building client/server apps / distributed apps in smalltalk

Dear Sanjay,

this is the Cincom Smalltalk VisualWorks mailing list, not the Dolphin Smalltalk one ;-)

Yes, you can do what you are envisioning using Cincom Smalltalk VisualWorks. What you are looking at is a so called two-tier architecture: rich GUI clients and a database server.

You could alternatively implement more complex architectures like a three-tier or distributed architecture. What is reasonable depends on the specific (current and future) needs of your project.

The scalability depends on the implementation which depends on your needs. I. e. if you can already tell that down the road you won’t have 10 but 10000 users you should take that into account from the beginning.

Proxies are used in distributed architectures using Corba or similar technologies. In Cincom Smalltalk VisualWorks you have e. g. Opentalk to build distributed applications. Whether or not you’ll need Corba or Opentalk or Web Services or … depends on your requirements…

A 10 user application should be one of the simplest tasks. In VisualWorks you build your domain logic, connect it to the GUI using the ApplicationModel framework and persist the data in your (relational) database using EXDI and Glorp.

For a fast and risk free implementation you should acquire Smalltalk expertise for your project, e. g. by using external consultants.

HTH

Helge

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Helge Nowak

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Von: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] Im Auftrag von Sanjay Jain
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 4. August 2011 11:22
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: [vwnc] building client/server apps / distributed apps in smalltalk

I am looking for some guidance to approach this issue,

for a small desktop app with say 10 users over a LAN, I am planning to
put a "Data Server" which will actually manage the storage, update and
retrieval of data.

(this is so that we can tweak only this portion to adapt to any data
storage / file storage mechanism and also handle some specific rules
on copies / backup etc)

e.g. In Dolphin Smalltalk online help in Software Patterns>> New
Application under "Consequences" I find a discussion around client /
server models.

The questions we have are:
1. Is such a thing do-able / and will it be scaleable
2. Are any models / examples available to understand how it could
work
3. what are the key words we have to understand to create a solution
e.g. Sockets, ...
4. somewhere i read that there is something called proxy or that its
possible to build distributed systems in Dolphin / Smalltalk ... if
thats relevant

I know I may sound naive and vague but thanks for your patience and
please guide me into a track

regards
Sanjay