From 4a4d05b0354829df86c4f106868d421dca349b34 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Marko Gronroos <magi@vaadin.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 00:00:36 +0300
Subject: Rescaled images in layout chapter. Various small formatting fixes.
 Updated history and other matters in introduction.

Change-Id: I0d5e76f7fb07f967dd04941a23e79dfb30049731
---
 .../introduction/intro-background.asciidoc         | 57 ++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)

(limited to 'documentation/introduction/intro-background.asciidoc')

diff --git a/documentation/introduction/intro-background.asciidoc b/documentation/introduction/intro-background.asciidoc
index ec70b75d9f..ef0138494f 100644
--- a/documentation/introduction/intro-background.asciidoc
+++ b/documentation/introduction/intro-background.asciidoc
@@ -19,22 +19,27 @@ international pharmaceutical company. IT Mill made the application already in
 the year 2001 and it is still in use. Since then, the company has produced
 dozens of large business applications with the library and it has proven its
 ability to solve hard problems easily.
+Millstone 3 was released as open source in 2002.
 
-The next generation of the library, IT Mill Toolkit Release 4, was released in
-2006. It introduced an entirely new AJAX-based presentation engine. This allowed
-the development of AJAX applications without the need to worry about
-communications between the client and the server.
+Progress has often required hard decisions to avoid carrying unnecessary legacy burden far into the future.
+Nevertheless, our aim has always been to keep migrations easy.
 
 [[intro.background.toolkit-5]]
-== Release 5 Into the Open
+== Release 4 with Single-Page Rendering
 
-((("IT Mill
-Toolkit")))
+The next generation of the library, IT Mill Toolkit 4, was released in 2006.
+It introduced an entirely new AJAX-based presentation engine.
+This allowed the development of AJAX applications without the need to worry about communications between the client and the server.
+
+[[intro.background.toolkit-5]]
+== Release 5 Powered by GWT
+
+((("IT Mill Toolkit")))
 ((("AJAX")))
 IT Mill Toolkit 5, released initially at the end of 2007, took a significant
 step further into AJAX. The client-side rendering of the user interface was
-completely rewritten using GWT, the Google Web Toolkit. ((("Google Web
-Toolkit")))
+completely rewritten using GWT, the Google Web Toolkit.
+((("Google Web Toolkit")))
 
 IT Mill Toolkit 5 introduced many significant improvements both in the
 server-side API and in the functionality. Rewriting the Client-Side Engine with
@@ -50,13 +55,12 @@ The Release 5 was published under the Apache License 2, an unrestrictive open
 source license, to create faster expansion of the user base and to make the
 formation of a developer community possible.
 
-
 [[intro.background.vaadin6]]
 == Birth of Vaadin Release 6
 
-IT Mill Toolkit was renamed as __Vaadin Framework__, or Vaadin in short, in
-spring 2009. Later IT Mill, the company, was also renamed as Vaadin Ltd. Vaadin
-means an adult female semi-domesticated mountain reindeer in Finnish.
+IT Mill Toolkit was renamed as _Vaadin Framework_, or Vaadin in short, in
+spring 2009. Later IT Mill, the company, was also renamed as Vaadin Ltd.
+Vaadin means an adult female semi-domesticated mountain reindeer in Finnish.
 
 With Vaadin 6, the number of developers using the framework exploded. Together
 with the release, the Vaadin Plugin for Eclipse was released, helping the
@@ -68,20 +72,16 @@ tremendous growth in the ecosystem around Vaadin. The size of the user
 community, at least if measured by forum activity, has already gone past the
 competing server-side frameworks and even GWT.
 
-
 [[intro.background.vaadin7]]
 == The Major Revision with Vaadin 7
 
 Vaadin 7 was a major revision that changed the Vaadin API much more than Vaadin
-6 did. It is certainly more web-oriented than Vaadin 6 was. We are doing
-everything we can to help Vaadin rise high in the web universe. Some of this
-work is easy and almost routine - fixing bugs and implementing features. But
-going higher also requires standing firmer. That was one of the aims of Vaadin 7
-- redesigning the product so that the new architecture enables Vaadin to reach
-over many long-standing challenges. Many of the changes required breaking API
-compatibility with Vaadin 6, especially in the client-side, but they are made
-with a strong desire to avoid carrying unnecessary legacy burden far into the
-future.
+6 did.
+It became more web-oriented than Vaadin 6 was.
+We are doing everything we can to help Vaadin rise high in the web universe.
+Some of this work is easy and almost routine - fixing bugs and implementing features.
+But going higher also requires standing firmer.
+That was one of the aims of Vaadin 7 - redesigning the product so that the new architecture enables Vaadin to reach over many long-standing challenges.
 
 Inclusion of the Google Web Toolkit in Vaadin 7 was a significant development,
 as it meant that Vaadin now provides support for GWT as well. When Google opened
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ the GWT development in summer 2012, Vaadin (the company) joined the new GWT
 steering committee. As a member of the committee, Vaadin can work towards the
 success of GWT as a foundation of the Java web development community.
 
+[[intro.background.vaadin8]]
+== Vaadin 8 Introduces New Data Binding API
 
-
-
+The biggest change in Vaadin 8 is the complete modernization of the data binding API.
+Binding components to data sources is one of the core features of the Vaadin Framework, as it eliminates the need to explicitly shuffle data between Vaadin components and data objects, typically beans.
+The old data model was designed in time before Java features such as generics.
+While the data model was improved over the years, it was fundamentally outdated and complex to use.
+The new data binding API works much more fluently in Java 8, especially with Java 8 features such as lambda expressions.
+Consequently, to be able to fully use the new features of Java 8, we have raised the requirements from Java 6 to 8.
+The change should make Vaadin up to date with the most current Java technologies used by developers.
-- 
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