B4J Question Application server is non-ui. But why?

[Eme Fibonacci]

Application server is non-ui. But why?

What prevents a server application having a ui?

 

[MichalK73]

It's easy.
As you write applications not UI it is a console application. The console application can be run on servers without windows, without the desktop only text. Web servers do not require a graphical desktop, just like mail servers, ftp, etc. Servers without graphical desktops are lighter, faster, require less hardware resources and on such servers console applications run faster than UI applications because they are not loaded on UI.

You can write server applications with UI but you need to have a graphical machine. However, some server resources (CPU, RAM, HDD) will be used to maintain the desktop. The more stuff on the server, the more privileges you have. So why care about such a machine?

Economically: It is cheaper to maintain console servers than with graphics overlay.

As a programmer: I'm leaving to worry about the graphical part, doing only the back-end and not the front-end.

 

[tchart]

I have an application that is a UI app that runs a web server too. That works fine. Not sure why you would want to do it the other way around.

 

[MichalK73]

But what do you use GUI for web server?

 

[jmon]

But why?

Reading the title I was expecting to see this:

The good thing about a non-ui app is that it could run on a raspberry pi with no complicated setup. Just install the latest version of java, and run your app. With a GUI it's more complicated on raspberry pi.

But one of my servers has a GUI, and I see no problem with that. The server runs on windows, and I have buttons, live-logs etc... displayed on my GUI.

 

[Cableguy]

Well, a webserver is ment to be accessed remotely, either by a dedicated local (on the remote machine) app or using a browser.
In the first case, the UI is the responsibility of the local app, in the second case, the server can easily provide a UI in the form of a webpage, just like ABMaterial does. I don't see the point of having a webserver local UI...
But then again, I may be missing the point.

 

[Eme Fibonacci]

But what do you use GUI for web server?

For example, see charts.

A basic question that maybe I should have done first. Can I create a b4j server application with ui? How?

 

[MichalK73]

The server runs on windows, and I have buttons, live-logs etc... displayed on my GUI.

It's a fact. But you can replace GUI with logs and control buttons, simple web page with clear logs and control buttons. In addition, you can control how you want from the network, not just the machine where the GUI application is (probably with VNC, but for what).

 

[Cableguy]

It depends on the java version! JavaFx was dropped by Oracle a few versions ago!

 

[Erel]

jServer library was built to work in non-ui programs. It shouldn't be used in ui programs as the threading model and messaging queue handling are different.

You can create a UI application that interacts with the server with OkHttpUtils2.

 

[Eme Fibonacci]

"models and messaging queue handling are different"

I understood. I was curious about that.