Lucas Jellema

OUGF Harmony 2014 – 4-5 June 2014 – Finland

ADF in action – getting (re)acquainted with Oracle’s premier application development framework

Some first reactions…

Complex!!

Functionally rich.

Hard to style to pixel perfection

Really not the latest HTML 5 web site style

Powerful stuffAttractive,

with visualization

and that Simplified UI

Non standard, Oracle

proprietary (dixit Java developer)

Enterprise grade

Vast…

Productive Elegant development

Heavy (un-lean)

Shields developer from multi browser

nightmareNot for the faint hearted

Overview

• From where to where• Developing Applications• Business Service

– From Middle Tier to Database– Demo

• User Interface– From Middle Tier to Browser– Demo

• Advanced features in the ADF Framework– Demo

• How to get started

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Origins

• ADF = Application Development Framework• Launch of ADF: 2004

– Birth of BC4J (now ADF BC): 1999– First incarnation of JDeveloper: 1998

• Oracle’s toolstack for developing enterprise applications– As such: the successor to Oracle Forms

ADF == Advanced Dog Food

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ADF at Oracle

• ADF == Advanced Dog Food• ADF is used inside Oracle for development of

– Fusion Applications– Large parts of most Oracle Applications products– User interfaces in many other FMW products (GoldenGate, Enterprise Manager, OBI

EE, WebCenter, IdM)– User interfaces in Oracle Cloud services

• Over 10,000 developers within Oracle use ADF for their daily work• Oracle’s investment in and dependence on ADF is enormous

– ADF is strategic, long term

Some user interfaces in Fusion Applications

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Simplified UI created with ADF

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Infographic-inspired, tablet-friendly, and interactive Analytics

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ADF outside Oracle

• Uptake around the world• Challenges

– Learning curve– Complexity– Availability of skilled resources– Scalability, performance and responsiveness at run time

• Typical Use Cases

11

Use Cases for ADF

Fusion Apps

Extension

Public Web Site (no login)

Admin UI (DBA, App

Admin)

Pixel Perfect

application

ISV Product

Case of FMW

(SOA, BPM, …)

1000s concurrent

usersSelf

Service UI,

infrequent use

Forms to Future

Not very well suited Well suited

Simple survey app

(30 day campaign)

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Application Architecture

ADF Model

RDBMS

EJB & JPA(EclipseLink)

ADF BC

WebService Content Repository

BAMServer

POJO

SOA Suite

Mobile ADF FacesRich Client

Web Service

Desktop (Excel)

View

Business Services

Enterprise Resources

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Business Service

• Adapt to and from Java and expose to UI tier• Main enterprise resource: Database• Various options: JPA, EJB, POJO with JDBC, POJO with WebService

calls• Most common in ADF applications: ADF BC

Business Service

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ADF BC

• Expose tables, views and custom SQL queries as Java Services• Declarative• Productive• Very similar to Forms blocks• Features

– Optimistic & pessimistic locking– Transaction Management– Pooling of database session connections– Caching of queried and manipulated data– Validation of data manipulations– Enrichment of data fetched from the database– Web session (state) management– Oracle SQL comes naturally (sequence, return after DML, joins, BLOBs, PL/SQL,..)– Master/detail coordination

ADF BC

16

Demo

• HRService from tables in HR schema– Add custom SQL with salary aggregation per department– Add business rules

• Run the ADF BC Service Tester• Expose

HRService as a SOAP/XML Web Service

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Business Service: HRService

ADF BC

Departments

Employees

SalaryPerDepart

mentVW

DepartmentsVw EmployeesVw

EmployeeDepartmentEntity Objects

View Objects

18

ADF Model

19

ADF Model & Data Controls

• ADF Model exposes business services to UI developers in an abstracted way

• Each business service is exposed as a Data Control• Data Controls make available:

– Entity, attribute, operation, collection

• ADF Model supports Data Controls for– ADF BC– POJO (Plain Old Java Object) (JPA, EJB)– Web Service (SOAP and REST)– JMX– Custom Data Control (anything you want and implement yourself)

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Business Service: HRServiceExposes an ADF Model Data Control

ADF BC

DepartmentsEmployees

SalaryPerDepart

mentVW

DepartmentsVw EmployeesVw

EmployeeDepartment

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User Interface

• ADF supports various UI options:– Web Browser

• Desktop• Tablet

– Mobile • Mobile Browser (feature phone)• ADF Mobile (semi native)

– Excel (ADF Desktop Integration)

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Primary focus: ADF Faces for Web Browser desktop/tablet

• Run time technologies– Browser: HTML 5, JavaScript, CSS 3

– Server: WebLogic Server (Java, Java EE: JavaServer Faces, Servlet)

Or: ADF Essentials – run on JBoss, Tomcat, Glassfish (and MySQL or Oracle XE)

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ADF Faces and ADF Data Binding

• Data Binding connects UI components to Data Controls– Thereby breathing data into these components, making them come alive!

• Based on standards (JavaServer Faces)• Declarative• Productive (*• Rich functionality• Modular• Geared towards reuse• Enterprise scale development• Browser independence• Framework and embraces hides “raw” technology

– For example replacement of Flash with HTML 5

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Some characteristics of ADF Faces

• Rich data bound components (table, form, tree, input elements) declaratively bound to data controls with easy business service access

• AJAX (partial page refresh)• Skinning for consistent and attractive look and feel• Client side support for validation, calculation, drag & drop etc.• Customization and Personalization• Security through integration with WebLogic OPSS• Data Push• Fantastic set of Data Visualization components• Quick start followed by steep learning curve

– Specialization recommended for team members

• Resource intensive on the middle tier• Smooth experience as long as you work with the framework

– For example: forget pixel perfect designs

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Audience Challenge

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Audience Challenge – 1/2

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Audience Challenge – 2/2

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Data Visualization

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Demo (objective)

Departments Employ

ees

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To get started with ADF

• Download and install JDeveloper 12c (12.1.2)– Or Eclipse with Oracle Enterprise Package for Eclipse and stand alone WebLogic

• Build up skills– SQL, Java (SE), Java EE (Servlet, JavaServer Faces), HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript

• Leverage the many resources available online– OTN Community Forum– ADF Documentation– 100s of Blog articles & White Papers– ADF Demo Application (live and downloadable) – ADF Architecture TV (YouTube)– ADF Insider Tips– ADF Architecture Square– Oracle Magazine – ADF column – Plugins, Extensions, Tools– ADF EMG (Enterprise Methodology Group) – Google Group

• Just do it!

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Summary

• Oracle’s strategic application development solution– Taken the place Oracle Forms used to occupy

• Enterprise scale development of enterprise applications– As Oracle itself puts into practice

• High productivity through rich framework and declarative development– As long as you work with the framework (and accept its limitations)

• Developing end to end ADF applications requires many skills– Specialization is probably a good strategy

• The imminent 12.1.3 release continues a long history of evolution– No major upheaval – new features, ease of development, more tablet and more UX

• ADF Essentials makes free ADF development and deployment possible– ADF Essentials on [Glassfish | JBoss | Tomcat] against [MySQL | Oracle XE]

ADF