We have converted 8 different spreadsheets using SpreadsheetConverter. View the source files generated. Benchmark Java vs DOT.NET. Compare server-based calculations with client-based calculation. Click for complete table.
48 different web pages is the result when we compared SpreadsheetConverter to HTML, SpreadsheetConverter to Java/JSP and SpreadsheetConverter to ASP & ASP.NET.
Good-looking calculating webpages everywhere
The first thing you will notice is that the web pages look the same regardless of the product we used. The differences are beneath the surface.Client calculation versus server calculation
The biggest difference for the user is if the calculations are done on the server or on the client (=webbrowser). SpreadsheetConverter to HTML - which is also included in SpreadsheetConverter to Java/JSP and SpreadsheetConverter to ASP & ASP.NET - always calculates on the client. The advantage is that all values are updated immediately after leaving an input field. The disadvantage is that JavaScript, which is used for calculations, gets slow for large spreadsheets. The result of SpreadsheetConverter to HTML is a pure web form, so it can be deployed on any web server out there.The ASP and JSP-products calculates on the server. The disadvantage is that the user has to press recalculate in order to update the values. The advantage is that large calculations are done faster. Download times can also be improved, since the calculating part is not downloaded to the web browser. Also, backend-integrations are easier to do using the server-based products. One example of a backend-integration is to get the current rate for a mortgage calculator.
Type of webserver needed
The server products differ in which web server platform they need. ASP-pages run on any Microsoft server with Internet Information Server, so it works well on both old servers like NT4 and newer ones. ASP.NET.pages requires a Microsoft server with Internet Information Server and DOT.NET, for example Windows Server 2003.SpreadsheetConverter to Java/JSP needs a JSP-enabled webserver, for example Tomcat, Apache with Tomcat, IBM WebSphere or BEA WebLogic.
JavaBean can be used in any Java software
The JavaBean generated by SpreadsheetConverter to Java/JSP can also be used stand-alone in any Java-software project.Note: Spreadsheet with large tables may not work due to limitations in the Java VM and Microsoft CLR. By rearranging the code we generate, we expect to solve these issues in version 4.0.