I’ve done programming for many years, but never developed a web based solution. PHP and Servoy are the tools that look the most appealing to me. Before choosing one to invest lots of time in I’d like some feedback from other web developers.
Need opinions on 2 issues, comparing Servoy to other web development tools, especially PHP:
I know Servoy is the easiest to use.
Thanks.
First, welcome to Servoy.
The list is a little slow this week. I suspect that a lot of people are on vacation.
As you probably know, Servoy offers both a rich client and a headless client. Please tell us a little more about what type of web development you are interesting in.
Hi, Servoy does a lot of stuff for you, so I’d go for Servoy unless you are actually developing a web site.
If you are developing web sites, you can use PHP and Servoy together. PHP + mySQL for the webpages and content management systems using Servoy.
Another interesting possibily I haven’t tested myself is using PHP to script the PostgreSQL database. See
Hi Bongo,
Also first welcome to Servoy.
I can’t tell you much about the difference between PHP and Servoy because I don’t use PHP. But I can tell you about my experiences with other technologies out there.
I use Lasso Professional and now JSP (in combination with Servoy Headless Client).
I tend to like Lasso a lot because it’s a nice compact (though very readable) language that allows you to write web-based solutions in no-time.
Mainly because it’s so compact (and consistent) and secure out of the box. It’s actually the reason why I choose it over other technologies in the first place.
But JSP is not only a language, it comes with a very smart server (Apache Tomcat) as well.
And with smart I mean smart caching.
With most technologies the server-side code is interpreted each time that page is accessed. Not so with JSP. It sort of compiles and compresses it the first time it is called and stores it on disk for the next time it is called again. This makes it very fast and of course less load on the server.
Next to all this is VERY scalable, very extensible and very secure out of the box.
Now lets talk about the combination JSP and Servoy (Headless Client).
When you make solutions in Servoy you usually put a lot of business rules in such a solution.
When you want to publish this solution (or part of it) also on the web then you usually write those business rules twice. Not so with JSP/Servoy Headless Client.
With JSP you can call methods inside your solution through the Servoy Headless Client (SHC). So you can reuse your business rules (and code).
And when you read this thread on the SHC forum (Easy to get up and running - Classic Servoy - Servoy Community) you can read that in the (near?) future you don’t have to code any JSP with Servoy Instant Publishing (SIP).
One thing is though that using SHC you do use a Servoy Client license per session. These cost money.
But depending on the size of your website you save so much time developing that you actually save money.
I hope this gives you some better idea on what Servoy can do for you in comparison with other web technologies out there.
swingman:
Another interesting possibily I haven’t tested myself is using PHP to script the PostgreSQL database.
I don’t think that has much to do with websites and/or HTML. It’s just another language (out of a growing list) that you can use for stored procedures in PostgreSQL.
Still very cool though.
Hi Bongo,
Robert’s comments may make more sense than mine. I just entered Servoy + PHP in the search field of my brain 
and ended up with the ‘hits’ I posted earlier.
Looking at JSP and Servoy headless client makes a lot of sense. JSP is also supposed to be more secure than PHP.
Thanks for the information.
I think my original question was a little off the mark. The fact that Servoy uses java on the client rather than being a true “web” based solution like PHP is ok. The auto download of the java applets to the user’s pc should take the pain out of keeping everyone updated with the current version of the software. I currently use a j2ee application called Workbrain which uses this technique for some of its development tools. Workbrain is a labor management system for large companies, not a general purpose development tool.
The architecture of Servoy makes perfect sense to me for systems used within a business which is what I’m interested in. I really like the way you create forms with Servoy compared to using other tools like PHP or JSP. The client license fee is a concern, but if the advantages are great enough, it would be worth it.
As stated before, my biggest concerns with Servoy are stability and capability. If the Servoy application server constantly needs restarting or has glitches or you’re always looking for a work around because of missing features, then I wouldn’t be interested.
Thanks again.
Hi Bongo,
I never have Servoy crash on me before. Nor did I had to restart Servoy Server other than when I added/edited a database connection.
As far as glitches are concern. No software is without them, but the Servoy dev team is very responsive on reproducible bug reports.
About workarounds. Well I’ve never had to make workarounds yet in Servoy.
If there is something you need you can always request it here on the forum.
Again the Servoy Dev. team takes feature requests seriously and when needed you can escalate your feature request by paying them part of the development cost. Else it will be scheduled for later releases (when suitable).
Of course third parties can also make plugins/beans for you when needed. Or you can make them yourself when you have Java experience.
In any case. Take a good look at Servoy. Make a solution with it. Only then you get a feel for what it can do for you.
And when you have questions don’t hesitate to post them on this forum. You will find we are a very responsive bunch of people .
Hope this helps.
Hello Bongo
Agree with Robert that Servoy Server is a solid, reliable product. Currently ave three client applications in development hosted on standard Dell desktop with constant updates and changes being made as we move towards final deployment. Systems are being accessed from Europe, Asia and USA on 24/7 basis and no problems whatsoever.
Have forgotten what workarounds are
The Servoy Dev team are VERY responsive but you will find the product already has a range of features that meet most needs. If not just post on this Forum and you’ll get guidance.
Go for it.
Graham Greensall
Worxinfo Ltd
Hello BONGO,
I currently have a web application built using PHP and mySQL. We needed a web application for clients to connect to our database and an application for our employees to do data entry. PHP (web browser) is no place for data entry on the scale that we do. I was a FileMaker developer for years and FileMaker has a good interface but was so limited. A fellow developer mentioned Servoy so I did a lot of research and attended the Servoy Primer Bob did at last years FMP Developers conference. I spoke with everyone I could about Servoy and asked all the important questions. We now use Servoy for our back office application which allows us to edit the data live and pass the most up-to-date data to our clients.
In all honesty, I have had some growing pains with Servoy; none that I could blame on the product though. My first application is quite elaborate and I have had to learn a lot very quickly - turning to the support community (forum, Soltex, etc) on several occasions.
Some things you get from Servoy that I do not feel you will get elsewhere is a very enthuastic community, fantastic support, and a frequent update cycle (currently every month or two it seems).
PHP/mySQL/Servoy has worked out great for us. You sould definately take a closer look.
BONGO:
As stated before, my biggest concerns with Servoy are stability and capability. If the Servoy application server constantly needs restarting or has glitches …
Thanks again.
Hope these copy/paste from a couple of my servoy servers can answer part of your question:
Servoy version R2 2.1.1-build 310, repository version 24
Uptime: 32 days 14 hours 36 minutes 8 seconds
Servoy version R2 2.1.2-build 315, repository version 24
Uptime: 78 days 5 hours 31 minutes 9 seconds
both machines (one in NL and one in USA) were rebooted for maintenance purpose not related to Servoy (and you can see they are still running old versions of Servoy)