Sakai provides varying degrees of support for the following user interface technologies:
JSF UI Development
RSF UI Development
[JSP UI Development]
[Struts UI Development]
[Servlet UI Development]
[Velocity UI Development]
[Slude UI Development]
Selecting a UI Technology
To some degree, you are free to choose what ever approach to user interface development you like. Initially, Sakai used Velocity for (so called) legacy applications and strongly encouraged the use of JSF for newer tools. Early Sakai tools were never moved away from Velocity, and many problems were discovered with JSF, so the guiding philosophy has changed. The focus these days is in providing a quality user experience for Sakai users regardless of the underlying technology.
Some things to consider when choosing a particular technology:
- Visibility - is this a one-off test tool or is it destined to be a fully supported Sakai tool?
- Skill Set - generally you are better off using the technology you know.
- Complexity - some things may be very difficult in one approach versus another (AJAX, for example).
- Support - some UI technologies are better supported for Sakai than others.
Components
Early on, Sakai had the notion that having a set of reusable, standardized components would be a great thing. It would ensure a consistent user experience across all Sakai installations and tools. Changes could be made in the components that would improve all tools everywhere. It would centralize support for internationalization, accessibility, and device access.
A large effort went into developing the Sakai tag library for JSF. These tags extended the basic UI description capability provided by JSF and defined the original set of Sakai components. There where intended to allow the Sakai Style Guide to implemented quickly and easily in any Sakai tool.
