MobileESP is an open source project for easily detecting users browsing the web pages with a mobile browser.
It has server-side versions for PHP, ASP.NET, Java, Ruby and a client-side JavaScript version with light features.
There are methods provided for detecting a specific device (iPhone, Android, WebOS, etc.) or a wider selection if it is a smartphone, tablet, game console, etc.
The project has support for most of the well-known devices and can even identify their capabilities.
If you have a web application with an API, a good documentation makes it much easier for the users to consume it and helps the service grow faster.
Swagger is an open source application that supports REST-based APIs and simultaneously solves server, client and documentation/sandbox needs.
It enables developers and non-developers to interact with the API in a sandbox UI that gives a good idea on how the API responds to parameters and options.
It speaks JSON + XML and comes with implementations in Scala, Java and HTML5. And, client generators are available for Scala, Java, Javascript, Ruby, PHP, and Actionscript 3.
It is developed by Wordnik and a working implementation can be found at Wordnik's API documentation page.
OpenFaces is an open-source JSF library that consists of an Ajax framework, a client-side validation framework & a set of AJAX-powered JSF components.
There are 20+ components including charts, calendar, data table, popup layer, tabbed pane & more.
The OpenFaces validation framework enables you to use standard JSF validators on the client side by assigning them to any input component, both from JSF and OpenFaces library.
Also, it supports a variety of usage scenarios where data should be validated, ensuring that validation rules are met & data types are already correct on the client.
The library is very well documented & supported with a set of examples.
When working on projects as a group of designers & developers, it sometimes requires an effort to keep all files within the project synchronized.
Jake is a free & open source software which keeps everything synchronized in a group of any number of users & does not require a central server.
Jake uses Jabber and open source chat server engines for the communication & users can login even with their Google username/passwords or any Jabber server.
The software is available for Windows, Mac & Linux.
ICEpdf is a 100% Java-based open source PDF library for creating & displaying and printing PDF documents from any Java application.
The library is lightweight, fast & easy to use. It can render PDF files up to version 1.6 (Acrobat 7.0).
The library can render PDF files to an image (PNG, JPEG, or GIF) in a server-side web application. For faster viewing the first page, it loads documents incrementally.
ICEpdf also supports Adobe Standard Security for password-protected documents & interactive link annotation actions; uri, launch and resource.
P.S. The open source version doesn’t come with the Font Engine (the font substitution is done succesfully when the Font Engine is off).
Automated web application testing is done very rarely & it is generally thought as an unnecessary + hard to setup system.
Truth is, automated testing is a must, because it saves so much time during development & when the project is live. Also, with the right tools, it is generally very easy to setup.
Using testing tools, once the scenarios are created, you can:
There are 2 important web application tests to measure if everything is working (and will work) on your website:
So, here is a collection of 15 Free Functionality And Load Testing Solutions For Web Applications to create better online experiences:
Selenium has various projects that can be combined with each other to create a robust testing environment.
Also there are Selenium projects specifically for Rails, Ruby & Eclipse.
Watir is a set of Ruby libraries which drives browsers just like people. It clicks links, fills in forms, presses buttons. And, it also checks results to report back.
Watir supports:
There is also Watij, which is an enhanced version of Watir with Java.
Whether it is a university like Albertus Magnus, a company or any other organization, e-learning is a great way to spread knowledge & measure the results efficiently (in means of time & money).
There are various open source e-learning applications that can be installed easily, have a wide user community & offers a complete system. Here are 7 of them which you will like:
eFront is a complete e-learning software with a good looking Ajaxed interface.
It enables admins to create & manage lessons easily with various tools like:
The system is multilingual & modular. It requires PHP & MySQL to run.
Moodle is one of the most popular open source e-learning system. It is built with PHP & uses MySQL or PostgreSQL to store data.
It has powerful course management features that covers creating lessons, assignments, quizes, documents & more.
There are various modules that help students & teachers to interact with each other like chat, forum, survey or workshop.
It is used in 1000s of websites, has a detailed documentation & a wide community.
Sockso is an open source music server application that lets you share the music files easily with everyone.
With a very simple setup, just running an executable file, the environment is instantly ready.
The aplication is managed from a Java GUI. User can connect through a web-based interface and:
Sockso supports MP3, OGG Vorbis, Flac, and WMA files, If needed it can re-encode output streams to save bandwidth. To see all the features of the application, click here.
JavaFX is a rich client platform, integrated with Java Runtime, that you can create and deliver rich internet experiences.
It is the a combination of a scripting language: JavaFX Script, a rich client platform and set of tools for a productive and collaborative developer-designer workflow.
In short, it is a strong alternative for Flash & Silverlight.
JavaFX can run on millions of devices including desktop, browsers, mobile devices & more as it requires Java Runtime which is ready on many environments.
To see some attractive examples, click here.
Liferay, with 60 tools and a selection of today’s most innovative technologies, enables you to do everything like:
Liferay inlcudes web publishing, content management, collaboration and social networking.
With the role-based authorization, admins & users can define which information can be viewed by which users.
A strong set of community features help creating communities, user groups & they can have their own mini-portals.
Some other included features are: wikis, forums, instant messenger, calendar, webmail, blogs & more.
And, any other applications like accounting, sales can be integrated with its open architecture.
The application is "giant" with the features it offers & hard to describe its capabilities completely. Users interested in creating an enterprise portal should definitely check it.
