Chapter 5. Designing and Prototyping an Application

IN THIS CHAPTER

• What Is a SQL-NS Application?

• Stages in the Application Development Process

• Supporting the Sample Application

• Initial Design: Seven Important Questions About Your Application

• Building the Application Prototype

In Chapter 4, "Working with SQL-NS Instances," we looked at SQL-NS instances, the containers for groups of SQL-NS applications. In this and the next five chapters, we'll take a detailed look at the applications themselves and the application development process.

This chapter covers the first stages of application development: the initial design and the building of a basic application prototype. In Chapters 6 through 10, you'll learn how to transform a prototype into a real application.

To illustrate the process of designing and prototyping with SQL-NS, we'll create a sample application: a notification service for an online music store. We'll begin the design and prototyping of the application in this chapter and continue to refine it in subsequent chapters. In its final form, this application will use the many powerful features of the SQL-NS platform. In addition to showing you the process of designing and prototyping an application, this and the upcoming chapters explain these SQL-NS features so that you can use them in applications of your own.