Case Studies Using JavaScript-Based Frameworks

In development of thin-client applications, it is a common practice to use server-side technologies in order to create data and business logic back-ends and client side-technologies to create lightweight HyperText Markup Language (HTML)-based front-ends. In the development of Web 2.0 applications, the data and business logic back-ends are typically built on top of third-party Web services. In this context, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) has been traditionally used as the standard communication protocol for eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based Web services. This chapter presents a review of the support for invoking SOAP-based Web services using Java; then, it discusses the development, using jQuery, Prototype, Dojo, and Java Server Pages (JSP), of different thin-client applications based on third-party SOAP Web services by means of a series of case studies to exemplify the use of some User Interface (UI) patterns for accomplishing rich design principles such as stay on the page and use transitions.