GenApp: Extensible tool for rapid generation of web and native GUI applications

GenApp is a general tool for rapid deployment of applications in an extensible set of target languages. GenApp builds fully functioning science gateways and standalone GUI applications from collections of definition files and libraries of code fragments. Existing and new GenApp capabilities can be modified and implemented by using special defined GenApp macros. We demonstrate how this strategy works by integration of the OAuth2 user credential management into GenApp framework. Among the main GenApp features are the minimal technical expertise requirement for the end user and an open-end design ensuring sustainability of generated applications. Because of the conceptual simplicity of use, GenApp is ideally suited to scientists who are not professional developers, to disseminate their theoretical and experimental expertise as embodied in their code to their communities by rapidly deploying advanced applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.