Combining the potential for language and platform flamewars, a new web framework for Mac OS X is making the rounds this week with the promise of writing web apps using Objective-C and Cocoa. Has the time come to use low level languages (with high level libraries) for web development?
Even amongst Objective-C devs this is DOA:
• The Bombax server core is based on Nginx, an extremely efficient and reliable HTTP server used by millions of high demand websites and outperforming nearly all other servers including Apache, Glassfish, and IIS.
Huh? Nginx rocks. While it can be a lot harder to configure than e.g. cherokee, my understanding is that people using this web framework never even have to see nginx as the server is all configured and administered through a GUI. So it’s technically solid plus easy to use. What’s DOA about that?
Without Apache 2.2 which is installed as the defacto set up for OS X/OS X Server, Linux and many other distributions you won’t see remotely the market pentration that PHP and other web application platforms have seen.
With Apache EOL their own cruft and focusing on 2.3 and beyond [hoping they finally nail down 3.0 and it’s goals] this solution shouldn’t limit itself severely by not including at least starting with Apache 2.3.
I don’t think Apache is really that attractive anymore. Compared to Nginx, Cherokee, and Lighttpd, what advantage does it really have besides already being installed on a lot of systems and being a familiar tool? This isn’t 2000 with a lack of good free servers to choose from. Besides, this new solution includes its own server application. If someone is writing web apps with this then they already have a web server to run it.
It seems like your logic is: we already have ‘X’ therefore this should be ‘X’ too or no one will use it (because we already have ‘X’…).
I know I don’t want to be stuck programming PHP on Apache 5 years from now just because it’s the cheapest solution now. I’m glad we left CGI.pm in the last millennium!
Not to start any flame wars, but its DOA because it only runs on OSX server. There just aren’t many out there compared to Linux. That is absolutely not an option for anyone not running an Xserve, which is pretty much 99% of existing web servers.
Even if its a much better platform, its restricted to an apple labeled server with a single vendor, priced out of consideration. I
I don’t disagree with you on the numbers, but I feel obliged to point out that OS X Server does *not* require an XServe. It can be installed and used on any Macintosh so long as it meets the system requirements. Some OS X Server admins do this for the graphical server admin tools, which can administer remote OS X servers without needing ssh, and some do it so as to avoid buying an XServe when they already have a Mac they wish to use as a server. The price has dropped significantly on OS X server recently, though I don’t think it’ll ever catch up to the usage of free UNIX oses if for no other reason than OS X server does still require a Mac (hackintoshes not withstanding).
Good Point. I’m not sure if that is against the EULA or not, but they also sell the mac mini with OSX server installed. So not strictly Xserves. But still. There are even less non XServe macs in data centers.
Didn’t http://developer.apple.com/tools/webobjects/“> start as an Objective C framework? It’s what Apple uses for its online store and so on, but since it’s beyond the limits of Xservers, they need something that’ll run on large commercial servers, so that means it’s a Java platform now.
Wrong.
WebObjects ran via Apache and the runtime on non-OSX [then non-Openstep platforms] ala Windows just fine with the ObjC runtime.
Apple converted the entire platform to Java [A big mistake] which should now be remedied.
Hell, Objective-2.0 is now even available on GNUstep.
Yet, this solution pails in comparison to the scope of WOF 4/4.5.
Apple should move the Store back to a Cocoa solution and leverage this strategy by whatever future Cloud solution system they plan on leveraging.
He’s partially correct. WebObjects was Objective-C and Apple does use it for their website. I totally agree that they shouldn’t have moved it to Java except that they didn’t want to maintain YellowBox/Cocoa on multiple systems and that’s reasonable. The old Cocoa-Java bridge was so broken, it’s probably better that they just did away with that entirely!
Also, only some of Objective-C 2.0 is supported in gnustep. I know, I know, details…