Qooxdoo (pronounced kooks-doo) is an Ajax application framework, which is utilized to build standalone web applications solely with Javascript. After speaking with Oetiker about the Qooxdoo framework it has become apparent that Qooxdoo is revolutionary for designing web applications. There were many questions that surfaced when introduced to the framework, such as “How is this even possible?” and “Is this yet another Ajax framework?” After questioning Tobi, it is apparent that this is not an ordinary Ajax framework and there is definitely a bit of voodoo in Qooxdoo.

Q (Sacks): Can you please explain how Qooxdoo works for readers who might be interested in the framework but doesn’t really know what it is?
A (Oetiker): Qooxdoo is for ’standalone’ applications running in the web-browser – sort of a new breed of creature. Something that was attempted with Java years ago.

Q (Sacks): Is Qooxdoo an Ajax framework?
A (Oetiker): Yes, but it is not a collection of Ajax/DHTML widgets.

Q (Sacks): How is Qooxdoo unique from other Ajax/Javascript frameworks?
A (Oetiker): It provides a framework for writing complete applications in JavaScript. In contains everything you need, done in a very tasteful and technically skilled manner.

Q (Sacks): Qooxdoo seems to compile all of libraries into a single js file, does this make troubleshooting more difficult?
A (Oetiker): The trick is that Qooxdoo allows you to run the application also
from the “uncompiled” Javascript source files. So while debugging you use the original files and only convert them to the single file format when you deploy the application.

Q (Sacks): Would you call a Qooxdoo page a web application or something else?
A (Oetiker): Yes you would call it a web application I guess … but only because of the lack of a better word. There is some good material on Qooxdoo in http://resources.qooxdoo.org/download/presentation/Ajax%20in%20Action%202008%20-%20GUI-Development%20with%20qooxdoo%20-%20with%20notes.pdf

Qooxdoo offers a simple way to build and entire web application into a single Javascript file and deploy it on a web server. This is a rather amazing feat considering it is a purely web-based (no application server) web application, allowing for database callbacks and all of the other full features of an Ajax-based application. The Qooxdoo training at LISA presented how to build an application with Qooxdoo and debunked the internals of the framework and how to fully leverage it’s features.

Interview with the Xen Community Manager, Stephen Spector
Stephen’s commitment and enthusiasm for the Xen project are evident. His feelings seem to be shared by most of the people attending the training. When you talk to Stephen it becomes apparent why others get so fired up about the Xen project. According to Spector, due to the prevalence of the academics in general and computer science students in particular, LISA is a great venue for disseminating information and progressing the Xen.org project. According to Spector, given the collaborative nature of the educational community, academics are the best conduit for spreading the word about Xen.

“The Xen.org community is about building the best Hyperivisor”, says Spector. Judging by the number of attendees Xen is most certainly holding true to this vision, and the main purpose of Xen as described by Ian Pratt, creator of the Xen hypervisor. The Xen open source community is what fuels the success of the commercial Xen-based products; however, the reason they are successful is because of the open-source community’s contributions and feedback on the Xen project.

Up Close with the Xen Trainers: Wenjin Hu and Zach Sheperd
Hu believes that the reason for the extreme popularity of the course is due to the popularity of the Xen project on a large scale. People are starting to use it in production and as a better computing platform for their business technology infrastructure as well as University computing platforms. Hu and Sheperd both believe it is important to connect with the community to get feedback on use cases for the Xen hypervisor. Sheperd antes that “development fosters research”, and Xen provides the substrate for incubating software development projects, which is one of the many use cases for this virtualization platform.

Conclusions
Xen is a new course offered at the LISA training tracks and there will likely be intermediate and advanced courses at future LISA’s. One of the reasons the Xen team chose LISA to gather feedback about their training, disseminate information to the most relevant audience, and gather use cases about how Xen is being used. On the flipside, the conference attendees received an introduction to Xen and come away with the ability for use the Xen hypervisor for whatever projects thay may have dreamed up, and fast-tracks their ability to get the most out of Xen. There are many new great things coming down the line, stay tuned on the LISA blog and Xen.org for more information.

Further Information
Xen Community Website: http://www.xen.org
Xen Blog: http://blog.xen.org
Xen Mailing Lists: http://lists.xensource.com