Best of open source in software development

Compared to Flash-based RIAs, DHTML applications are generally better understood by developers today. They use JavaScript to dynamically load bits of XML via HTTP in the background to give Web applications a smoother feeling. The downside of this approach is working around the browser quirks.

The development activity around AJAX has exploded, and so has the number of open source AJAX toolkits. If you shake the pan, a half-dozen golden nuggets reveal themselves: Dojo, Rico, Prototype, and tools from Google, Microsoft (OK, not strictly open source), Zimbra, and Yahoo. But our Bossie has to go to the granddaddy of them all: Tibco General Interface, which Tibco now makes available under a BSD open source license or a commercial license. The Tibco tool is focused squarely on enterprise development, it includes a full-featured IDE, and the applications it produces are nearly indistinguishable from native desktop apps.

Continuous integration (CI) is a best practice that is starting to see wide adoption in the enterprise. It uses a model of nearly continuous building of the final product from the existing code base. The idea is that by performing a complete build every time a change is made to the code, problems can be identified at the earliest possible moment. CI servers automate the builds, and they generate extensive, detailed reports about project quality. These reports are generally published on intranets that help the development team identify fixes that must be made immediately, as well as assess progress on various metrics.

Despite the comparatively recent emergence of continuous integration, there are many open source CI servers for enterprises to choose from. The best of these, without a doubt, is CruiseControl. It works with more (in most cases, many more) development tools than its competitors, including numerous source code management systems, build systems, and report generators. CruiseControl also is available in versions that run on Java, Ruby, and .Net. And increasingly, tools vendors such as Agitar are beginning to embed CruiseControl in their products because of its extensive functionality and its record of reliability and scalability. As enterprises become more familiar with the benefits of CI, CruiseControl will be the yardstick by which all other CI solutions are measured.