What is RAP

The Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) allows developers to web-enable Java applications with Ajax technology - from a single code base.

RAP maximizes code reuse by including the largest-possible web-enabled subset of the Rich Client Platform (Eclipse's technology on the desktop). In addition, RAP enables experienced Java and Eclipse developers to apply their existing skills to web development by using the Eclipse development model for web-clients.

The RAP project is an eclipse.org project created and led by the RAP team at EclipseSource.

Why RAP

Single-sourcing RCP Desktop and Web Applications

The Rich AJAX Platform (RAP) enables the development of desktop client and  web clients simultaneously from a single code base.  RAP is built on the same Eclipse technology as RCP, and provides AJAX implicitly from RAP's library of Java technology components. This significantly reduces the development effort for applications with desktop and web requirements.

Eclipse developers are up to speed in web development quickly

RAP uses the Eclipse development model, the plug-in system, the Eclipse workbench concept and the Java-only API, and can also be used independently of RCP.  Developers with Eclipse experience and especially with RCP experience will get up to speed with RAP quickly.

RAP enables reuse

RAP maximizes reuse of both code and development tools by providing the largest possible web-enabled subset of the RCP APIs .   During a migration phase the user interfaces of existing RCP applications can be adapted to RAP, but the application core, the content- and label-provider as well as multi-user core plug-ins can remain in use unchanged.

RAP works on all popular browsers

RAP's rendering model enables your application to work on all popular browsers, reducing the overhead of developing for various browsers.  The framework automatically and transparently aligns to the characteristics and  security settings of different browsers.

RAP Demos

RAP (RCP) Mail Demo

This example shows the well known RCP Mail template application converted to RAP. This application is available as a RAP template as part of the download from the tooling update site (see downloads).

RAP Workbench Demo

This application shows a simple project management system, that is built on top of RAP. Though it is not meant to be production ready it shows the framework's possibilities. To demonstrate NLS support, translations for English, German and Chinese are available.   Note:  the example data will be reset regularly.

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RAP Webinar

Single-Sourcing Techniques for RAP and RCP

Thursday, January 29, 2009 12:00-1:00pm EST

Presented by Jochen Krause

Register now for this free Webinar.

Who should attend the webinar?
Developers and managers who are seeking a solution for bringing a rich client application to the web

What you will learn

• an overview of the architecture of the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) and the Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform (RAP)
• how to get started working with RAP including a quick tour of the RAP Widget Toolkit
• what the key differences are between RCP and RAP applications
• best practices for programming single sourced RCP/RAP applications

Abstract
Application vendors are increasingly required to provide both desktop and web clients for their customers. But desktop and web applications are based on very different technologies which generally demand different programming paradigms and skills that make it impossible to reuse code. Specialized development skills and implementing the same functionality more than once increases the cost of production without in fact, adding new value to the application.

The Rich Ajax Platform (RAP) was designed to tackle exactly these problems for the Eclipse world. RAP allows Java and Eclipse developers to reuse their existing skills through a Java-based development model for web-clients. Furthermore, RAP maximizes code reuse by including the largest-possible web-enabled subset of the Rich Client Platform (Eclipse's technology on the desktop).

This approach is becoming more and more popular, even among companies that were not previously Eclipse users. However, building applications that use both RCP and RAP as frontend technologies does mean overcoming certain obstacles. In this talk we’ll describe the differences between RAP and RCP that are especially relevant to the goal of single sourcing as much code as possible. We’ll cover a range of techniques and basic patterns to close the gap between RCP and RAP, for both existing RCP applications and new RCP/RAP projects. Finally, we’ll discuss the critical points when converting existing applications to RCP and RAP.

System Requirements

Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista
Mac OS X 10.4 or newer
Linux users - we are anxiously awaiting Citrix's Linux version - email info (at) eclipsesource (dot) com if the system requirements are an issue for you.

View a previous webinar

Frank Appel, October 23, 2008 - Downloads

Presentation Slides .pdf
RAP code examples .zip
Webinar audio with presentation slides - .wmv - .mp4

Screencasts

Getting started screencasts

Check out these RAP community screencasts for a look at getting started with RAP -

RAP and Eclipse

A brief look under the hood

RAP applications are very similar to Eclipse RCP applications, but instead of being executed on a desktop computer they are run on a webserver and clients access them with standard browsers. This is achieved by providing an implementation of SWT that is able to run on a webserver.  RAP provides a subset of the SWT, JFace and Workbench APIs.

Find out more about the Eclipse RAP project on eclipse.org/rap

• Review the RAP Development Plans
• Read the New & Noteworthy pages from RAP releases
• Participate in the Eclipse.org RAP Newsgroup