ReachPeople est un framework Java/Swing developpé dans le cadre du projet AceTP par mes équipes. Je me suis investi dans sa conception et sa promotion à l'intérieur et extérieur du groupe BNPParibas. Le texte qui suit est la factsheet présentant ReachPeople.
ReachPeople is a framework for building rich client applications above Sun’s Java / Swing standard in such domains as finance, accounting, CRM, insurance and healthcare.
It is the solution of choice for replacing old proprietary client server applications and boosting poor usability of HTML Web like applications. It fits in any kind of architecture topology: client-server, n-tier, offline or standalone application.
ReachPeople bridges the gap between low level Swing APIs and the need of business applications developers to work with very high level rendering components and technical services.
It is crafted by people for other people: end-users, architects, developers and IT managers.
For end-users
A consistent desktop, a homogeneous look and feel, a standardized screen behavior, make application easier to learn and faster to use. Messages like errors and warnings are normalized, in terms of content and display.
A set of high level rendering business components give more control to users than ever:
- PowerTable that leverages on most common used features of spreadsheet softwares, while providing unlimited user customization capacity.
- Setting management let user customize each component individually, and save as many settings as needed.
- Selector is an overboosted combo-box for selecting one or more values, among virtually unlimited lists.
All graphical components are designed and tested to be keyboard driven, for maximum end-user productivity. Powerful surface controls and formatting abilities help users to correct typein mistakes, at the earliest possible time.
User’s performance is also adressed with the management of background tasks, keeping application usable while long-lasting operations only freeze affected GUI subpart. Low memory and CPU footprints let more room to retrieve more data from the server than you ever dreamed considering Web-based applications.
And the nightmare of deployment with first-generation client / server, or cross-browser Web applications is over: ReachPeople is Java WebStart™ ready.
For architects and developers
ReachPeople provides the backbone of a rich client application, with unified window collaboration scheme, and well-defined client / server conversation model.
This conversation model takes advantage of a thin invocation layer for hiding the underlying protocol(s) like JDBC, RMI, SOAP, HTTP. Of course, implementations are pluggable. As a benefit, it is possible to use remote invocation over HTTP for preserving existing Webapp architecture. Security concerns are handled through simple patterns and a pluggable architecture to fit in any security infrastructure.
A bi-directional, type-safe binding API provides a productive and innovative way to bind “model” objects to visual components. An internal message bus enables inter-windows communication.
Application tuning is taken to heart, with explicit error messages and fine- grained logging provided by the framework.
A complete documentation provides startup guide, know-how, FAQ, release notes, sample applications, javadocs, code samples, best practices and patterns.
For IT managers
ReachPeople meets high quality standards, with 96,000 lines of production-ready code (including 39,000 lines of comments) covered by more than 1000 unit tests. Those tests include “live” GUI testing with Abbot. With Cenqua’s Clover, measured code coverage is near 70%.
ReachPeople does not depend on any proprietary / commercial library, but well-recognized open-source libraries (with liberal licences), neither it sticks to one particular development environment.
It perfectly fits in a software factory and automated build process. The framework itself is built with Apache Maven.
ReachPeople has serious references. BNP Paribas successfully deployed it in production since March 2005. It empowers the AceTP project, the core mission-critical system of BNP Paribas Securities Services. With 500 screens and 200 developers, it is one of the biggest Swing/J2EE project in
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See some screenshots below; the PowerTable in action:
