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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Usage of the software is very easy:

• create a project
• drag’n drop the folder of the projects
• invite other people to see the project

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.

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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).

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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:

• test every feature of the whole application with a click
• get written reports instantly with the error logs
• measure the capacity of your web application on every step
• get a continiously-watched, less-problematic web application as the result

There are 2 important web application tests to measure if everything is working (and will work) on your website:

• Functionality testing: using record-playbacks or scripting, a tool can browse your website, fill forms, click on the links you want & generate a report for you
• Load/stress testing: even if a web application is working ok with 1 or 10 users, it can show totally different attitudes (like bottlenecks in resource usage) when there are 100 or 1000 active users.

So, here is a collection of 15 Free Functionality And Load Testing Solutions For Web Applications to create better online experiences:

Functionality Testing

SeleniumHQ

Selenium has various projects that can be combined with each other to create a robust testing environment.

• Selenium IDE: a Firefox add-on to record and playback tests in Firefox.
• Selenium Remote Control: a client/server system to control web browsers locally or on other computers, using almost any programming language and testing framework.
• Selenium Grid: like Selenium Remote Control but runs tests on many servers at the same time.
• Selenium Core: Javascript-based testing system.

Also there are Selenium projects specifically for Rails, Ruby & Eclipse.

Watir

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:

• IE, Firefox, Chrome on Windows
• Firefox on Mac and Linux
• Safari on Mac
• Flash testing with Firefox

There is also Watij, which is an enhanced version of Watir with Java.

ActiWATE

A Java-based platform for easing the website test automation process.

ActiWATE emulates brower-based actions & makes it possible to create action/result based scenarios.

It supports http-https & Ajax requests.

WebDriver

WebDriver is a clean, fast framework, created by the Google team, for automated testing of web applications.

It offers a very real-like testing environment as it uses whichever mechanism is most appropriate to control the browser. For Firefox, this means that WebDriver is implemented as an extension. For IE, it makes use of IE’s automation controls.

For a full article on WebDriver, click here.

HtmlUnit

This is one of the most popular solutions that is used for testing purposes or to retrieve information from web sites.

It has a good JavaScript support (which is constantly improving) and can work with jQuery, MooTools, Prototype, Dojo, etc. too.

HtmlUnit can be configured to simulate IE or Firefox, has support for cookies, get-post requets & much more.

Sahi

Sahi is a very easy-to-use software that can record and playback scripts. And, it runs on any modern browser.

The application supports Ajax and dynamic applications. It provides logging in every step & has an automatic html reporting with error logs.

OttoMate

This is a suite of six Mac OS X Automator Actions that contains everything needed to graphically configure automated, repeatable user-acceptance tests for web-based applications.

The OttoMate Actions uses Safari, run your web application through by commanding Safari to visit your site, click links and buttons, fill out and submit web forms, etc.

IeUnit

IeUnit is a framework whic uses JavaScript to test logical behaviors of web pages.

By using only JS, test cases can be easily written for any website.

FWPTT

FWPTT is a web application tester program for load testing web applications which can record normal and Ajax requests.

Using a proxy server, the sprogram let’s user to record, playback & log the browsing actions.

Load Testing

Pylot

Pylot is an open source tool which runs HTTP load tests for testing performance and scalability of web services.

It generates concurrent load (HTTP Requests), verifies server responses, and produces reports with metrics. Tests suites are executed and monitored from a GUI or shell/console.

Tsung

Tsung can be used to stress almost any kind of server including:

• HTTP
• WebDAV
• SOAP
• PostgreSQL, MySQL
• LDAP
• Jabber/XMPP servers.

Several IP addresses can be used on a single machine using the underlying OS IP Aliasing& HTTP reports are generated during the tests.

Apache JMeter

Apache JMeter may be used to test performance both on static and dynamic resources. Besides HTTP, it can connect to databases, POP3 & more.

Siege

Siege is an http regression testing and benchmarking utility. It was designed to let web developers measure the performance of their code under duress, to see how it will stand up to load on the internet.

It supports basic authentication, cookies, HTTP and HTTPS protocols. It allows the user hit a web server with a configurable number of concurrent simulated users.

Siege was written on GNU/Linux and has been successfully ported to AIX, BSD, HP-UX and Solaris.

The Grinder

The Grinder is a Java load testing framework that makes it easy to run a distributed test using many load injector machines.

Tests are written in Jython scripting language. It has an automatic management of client connections and cookies.

Stress Tools By Microsoft

Microsoft offers 2 tools for stress testing IIS servers:

• IIS 6 Web Capacity Analysis Tool (The IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools include WCAT) / IIS 7.0 Web Capacity Analysis tool
• Web Application Stress Tool

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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

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:

• content editors (has a flexible visual content editor and support for pictures, sound, video, flash or java)
• file manager & digital library (for file sharing)
• test builders
• abiity to assign projects
• creating surveys & more.

The system is multilingual & modular. It requires PHP & MySQL to run.

Moodle

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.

Dokeos

Dokeos, besides the standard course management features, offers Flash based videoconferencing which enables you to organise live training and meetings remotely.

Powerpoint presentations can be imported and converted in to SCORM courses.

The system has a "coaching" feature to interact with the learners through agenda, forums, chat, videoconference, open questions-answers and assignment feedbacks.

It requires PHP & MySQL to run.

Claroline

Claroline is an open source e-learning and e-working platform that allows teachers to create effective online courses and to manage learning and collaborative activities on the web. It has a wide user community & already translated to 35 languages.

You can create online exercises & track the result of them, define a learning path where students can follow one-by-one, add group works, assignments & more..

It is possible to interact with users via chat or forums.

The application requires PHP & MySQL.

Ilias Learning Management

Ilias is a powerful web-based learning application where every user has a comprehensive personal desktop to use the system, keep notes, bookmarks, etc.

It offers a cooperative learning environment where user can create working groups, or groups of certain interests.

Ilias has a flexible test system where time based tests can be created with multiple choice, single choice, allocation questions, cloze questions (free text, select box), ordering, matching, hot spot and more question types.

You need PHP & MySQL to run the system.

Sakai Project

Sakai is a powerful yet flexible solution that supports not only teaching and learning but also research and administrative collaboration.

Using the application, you can create courses, manage assignments, share documents, prepare exams. And, as a result,  grade informations can be calculate, stored and distributed.

Sakai offers modules for announcements, chat, discussion forums & more.

P.S. The application is Java based.

Olat

Olat is a Java-based, Ajaxed & multilingual & open source web-based learning management system.

It is possible to create flexible courses with tests, wikis, forums, documents, tasks & more.

There is an integrated Ajaxed instant messenger for easier communication.

The application comes with a 1-click installer that configures the server.

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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:

• create playlists
• listen to the music via a Flash-based player
• download tracks, albums or playlists
• upload new music files & more.

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.

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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 platform currently consists:

• NetBeans IDE 6.5 for JavaFX 1.0 (development environment)
• JavaFX 1.0 Production Suite (a set of tools & Photoshop & Illustrator pluging allowing graphics to be exported to JavaFX applications)

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.

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Liferay, with 60 tools and a selection of today’s most innovative technologies, enables you to do everything like:

• Creating websites.
• Building intranets.
• Simply getting the right documents and applications to the right people.

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.

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