Preparation for using the EGL Dojo widgets

You can develop with the EGL Dojo widgets by using either a local or remote version of the Dojo Toolkit. In either case, you must specify the Dojo Toolkit provider on your EGL build path.
Local
The Dojo Toolkit must be imported into your workspace to provide the necessary code for the EGL Dojo widgets to run locally.
Remote
The Dojo Toolkit is accessed by using a provider connection project. To use the Dojo Toolkit remotely, you must connect to the toolkit though a provider, such as Google or AOL. The provider hosts the Dojo Toolkit for use by Dojo developers.

You might use a local version of the toolkit instead of a remote version for many reasons. To learn about the advantages and disadvantages of local and remote access, see Table 1.

One development scenario is to develop by using a remote version of the toolkit and to deploy by using a local version. With this scenario, you have the fastest development experience and can control the version of the Dojo toolkit because it is hosted on your server when you deploy.

Table 1. Considerations for accessing the Dojo Toolkit locally or remotely
Local Remote
Flexibility
  • You do not need the Internet to access to the toolkit.
  • You control where the toolkit is accessed from.
  • You can develop new Dojo widgets and debug the JavaScript™.
Performance
  • Performance is better because the browser caches more resources.
  • The integrated development environment (IDE) is faster because there are fewer things in your workspace.
  • You deploy your own application only, and you do not have to deploy the Dojo Toolkit files.
Slower deployment
  • When you deploy your application, IBM® Rational® EGL Community Edition must copy the Dojo Toolkit files to your Web server.
  • You must serve up the Dojo files from your server; this action might lead to extra bandwidth.
  • The startup time for your application might be slower because of browser caching and performance characteristics.
Dependency on third parties
  • You must be connected to the Internet. If you do not have a fast speed connection, the first run can be slow.
  • Hosted servers usually implement usage tracking, which you might want to avoid.
  • You must rely on a third party to maintain the integrity of the Dojo Toolkit libraries.

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