Why are XWT applications delivered in source code form (like HTML) instead of a compiled form (like Macromedia Flash)?
Businesses are always nervous about distributing their code in source format. The creators of Java had to invent a binary format (.class files) just to assuage these fears — despite the fact that .class files are nothing more than highly-compressed source code (if you don’t believe me, try out “jad”, the best Java disassembler I’ve ever seen). Fortunately, XWT allows you to keep most of your application logic on a server, and only distribute the user interface. This is advantageous, since it forces service providers to disclose enough information for third parties to automate or script those services, while protecting the service provider from having their intellectual property stolen, since it is never sent to the user (not even in binary format). However, probably the biggest reason for the choice of a source-exposed format is what we learned from HTML. HTML and the Web flourished because you could look at other peoples’ HTML, and learn from how they did it. If you saw a cool trick
