser.  You should also be able to
> write web apps that run from your own device, again once they implement the
> ability to run from any web server.
>
> Correct me if wrong on this very last point?

You're right.


> The hope and belief is that this means that you can write apps for the
> iPhone and iPad.  Because you are targeting abilities built into the
> browser, and you do not need to go through Apple's app store to get them to
> the public.  Apple can no longer tell you and your buyers that swimsuit
> photos are politically incorrect this year.

Exactly. Steve Jobs has said on multiple occasions ever since the
original iPhone was released, that web apps based on HTML/CSS &
Javascript, are the way to put whatever apps you want on the
iPhone/iPad without having to go through the app store.


> Will it work, and is it interesting?  Yes on the last count.  Someone asks
> to what extent this allows you to port all the functionality of a Rev app to
> the web.  This is something I am not clear about, and it would be nice to
> know.  It is letting you compose apps within the limits of the webkit
> engine.  It is also letting you translate the gui part of a Rev app into
> standard web pages.  But it does not seem to be porting the whole
> application to a web site, not even a webkit one.  Its doing part of that,
> and delivering part of the functionality of the app. If you want the guts of
> the thing, you write the rest of it in the Rodeo editor.

Correct again - I think we need to hire Peter as our "Rodeo
Explanation Officer" :-)

At the moment, we have a very limited syntax available. It will expand
but we want to keep it as simple as possible, so every new addition
will be considered carefully. We do not plan to offer a complete Rev
to Rodeo translator, as the Rev language is too vast and too variable.
We are planning on extending the Transfer stack so that it creates
Rodeo actions for your handlers and populates them with commented
versions of your Rev scripts. This will just be an easier way to get
started and to remind yourself of your script, but you will still have
to re-write the scripts in Rodeo.


> Is that pretty much right?

Yes, very good Peter. Thanks for taking the trouble to lay all that
out, especially the interesting info about the originals of WebKit.

Cheers,
Sarah