The W3C is sponsoring a workshop on Web Apps and Compound Docs in San Jose, June 1st & 2nd.
From the web site:
Position papers submitted for this workshop topic should address at least some of the following questions:
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What functionality is needed for Web applications? What should a hosting environment provide?
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How much of a Web application should be declarative? How much in script?
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How are they related to Web documents, which are normally static?
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Is there a need for a standard set of user interface controls? Should these controls use the native platform look and feel?
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What APIs are needed for Web applications (eg. retrieving and sending data over the network, parsing XML, client-side storage)?
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How should a Web application and its related resources (e.g. images, sounds) be packaged?
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What security issues need to be addressed?
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To what extent can application behavior be usefully abstracted from platform specific details of UI controls? How can the application integrate different modality interfaces (eg. voice, pen, keystrokes)? How to address richer models of interaction management that go beyond simple event handlers?
It is about freaking time that they hold a workshop like this! I’ve been pushing for this for 4 years now, and thanks to XAML, the W3C has finally decided to start work on this. Unfortunately, I think that they way too far behind to really do anything useful. They might as well let XAML get out the door, and then learn from the mistakes made with XAML and release a more mature version a couple years later (a la Microsoft). I don’t know if the W3C can break out of its bureaucratic hell and actually release something useful, but I’m more than willing to help them try. Some competition for XAML will be good for everyone. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I can make this workshop. I’m going to have to see if I can adjust my schedule, but I don’t think it will happen. Plus I need to get a paper in by Friday (which is very doubtful). I’d love to finally meet Jon Ferraiolo and Dean Jackson, and getting Chris Lilley and I together in one room should be interesting, just to see the sparks fly.
If I don’t get a chance to attend, I’ll post my position paper here on my blog, and hopefully it strikes a chord with one of the attendees. Damn, this is one of the major drawbacks of being an independent consultant, never enough time and money to do all the things you would like to participate in.