RCP applications in a web browser

The Rich Ajax Platform lets you build rich, Ajax-enabled Web applications by using the Eclipse development model, plug-ins with the well known Eclipse workbench extension points and a widget toolkit with SWT API. Existing RCP applications can be run as Web applications with only minor changes.

SWT, JFace and Workbench API

RAP is very similar to Eclipse RCP, but it has an alternative implementation of the SWT API (called RWT) which renders the widgets remotely in a web browser. The RAP application runs on a servlet container and clients can access the application with standard web browsers.

Compatible with...

RAP runs out of the box in all common web browsers. No browser add-ons are required.

Firefox 2+	IE 6+	Safari 3+	Chrome 3+	Opera 9+

The server part of RAP can be deployed on all Servlet Containers that implement the Servlet API 2.3 through 3.0. This includes Tomcat, Jetty, Glassfish, JBoss and WebSphere.

Single Sourcing

A popular use case for RAP is the development of rich clients and web clients from a single code base, also called Single Sourcing. This allows Java and Eclipse developers to reuse their existing skills. Furthermore, RAP maximizes code reuse by including the largest-possible web-enabled subset of the Rich Client Platform.

Feels like home

Developing RAP applications is very similar to traditional RCP development. Applications are developed as OSGi-bundles entirely in Java and use the same API and extension points than their RCP counterparts. You take advantage of the award winning Java Development Tools (JDT) and the Plug-in Development Environment (PDE) provided by Eclipse. Everything from development to launching, debugging and exporting to standard .war files works right out of the Eclipse IDE.

In addition, we provide the RAP Tooling which contains useful tools, code templates and documentation. for RAP application developers. It simplifies the installation of the RAP target platform and the launching of RAP applications from Eclipse.