I have been playing with Apache Shindig during the past weeks with mixed results, This is basically an Open Source implementation of the OpenSocial and Gadgets specifications by Google. Although the project is still in the Apache Incubator, support from Google will potentially mean that this might turn out to be the reference implementation for this type of containers.
The container itself is pretty easy to integrate into a J2EE web application. However, apart from providing the infrastructure, there's nothing much for the implementer. There are a few samples, which were very helpful during the initial stages. But if you think integrating a Shindig container to your application will instantly provide your users an iGoogle like experience, be prepared to be disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much. But it would have been nice to have some more functionality in the vanilla installation and samples to demonstrate those.
But this is without doubt a good project to keep track on. It was pretty interesting going through the codebase, which contains both Java and Javascript. I would love to see some samples on the OpenSocial features of the container in a future release.
The container itself is pretty easy to integrate into a J2EE web application. However, apart from providing the infrastructure, there's nothing much for the implementer. There are a few samples, which were very helpful during the initial stages. But if you think integrating a Shindig container to your application will instantly provide your users an iGoogle like experience, be prepared to be disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much. But it would have been nice to have some more functionality in the vanilla installation and samples to demonstrate those.
But this is without doubt a good project to keep track on. It was pretty interesting going through the codebase, which contains both Java and Javascript. I would love to see some samples on the OpenSocial features of the container in a future release.
