To avoid Flash lock-in, Apple looks at SproutCore
Matt Asay writes about SproutCore, the Javascript framework behind Apple’s “Cocoa for Web Apps“ concept:
It will be interesting to see if this gamble on a relatively unknown open-source JavaScript framework will pay off—or whether it would have been easier to just buy into Flash. Apple has the developer clout to make it pay off, but for most developers, Flash or Silverlight are likely going to be better options.
By “Flash or Silverlight” Asay probably means “AIR or Silverslight”, but why are these going to be better options for developers? I’m no Cocoa developer myself, but from what I can tell, devs are very happy to work with Cocoa. Apple could release a “Cocoa for the Web” integrated development environment that would beat Adobe’s and Microsoft’s IDEs for AIR and Silverlight.
Once the browser-specific hoo-ha and Javascripting jumping jacks are handled completely by a framework like SproutCore, and once there’s a beautiful IDE to work in, and when there’s no proprietary plug-in needed because all the underlying technologies are open-source, I’m not so sure AIR and Silverlight will be the tools of choice.
11:36 AM