Brian, how you take me back into the past, I still own a Zenith Z80 machine.
Any offers?
Fast forward to the present, my zeal has always been based on productivity. This is the reason that I have used all sorts of programs, methods, extensions and frameworks. My favourite over the past 18 years has been Dreamweaver with many different extensions (ADDT, Webassist, DMXzone etc). Of late, the direction that DMXzone have taken their extensions, have been the most impressing.
OK, their server side extensions were predictable, a CRUD (No, not that sort of crud; but Create, Read, Update and Delete) system based on PDO (PHP Data Objects), enveloped in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation). These extensions made the development of the backend a darn (with an r and n) sight faster. No more need to spend hours on testing and adjusting, just a few clicks and done.
The pinnacle of the DMXzone achievements is their App Connect framework. This unique framework has re-written web development. The most fascinating part is the ability to manipulate the data on the client giving seamless transitions for the user. For the developer, a few clicks and a full dynamically populated page exists.
As a beta tester for Dreamweaver, it was clear to see the frustrations coming from the DMXzone team having to rely on Adobe’s unpredictable and uninformed behaviour.
Arrive Wappler. At first I was convinced that Wappler was no more than Dreamweaver with DMXzone extensions. I knew what Dreamweaver could do, Wappler was an unknown where I had to constantly make sure that the code was what I wanted. It took me three times as long to create a site in Wappler than it did in Dreamweaver. As such I used Wappler more as a learning exercise in my spare time.
How wrong I was! Just load Dreamweaver and Wappler to see what I mean. Using Dreamweaver, I dreaded having to make small changes to the site. Waiting for Dreamweaver to load took longer than having to make the modification. Wappler loads instantly which has turned a burden into a pleasure.
So, in my view, what is Wappler? It combines the best of Dreamweaver’s extensions with a modern, lean IDE with even more to come. My zeal has come true!