The latest trend in information portals and Web applications has been to
build complex Web pages. To present large amounts of information and
functionality without compromising usability, designers have imposed a clear
structure by grouping related elements together. Such cohesive, visually
distinct constructs, or compartments, often with their own presentation
logic, have become an essential feature of complex Web applications.
The first half of this article introduces the notion of compartments as a
fundamental concept that pervades the layers of many Web applications and
stages in their lifecycle. It defines compartments and analyzes their
structure and key characteristics. Then it will examine the existing
presentation layer technologies for building compartmentalized appli-cations
and demonstrate their weaknesses.
The second half of the article proposes an arch... (more)