LOGIN | REGISTER NOW | SUBSCRIBE
 
print Printable version 
Most Read Latest News Blog Resources
Does Windows cost Microsoft opportunities?
Microsoft's decision to focus .NET on Windows is stifling innovation due to the specter of...

Mono brings .NET to Android
At Microsoft MIX, Mono will unveil the ability to port .NET applications to the Android op...

OSBC focus turns to best practices for open-source adoption
Businesses are no longer asking why they should adopt, but how do they use open source leg...

Digg!  Digg
Reddit  Reddit
Slashdot  Slashdot
Share on facebook  Facebook
Share on Twitter  Twitter

Curling Up With a Good Web


New SurgeLab development environment fosters Curl's notion of executable Internet

By David Rubinstein
December 15, 2001 — 
Curl Corp., inventor of a client-side runtime that implements its vision of an executable and extensible Internet, has finally released its SurgeLab 1.0 content development environment.

The objective of the Curl runtime, which was introduced in April, is to combine the richness and functionality of a client-side application with the flexibility and ease of deployment of a server-based solution. "People can't put up with delays over the Web" created by downloading ever-larger files, according to Bob Batty, Curl's vice president of sales and marketing. The company's technology leverages the power in desktops, making plug-ins a one-time problem, he said.

One of the advantages of the Curl runtime, Batty claimed, is reduced consumption of bandwidth. By generating the presentation layer's content on the client, rather than transmitting it down from the server, Curl applications can pass data and instructions back and forth rather than rich bandwidth-intensive content. "Oracle applications, for instance, download an entire JVM with the applications, and overwrite what you had before," Batty said. "If you can create structures that don't consume bandwidth, you're offering huge value." Another advantage, according to Batty, is the ease "of making 250,000 seats compatible. That's not ideal for client environments."

Batty took a swipe at Java, claiming it is "not a high-performance client-side environment and it's fracturing. Sun made an early mistake when it licensed the source code and enhancements of JVMs but failed to control the implementation. They made a homogeneous platform go away."

The difference between Curl code and HTML, Batty said, is that where Java or Flash are compiled at some intermediate stage, Curl content is compiled at a client-side plug-in, creating an implementation of the notion of an executable Internet.

Curl is targeting IT shops, looking to achieve high performance in Web-deployed applications, as well as the few surviving dot-coms, which must enhance advertising revenue with subscriptions and need a higher level of production quality in their content to have an end user pay money for it, Batty said.

An early user of the Curl technology is adisoft AG, a German company developing banking applications. "Curl allows us to combine the sex appeal of multimedia user interfaces with the speed of traditional character-based applications," said adisoft CEO Karl Schlagenhauf. "Curl not only makes our programs run much faster, but it's also a bandwidth multiplier." Curl claims to have 15 enterprise-class customers, but could not yet provide any names due to licensing and nondisclosure restrictions, according to a spokeswoman for Curl.

Although SurgeLab has been developed to ease the creation of Curl code, Curl "is not a tools company," Batty said. In fact, Curl code, which is delivered as ASCII source files, can be created in any text editor or browser. "We hope to encourage other tools makers to create development tools."

Curl is hoping to make the runtime and IDE ubiquitous by offering them for free atwww.curl.com. Curl charges five-hundredths of a cent for a kilobyte of executed content, and expects to hit the break-even point for cash flow some time next year, Batty said. Curl runs on all Win32 environments, and a prerelease of a Linux version was due out at the end of November, Batty said. The company also is working on a Mac OS X version as well as implementations for handheld computers and mobile phones, he said.


Share this link: http://www.sdtimes.com/link/26217
 

Add comment


Name*
Email*  
Country     


  • Comment
  • Preview
Loading



 
 
 
 
News on Monday
more>>
SharePoint Tech Report
more>>


   

 
 
Download Current Issue
ISSUE 3/15/2010 PDF

Need Back Issues?
DOWNLOAD HERE

Receive the print Edition?


 
blogs tab
Google Code turns 5
Google Code Turns 5, and adds a Paxos Algorithm to make the system more stable and reliable.
03/17/2010 11:16 AM EST

Test your Visual Studio 2010 know-how
Microsoft is offering free beta certification exams for Visual Studio 2010.
03/17/2010 11:08 AM EST

Microsoft lifts the hood on IE9
Microsoft is previewing IE9.
03/16/2010 01:10 PM EST

 

Events calendar tab
EclipseCon
3/22/2010 to 3/25/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
The Eclipse Foundation

DevConnections
4/12/2010 to 4/14/2010
Las Vegas
Penton Media

MySQL Conf. and Expo
4/12/2010 to 4/15/2010
Santa Clara, Calif.
O'Reilly Media

High Performance Computing Linux Financial Markets
4/19/2010
New York City
Flagg Management

Informix User Conf.
4/25/2010 to 4/28/2010
Overland Park, Kans.
IIUG