I'm delighted with the web centric approach to the next gen architecture. (Although a bit skeptical about Silverlight). In the "what's in it for me" vein I'd like to pose the following question:
Is it possible to develop the UI in such a fashion that modules, parts of the UI, could be used in our public websites? The most obvious example would be the patron's address/contact information.
Hello, all,
I just wanted to add that I, too am happy to hear about the web-based interface for the next gen project. However, I'm more that just a bit skeptical about Silverlight. Silverlight is pretty much DOA in my opinion (as a web developer). I'd love to see Tessitura embrace upcoming standards like HTML 5 and CSS 3. At the very least, I would heavily favor JavaScript (AJAX) over Silverlight.
The same also goes for the back-end business logic. At the conference, there was talk about using Ruby or Java to create the data services "modules" -- which would be great! But, I do understand the desire to leverage Tessitura's current .NET knowledge.
-Morgan
I agree that NextGen should consider javascript/ajax approach. I am also concerned about the Silverlight approach, and future browser compatibility issues. Javascript libraries like jquery and jqueryUI are easy to use, fast, and highly functional.
I also encourage the development team to consider Ruby or Java for back-end programming.