By using this tool, end users can develop Web services and Web applications without any PHP, Java™ or J2EE knowledge.  Users can develop these applications by using collections of "cards," each of which act like single-function applications in a form-based, desktop-like environment.  The data fields in cards can be used like cells in a spreadsheet and can contain either data or an expression that determines the data at run time.  Cards can also run other cards; this capability provides the basic flow control necessary for programming concepts such as decision branching, sequences, and loops.

ADIEU packages are available for two types of infrastructure: LAMP and Java. The PHP-based package runs on the LAMP stack. The other ADIEU package was written in Java and runs on WebSphere® Application Server or Tomcat.

How does it work?

In the ADIEU for PHP package, the programming environment operates within either the Internet Explorer Web browser or Mozilla Firefox browser. ADIEU for PHP is installed on a LAMP stack. The product uses AFLAX library for communicating between client and server parts. Using AFLAX allows for better performance and smoother operation in the PHP environment. ADIEU for PHP 1.1 is an evolution of the Java version and supports all previously-available functions.

In the ADIEU for Java package, the programming environment operates within only the Internet Explorer Web browser.  ADIEU for Java can be installed on WebSphere Application Server or Apache Tomcat.  ADIEU for Java has a linkage function to Homepage Builder 9 (HPB), which is a Japan-unique IBM product.  ADIEU for Java includes a HPB fix pack for the linkage function.  Applying the fix pack to HPB enables users to edit ADIEU-generated, HTML-based Web pages.

Hideaki Shinomi, an advisory software engineer, joined IBM Japan in 1984.  He has researched program analysis for assembler, Prolog, COBOL, and PL/I at IBM Research, Tokyo Research Laboratory.  Currently, Mr. Shinomi works with the Application Development Tools group at the IBM Software Development Laboratory in Yamato, Japan.  He is the team leader for ADIEU.

Kotaro Shima is a software engineer at Yamato Software Laboratory (YSL), IBM Japan. He joined IBM in 2003 and worked on the development of Homepage Builder 9 (HTML clean-up function, a linkage function to aDesigner). Mr. Shima's technical interests include end-user programming for Web applications.

Keisuke Nitta is a software engineer at Yamato Software Laboratory (YSL), IBM Japan. He joined IBM in 2004 and is currently interested in the security of Web applications.

Sam S. Adams, an IBM Distinguished Engineer in IBM Research, is the architect of the card-based programming model in ADIEU. He has led a research project since 2003 to develop tools that radically simplify programming of Web applications and Web services for non-professional programmers. Key contributors to this research project include John Richards, Rachel Bellamy, Jonathan Brezin, and Brian Price.