Restlet 2.0 M3 released May 27, 2009
Posted by Jerome Louvel in RDF, Restlet, Restlet Releases, XML.5 comments
We have just released Restlet 2.0 M3, replacing Restlet 1.2 M2 as our current “testing” release (following Debian terminology). We have also updated our “stable” branch with a 1.1.5 release.
Looking at the amount of new features that we added so far since Restlet 1.1 (with some more coming), the amount of refactoring and reorganization done on the Restlet API (including the core Resource API), on extension packages and with the growing number of special Restlet editions (Java SE/EE, Google Web Toolkit, Google App Engine and Android), it seemed appropriate to rename the Restlet 1.2 branch into Restlet 2.0.
Here is a summary of the main changes :
- New org.restlet.ext.xml extension including XML related classes previously in the core Restlet API. This ensures that the core Restlet API stays as consistent as possible across all editions. In this case, those features weren’t available in Android.
- Improved the org.restlet.ext.rdf extension with Turtle and N-Triples support in addition to RDF/XML and n3 formats.
- FreeMarker templates can now be loaded via the Context’s client dispatcher and relatively to a base URI.
- Added an org.restlet.ext.xstream extension providing transparent serialization between Java objects and XML or JSON.
- Added an ObjectRepresentation class to the GWT edition and to the org.restlet.ext.gwt server extension. This allows transparent serialization of Java objects leveraging GWT-RPC serialization mechanism, but using your REST APIs.
- Greatly improved the support for the recently added ConverterService.
- Improved the ClientResource with support for annotated interfaces via the creation of dynamic proxies. It now also automatically follows redirections when possible.
- Refactored the services to facilitate the addition of new ones by users in their applications.
- Added AppendableRepresentation for dynamic generation of StringRepresentation instances.
Direct contributors
- Arjohn Kampman
- Bruno Harbulot
- David Bordoley
- David Fogel
- Davide Angelocola
- Didier Girard
- Eric Hough
- Jean-Yves Cronier
- Lars Heuer
- Marcelo Ochoa
- Michael Berman
- Mikhail Spirydonau
- Paul Davis
- Rémi Dewitte
- Ronny Kwon
- Simon Reinhardt
- Tal Liron
- Thom Nelson
- Tim Peierls
Thanks to all others who helped us in various ways!
Additonal resources
Changes log:
http://www.restlet.org/documentation/2.0/changes
Download links:
http://www.restlet.org/downloads/2.0/restlet-2.0m3.zip
http://www.restlet.org/downloads/2.0/restlet-2.0m3.exe
Maven repositories:
http://maven.restlet.org is updated on the 1st and 15th of each month
http://maven.noelios.com is updated daily with new artifacts (access reserved to subscribers)
Restlet available on Android phones May 6, 2009
Posted by Jerome Louvel in Android, GWT, Restlet, Restlet General.8 comments
Our vision is that the Web is becoming ubiquitous and that REST, as the architecture style of the Web, helps you leverage all HTTP features. Restlet, our open source REST framework, is already available on regular computers based on Java SE/EE, in Web browers with our GWT edition and even in the cloud with a new Google AppEngine edition. But, we are still missing the Mobile Web!
With the commodification of smartphones started by the Palm Treo and pushed further by the Apple iPhone, more and more mobile users will have a usable access to the Web from their phone. So far, developers have been stuck with proprietary platforms and where lacking the productivity and portability common in the Java world. But here comes Android!
Android is an open source mobile operating system initiated by Google but now managed by the Open Handset Alliance. This consortium includes prestigious constructors such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung or Sony Ericsson and larger carriers such as Sprint, T-Mobile or Vodaphone. Needless to say that Android has gained a lot of traction recently.
Technically speaking, Android is built on a customized Linux kernel, libraries such as WebKit for the Web browser and an extensible Application Framework developed in the Java language but running on a special Dalvik virtual machine (see a complete overview here). All the built-in applications are written in Java and can accessed or customized via an Android API.
Preparing for an imminent launch of the Android-powered HTC Magic phone in France (also known as the “G2″), the mobile operator SFR, one of the third largest in France, has announced a contest for the best Android application. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to port the Restlet framework to another exciting environment and applied as a “Restlet+FOAF” project.
With some adjustments (see technical details), we were able to port Restlet on Android, with both the client-side and the server-side HTTP connectors! To show the potential of Restlet on Android, we decided to go further and develop a simple extension to the Contacts applications that would retrieve the FOAF (Friend-Of-A-Friend) profile of your contacts, show their friends and let you add some as new local contacts. The source code of this sample application is available and documented in the Restlet User Guide.
With the help of Manning’s “Unlocking Android” book, we also discovered Android’s Intent/Service design pattern, which is quite similar to Eclipse’s plug-ins. This is a powerful way to extend Android applications and share common features. In our case, we developed a FOAF Service that can be reused by other Android applications, without tight coupling on our code.
Finally, with the growing number of Restlet editions, we felt the need to put in place an automatic porting process to keep the code changes synchronized. This effort is underway but you can already read its specifications in our developers wiki. All those new features are available in recent Restlet snapshots. Enjoy!
Updates:
- On May 13, the jury of the SFR-Android contest selected our Restlet project for a special open source prize! Thierry is now the happy owner of a HTC Magic phone
- New post: Restlet, a RESTful middleware for GWT, GAE and Android
