Chapter 15. Case Study: FooReader.NET
Chapter 7 covered syndication with RSS and Atom and how easy it is to share information. In order to view information from several different sources, an application called an aggregator is used to combine the different feeds in one location. An aggregator makes it easier and faster to stay up to date with information collected from around the Web (much easier than visiting several web sites each day).
FooReader.NET is a web-based, .NET RSS/Atom aggregator ported from ForgetFoo's ColdFusion-based FooReader (http://reader.forgetfoo.com/). With many conventional applications filling the aggregator void, including popular e-mail and browser applications, why build a web-based RSS/Atom aggregator? Consider the following reasons:
The Web is cross-platform. Building a web-based aggregator ensures that anyone with Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox, or Opera can access it.
The Web is centrally located. One of the problems with conventional aggregators that are installed on the computer is the upkeep of data in many locations. If you like to read syndicated feeds at work and at home, you must install an aggregator on each computer and load it with the appropriate feeds. A web-based aggregator eliminates this problem because any change made to the feed list is seen regardless of the user's location.
This chapter explains how FooReader.NET is built using Ajax, and as with any web application, there are two main components: the client side and the server side. ...
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