ExtJS or SmartClient?

Question

I would like your opinion about these two frameworks. I like a lot the features of ExtJS, but recently I saw SmartClient and it seems to be great too, and free (its Client side features) for commercial projects. I tried a little of SmartClient and it seems to be easier than ExtJS, and it has a better documentation tnan ExtJS.

BUT.. I didn't work with any of these frameworks and maybe I'm wrong. That's why I would like the opinion of people who has worked with them.

And BTW.. how does the license of ExtJS work? you've to but one license for each developer and then you're able to develop and sell every app you want or you have to buy a license for each app you sell?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Yap

SmartClient has a very low comunity – Belay

Answer 1

This has been pretty well covered on SO. Specifically here and here.

Ext JS is licensed per developer not per app.

I'm an Ext JS developer so I'm partial to Ext, but I have no opinion of SmartClient good or bad. If licensing is the most important criterion SmartClient might be better for you. If you want to weight the technical merits see the links above, or even better evaluate them both based on your own needs.

Masterpiece

Thanks for replying! Yes, I did a little search and I've found the posts you mention. But I didn't find any post that compares these two options. The license is not a concern but it's nice to know that it is per developer and not per app. Thanks for clarifying this! What I would like to know is how these two options differ in terms of performance, extensibility and which one has better components. – Yap

You are asking a purely subjective question. There are lots of people using both frameworks, so obviously they both work just fine for some people. Will one or the other better suit your needs? I have no idea. You need to download them both and spend a day prototyping. – Masterpiece

Answer 2

I use SmartClient and am quite happy with it and the support provided by Isomorphic. The U/I widgets aren't the nicest out there, but you can see that they've been around for some time by the richness of their API.

It's also quite easy to roll out your own custom controls when the built-in ones don't suit your needs. For example, we integrated Raphael pie chart SVG drawings inside custom Isomorphic canvas classes. We also integrated Mondrian/JPivot analytical technologies which are legacy JSP pages, using Smartclient's HtmlFlow control. It's quite powerful what can be achieved.

One thing I regret about Smartclient versus other technologies such as jQuery, is a clearer separation between the work a web designer does versus the work a developer/programmer does.

With Smartclient, it's mostly done thru code, even the layout of components. There's no HTML per say. They've separated very well the skinning (css), but that's about it. Everything else needs to be done by a developer/programmer thru Javascript code. Smartclient is good for single-page apps.

I can't speak for ExtJS as I haven't used it real production environments, but in the end I think it all boils down to the licensing model and programing/design model you want to be using.

Mi

Answer 3

I have used both, and I would recommend Ext for the following reasons:

1. Layout flow is much easier, especially with the design tools.
2. The UI Builder from Isomorphic lacks the usability that the tool from Ext offers
3. The Javascript performance was better with Ext
4. CSS is easier to use with the Ext framework
5. Editing CSS/Themes/Skins in SmartGWT/SmartClient is major surgery (very tedious and time consuming)
6. Widgets are similar but "prettier" in Ext
7. Forum administrators on both sites can be "snippy", however premium support did not change this on the Isomorphic site. They are rude and condescending even when you pay.
8. Ext has a dedicated MVC framework. The Isomorphic framework does not.
9. SmartClient charting DOES NOT support negative number values

Juvenescence

Interesting. I am also looking at both. I haven't gotten very far, yet, but simply looking at their demos, SmartClient seems to offer a lot more in terms of functionality. Is that a misperception on my part? – Booboo

8 and 9 are false. Here (smartclient.com/index.jsp#simpleChart) are the chart samples, you can edit them right online and see negative values work. Here (smartclient.com/index.jsp#patternReuseFS) is an example of very sophisticated MVC. In particular, creating of a component that is reusable with any entity, and auto-configures itself based on the entity definition. This remains manual in Ext4. The rest of the claims above are very subjective, suffice it to say, many other users prefer our layouts, tools, skinning system and support team. – Contactor

Keep in mind this was written almost 18 months ago. At which time you sold us a charting package that didn't plot negative numbers. So the message to your perspective clients is kick the tires, and take it to a mechanic, because there are definitely going to be issues when you get it home. In short, that was shady. – Juvenescence

The fact that it's an old post doesn't excuse your #8 (MVC), which is an inexplicable, clearly false claim. As far as charting, the feature you needed was provided in a free update - I'm not understanding how providing the feature for free is "shady"? What is definitely shady is you posting about this in multiple places, and mixing in absolutely false claims about our products at the same time. Perhaps in the future you too will experience baseless, public criticism of your team's work, so you understand what this is like. – Contactor

The internet is full of "baseless" claims about the shortcomings of SmartGWT: dzone.com/links/why_i_give_up_using_smart_gwt.html, kai-waehner.de/blog/2010/12/11/… How long did it take for the free update? Exactly. Shouldn't have released it that way. I have moved on to another product/framework with great success. Good luck in the future SmartGWT. – Juvenescence

There are a handful of other people who have also publicly gotten basic facts wrong - this doesn't excuse you doing so. Of course your comments, with the same false statements as above, can be found on each of these sites you linked (Brandon). Looks you actually kept at it until the moderator had to delete an offensive comment! All this because you assumed a feature was there which wasn't, and then got it for free.. amazing. Again I do hope you find out in the future what it's like to have people slam your work in public, and willfully get the facts wrong. – Contactor

Answer 4

Before starting new GUI for our new project arrival, I made some research.

Here are my findings (remove spaces from "http: // "; bcoz stackoverflow is preventing me to do so :)): Prototype framework favorable links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ajax_frameworks

http://www.javabeat.net/articles/12-comparison-of-ajax-frameworks-prototype-gwt-dwr-and-1.html

http://www.devx.com/AJAXRoundup/Article/33209

Dojo framework favorable links:

http://blog.creonfx.com/javascript/dojo-vs-jquery-vs-mootools-vs-prototype-performance-comparison

jQuery framework favorable links:

http://blog.creonfx.com/javascript/mootools-vs-jquery-vs-prototype-vs-yui-vs-dojo-comparison-revised

Test speed of different RIA frameworks:

http://mootools.net/slickspeed/#

More comparasions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_JavaScript_frameworks

http://jqueryvsmootools.com/#conclusion

Out of all these findings I started using SmartClient 5. Initially we faced some issues but as SmartClient matures I find it interesting in many terms: 1. APIs doc help and examples 2. Flexible controls 3. Forum

Today I am working on SmartClient 8 and few on my GUIs are in production running successfully. Actually the great help with SmartClient is that you find every thing at one place. No need to dug many other sites that is hard to do for any other open source RIA framework.

So my choice is no doubt SmartClient.

Thanks Shailendra (shaILU)

Nomology

Answer 5

I would prefer Jquery UI. Which is supported well by community. By combining plugins you can get similar -if not better- screens provided by extJS and SmartClient.

Canady

Thanks for your answer! I forgot to mention that I used jQuery for my projects for about two years. I like it but looking at extJS or SmartClient components it seems that they require much less code that it would with jQuery. And I love the DataSource and DataBounded components from SmartClient. With a few lines you've got a complex form binded with a DataSource via REST services (or WSDL). I suppose that ExtJS has something similar? – Yap

You can always count on a "jQuery is better" answer, no matter the question! Well done. – Masterpiece

If you think the answer is not useful or useful, you can click the icon. This will take less time. I appreciate your smart answer, if that's what you needed. – Canady