In preparation for the launch of the iPhone, Backbase plans to release its AJAX framework and software development kit for building and running AJAX applications on Apple’s much-hyped phone.
To achieve this, Backbase is making its AJAX framework compatible with Apple’s Safari 3 browser, which Apple just released in beta form for the Windows platform. Safari is also available in the iPhone. Apple phone enthusiasts have long seen the potential for AJAX on the phone, but up to now no development kits were available.
In addition to the framework and SDK, Backbase will also make its collection of more than 100 widgets available for developers writing applications for the iPhone. The widgets include layout controls, navigation controls, form controls, multimedia elements and user interaction.
While Backbase specializes in enterprise-scale AJAX development, its framework will run on the iPhone without modification because it’s only 50 kilobytes in size, according to Michel Gerin, vice president of marketing for the company.
“Because the footprint is so small, one of the smallest out there, it’s not that big of a deal,” Gerin told internetnews.com. The iPhone has a 10MB limit for Web pages and JavaScript allocations limited to 10MB, so there is room to move, even though JavaScript is notoriously fat and client-intensive.
Gerin believes that developers will be able to offer full AJAX support on the iPhone and not a crippled version of what desktop PCs can enjoy. “All the features you’d expect in the framework will be available in the iPhone, for dealing with data exchange, servers, everything. All the features you would expect are in there,” he said.
The SDK and Framework will be released late in the third quarter of this year. The SDK works with both the Eclipse and Adobe DreamWeaver development environments.