2.3.1 Types of Development
When you begin to develop applications with LANSA, your projects may involve one or more of the following categories:
Enhancing Packaged/Existing Applications
Most businesses have a packaged application or some type of existing legacy application. You can use LANSA to extend these packages and applications. You can load your existing databases into the LANSA Repository and create new types of applications.
Re-engineering Business Applications
At some point, your business may decide to re-engineer an older legacy application to enhance business functionality and take advantage of the latest technology. LANSA provides some rapid prototyping tools to help accelerate the re-engineering process. Because LANSA applications share a common repository, re-engineering into new technologies can be done in a fraction of the time.
Custom Development of New Applications
As businesses change, there are needs for new application systems. By properly structuring your new applications with LANSA, you can maximize your business systems investment.
LANSA can be effectively used in each of these situations. However, the techniques or way you develop with LANSA will be slightly different in each situation.
Also when creating your applications, you must consider the type of application and its required user interface. Will the application be used from a host system, such as the IBM i, for dedicated data entry? Will the application be integrated with other desktop applications? Will the application be used directly by your customer over the Internet? Again, LANSA allows you to build four categories of applications - Universal, Windows Optimized, Web Optimized and Open. (Refer to 2.1 Types of LANSA Applications.)
You must understand your application requirements so that you select the best LANSA solution to fit your application. (Refer to 2.1.7 Types of Business Applications.)