FAST · Fast and Advanced Storyboard Tools

The main objective of the project is to create a new a visual programming environment that will facilitate the development of complex front-end gadgets, involving execution of relatively complex business processes that rely on back-end Semantic Web Services. The approach adopted will be user-centric rather than program-centric: instead of first building programs that orchestrate available Semantic Web Services and then try to figure out how to implement interaction with the users at given points of the process execution flow, programmers will start from the front-end gadgets that the user will see and interact with, and then, afterwards, they will visually establish the connection to back-end Web Services going through process execution flows if necessary. The way programmers will visually establish this connection will follow an approach similar to what sequence diagrams in UML look like.<br/>The FAST project believes that this new user-oriented approach is feasible and that it will overpass limitations of current business process engines approaches. In this approach, programmers will visually manage and connect front-end gadgets, screen-flow resources and back-end services.<br/>It is worth pointing out that the programming tool to be developed will be conceived as a tool that can be compatible with existing and future mash-up platforms. Our goal is not to develop the gadget mash-up platform but a tool that enables to develop mash-up-able gadgets which rely on screen-flow resources and semantic Web Services stored in a catalogue.