When Java developers should choose ExtReact

JavaScript exploded into popularity in 2009. A front and back-end language for building web applications, it’s no wonder there are an abundance of technologies and resources that a JavaScript developer can choose from.

In this article, I will highlight some of the key discussions from Sencha’s whitepaper explaining when it’s the right time to use ExtReact.

Web developers have to keep up with the evolving user requirements, as well as the new techniques that have changed the software development lifecycles and process models. Examples include Agile and DevOps. Websites have changed from being used for delivering information, to showcasing marketing content and services. However, developers need to avoid rewriting everything from scratch in order to keep up.

React was created by one of Facebook’s software engineer’s, Jordan Walke, and is a very popular JavaScript technology used by professional developers. It was created to fix the need to recompute the user interface when the programmer wanted to change things when using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design patterns.

React is used by many to quickly create sophisticated interfaces that are data-intensive and responsive. And it’s ideal for enterprise developers. However, React does not include pre-built components. That is when ExtReact comes in.

Sencha’s ExtReact provides over 115 pre-built UI components that easily integrate with React applications. Developers can use this package of tools to create visually stunning, data-intensive applications on desktop and mobile devices. They can optimise builds with Webpack and Babel plugins, plus establish and reinforce company branding with the theming tools. ExtReact is easy to maintain and enables developers to code the style that suits them best: object-oriented or imperative.

The UI components are well tested and work across multiple modern browsers. Some of the components available included are: grids, calendars, charts, animations, forms, export to Microsoft Excel, dialogs, lists, carousels, sliders, various layouts, buttons, ripples, iOS themes, and taglines, just to name a handful.

So when should you use ExtReact? When you are figuring out the design of your application. Create something user friendly, useful and engaging.

Download the whitepaper here.

There are various Sencha tools that support ExtReact such as Sencha Test, Sencha Themer and ExtReact TypeScript. Please fill in the form below to find out more about these and the other add-on tools available.

A note about Java: Oracle has implemented changes to Java licensing to address non-compliancy issues and provide more frequent updates and releases. This impacts many of Grey Matter’s customers who will need to take stock of their Java estates and review the options to licence and support their use of the product going forward. Read our recent blog post about Java licensing. 

Do you want to know how to develop complex cross-platform enterprise web applications? How can you come from an idea to a working prototype in a couple of days? How can you visualise and handle in a browser huge enterprise data sets in Grids, PivotGrids, Trees and Charts? In our webinar at 11am (GMT) on 27 February, Olga Petrova will show you a detailed overview of Sencha Ext JS and Architect, and their technical advantages for developing business-critical data-intensive web applications. Sign up here.

Grey Matter is a Sencha reseller partner. If you require any licensing or have any queries, please get in touch by filling in the form below.