Reviews : Review: Laszlo 2.2 :

Review: Laszlo 2.2

by Drew Falkman

Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are proving to be the new generation of Web-based applications. Offsetting more logic onto the client side allows for less server load and greater interaction and usability. As this space grows, so does the number of tools providers, giving Java developers something we love: freedom of choice. Laszlo Systems' Laszlo is finding itself at the core of this new development wave.

Introduction

Installation and Getting Started

Note: This depends on the OS, as well. Laszlo Systems' Web site provides a detailed requirements list.

You will also need the following:

• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) of 1.4 or higher
• 175 MB free disk space
• 512 MB RAM
• 800 Mhz of processing power

I installed the standalone version that comes with Apache Tomcat for simplicity's sake. It was a breeze. Everything installed and the server was up and running before I had a chance to even finish reading the installation docs. One thing to note: the documentation states that the applications are located at http://localhost:8080/lps-2.1/..., however you will need to change the 2.1 to reflect the current version (now 2.2.1).

Speaking of the documentation, it is fabulous. Seriously, rarely are closed-source applications so well documented, much less open source ones. The documentation, in addition to being well-illustrated and well-written, includes a number of really helpful docs, such as Learn Laszlo in 10 Minutes. So helpful for those like me who want to dive in and make something before diving into the documents and learning a new language.

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