Write, Run and Share ABL Code from a Browser with ABL Dojo

The ABL Dojo enables new and aspiring Advanced Business Language (ABL) developers to quickly develop and review snippet code more easily than ever—right from a browser.

Do you remember how long it took you to get started with the Progress OpenEdge ABL, or any other programming language? You would have to download the installer first, install the SDK and then configure your development environment—all before you could write a simple “Hello World” program.

How about trying to share code snippets with your co-workers or in communities? Not only is it cumbersome to create a simple test case (snippet) in your development environment and paste it in communities as an answer, but it is also not very intuitive to paste a huge code snippet. It’s tough to read and inconvenient for the user to try out the shared sample.

To address these pain points, we have created a developer utility, ABL Dojo. It is an interactive website that lets you write, run and share OpenEdge ABL code from your web browser.

The purpose of the ABL Dojo is to reduce the barrier to entry for new and aspiring OpenEdge developers by letting them try out ABL without having to install any software. It is also useful as a scratch-pad editor for current ABL developers to quickly try out snippets without having to launch their development setup. All you need is a browser to start writing and executing ABL.

ABL Dojo also lets you create snippets and share them using a unique URL, which makes code-sharing in communities or with your co-workers a piece of cake.

This utility is very similar to http://dojo.telerik.com which lets you try out the Kendo UI controls from your browser.

Now that you have an idea of how this utility can help you, check out this demo: