LEONARDI For Linux

LEONARDI is a model-driven framework that allows GUI applications to be implemented rapidly and simple, covering all the traditionally addressed software layers.

With LEONARDI, you describe your business model (using LEONARDI Studio or XML), enrich it with presentation specific information, possibly implement domain specific rules and behaviors using the Java language, and finally deploy the final software either as a DHTML/AJAX GUI, an Eclipse plug-in, or a Swing desktop application.

Our vision: For the end user, the GUI is the application !

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is the visible part of the software. End-users naturally see the GUI as the application as a whole: it really consists of the gate through which business features are made available. Consequently, users’ expectations toward the GUI are high. Expectations include an attractive and modern presentation, predictable behaviors and compatibility with today’s standards.

The end expects the GUI to facilitate his everyday tasks, integrate easily with his technological environment and adapt to his business context with no interference. The challenge for the developer is to design a rich, user-friendly graphical interface meeting users’ needs in their specific context. To meet such goals, an approach allowing strong focus on the business side of the application is essential.

Today, GUI development remains complex: legacy technologies coexist with current standards, data is of heterogeneous nature and architectures are multiple: heavy clients, thin clients, rich clients, SOAs... New needs are emerging, new terminals are brought to the market (smart phones, PDAs, tablet PCs...), which translate into new ways of interacting with machines, such as multi-modal, adaptative interfaces, or MMIs taking into account the user’s context. We are simultaneously witnessing the unavoidable need for change, the necessity of preserving some legacy and need of minimizing the impact of future in a consistent manner. The importance of application extensibility is growing.

GUI development also remains heavy and expensive. As noted by the IEC (International Engineering Consortium), 50% of the code in new developments is related to MMI. This is due to the complex nature of GUIs, where event centric programming depends on contexts and on users’ profiles, adding up to the complexity of controlling the rapid pace of change of technologies, requirements, services and presentation standards. The absence of prototyping and the inability to reuse prototypes often explain gaps between applications and expectations, which further complicates control.

MDA (Model Driven Architecture) is slow to fulfil its promises in terms of productivity: in many IT sectors, controlling costs and meeting deadlines remains problematic. At Lyria, we are convinced that only a model driven approach is capable of dealing with such constraints while allowing the separation between the business expertise and technical world. Our flagship product LEONARDI is an innovative and pragmatic answer to these challenges in the GUI domain.