Extending XForms with server-side functionality

Abstract

Most Web applications are based on a conventional three-tier architecture, in which the presentation, application logic, and data management are developed and maintained in separate tiers. The main disadvantage of this architecture is that it requires expertise in multiple programming languages, programming paradigms, and data models used in each tier. A single expert rarely masters all technologies involved. In this paper, we introduce a framework that allows users - namely, Web designers - to implement entire Web applications using only markup languages. In addition, all application development is performed on the client side, simplifying both development and maintenance work. The proposed framework is based on the XForms markup language and its server-side extension proposed in this paper. We derive the extension requirements from the literature and depict its function using a simple Web-based blog application. We also show how the extension can be implemented as part of a comprehensive Web application development framework called XFormsDB. Our conclusion is that expanding the presentation tier to define both application logic and data management functionality makes both the development and maintenance of small- and medium-sized Web applications easier. © 2012 ACM.