The Lianja Vision

Explained by Barry Mavin, Lianja CEO and Principal Developer

Lianja was created to simplify application development and remove the barriers between Desktop, Cloud and Mobile business applications.

The vision was to build a platform for both non-programmers and professional developers: simple enough for domain experts, yet powerful enough for modern business application development.

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Why Lianja Was Created

The future of computing was changing rapidly. Smartphones, tablets and personal devices were becoming part of everyday business life, and traditional development tools were becoming too complex for the people who understood the business problems best.

Lianja was designed around a simple idea: business users and developers should be able to build applications faster, without being locked into one operating system, one device type, one database or one programming language.

Less Complexity

Hide technical complexity so domain experts can build useful business apps.

Device Freedom

Build apps for Desktop, Browser, Mobile and Cloud from one platform.

No Vendor Lock-In

Move beyond operating-system lock-in and separate apps for every form factor.

From BYOD to BYOA

The days of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) are already here. Employees use their own devices to communicate, collaborate and work from anywhere.

The next logical step is BYOA: Bring or Build Your Own Apps. For this to happen, development tools need to be simpler, more visual and more accessible to domain knowledge workers who just want to build an app.

The Two Main Objectives

NoCode for Domain Experts

Provide a visual app builder that non-programmers and domain knowledge workers can use to build their own apps and leverage their business expertise.

Business Solutions Platform for Developers

Provide a cross-platform, cross-UI and cross-database Apps Platform as a Service that leverages existing skills and remains future-proof.

Why Visual FoxPro Was Chosen

After careful consideration, Visual FoxPro was chosen because it was one of the most data-centric scripting languages available. Many Visual FoxPro developers were still using it worldwide, and Microsoft had discontinued support, creating an opportunity for a next-generation Visual FoxPro-inspired platform.

Lianja is not intended to be a clone of Visual FoxPro. Instead, it uses the strengths of a data-centric database and scripting language, then extends them for modern Desktop, Cloud and Mobile application development.

Core Platform Principles

Data-Centric

Built around business data, database applications and productive data access.

Dynamic Languages

Designed to embrace dynamic scripting languages that can run across devices.

Cross-Platform

Runs across Windows, macOS and Linux with support for modern deployment models.

Multi-Language

Visual FoxPro, Python and JavaScript are integrated into one platform.

Modern Extensions

Extends familiar development concepts with features for Desktop, Cloud and Mobile apps.

A Unified Application Platform

Lianja combines a visual development environment, a high-performance SQL database and a cloud server for deploying and managing data-centric applications for browsers and mobile devices.

The platform brings together Visual FoxPro, Python, PHP and JavaScript so developers can use existing skills while building modern business applications for the future.

Lianja for Both Audiences

For Non-Programmers

Lianja provides a visual, easy-to-understand way for business users and domain experts to build useful applications.

For Developers

Lianja provides a powerful, extensible platform for professional developers building Desktop, Cloud and Mobile applications.

Build Apps and Enjoy Doing It

The Lianja vision is to give both non-programmers and professional developers the tools they need to move forward into the future while making business application development enjoyable again.

Barry Mavin
CEO and Principal Developer of Lianja