I started the Satyr project for a lot of reasons. Some of them are documented below.
- To Learn
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- What does it take to create, deploy, and maintain a real world smart client application?
- I hope to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the various P&P application blocks.
- Is the 20+ MB framework really a roadblock for compelling applications.
- I'm curious about the kinds of interoperability problems I will face doing Xml/WSDL design first.
- What are the costs and benefits of choosing Xml purity over serialization simplicity?
- What is the right balance for TDD in a real world application?
- What is the best way to deploy HttpHandlers and HttpModules?
- To Experiment
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- There are many ways to add extensibility hooks to an application and I'd like to try a few ideas that are rattling around my head.
- How can I provide simple Slash-Dot APIs[1] over well specified, extensible, and easy to validate Xml documents using the tools available today? How will tomorrow's tools - X# and Yukon - make this easier?
- What is the pragmatic balance between Xml and Relational models? What affect will Yukon and other Xml aware databases have on that balance?
- To Sell
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- Satyr will be a living resume.
- Demonstrate the power of smart clients, extensible Xml, and web services to development teams. Many developers would love to develop smart client applications. Many users prefer smart client applications when they have to use an application frequently to manage non trivial data. Decision makers aren't convinced though because they haven't seen a successful smart client application that solves the deployment nightmares that drove them to the "all web apps, all the time" mentality.
- To Teach
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- With any luck one or two other people might learn something from Satyr.
- To provide a useful foundation that others can build on
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- I have no desire to compete with the big boys. I'll never be able to provide the same level of support and I'll make that very clear from the beginning. I would like to provide a clean foundation that others can build on though.
[1] http://www.douglasp.com/2003/05/12.html#a284