In software development, two different worlds often clash: On one side are slow, complicated enterprise processes; on the other, modern cloud tools promise fast results, but quickly fail when facing complex business needs.

Particularly for Java developers and IT teams in the mid-market, the question arises: How can development time be drastically shortened without losing control over architecture, security, and the actual Java code?

A look at an alternative approach shows what a bridge between visual development, a robust Java basis, and flexible infrastructure can look like.

1. Why a Desktop GUI Designer Makes Sense in Professional Environments

While the trend in the no-code sector points almost exclusively to purely browser-based interfaces, professional software development offers weighty reasons for a different approach. A local, native desktop designer brings specific characteristics:

• High Performance Without Browser Limits: Complex, data-intensive enterprise masks can be edited fluidly in a desktop application without performance drops caused by latencies or browser RAM limits.
• Full Offline Capability: Developers can work undisturbed regardless of a stable internet connection - whether on a train or in secure environments.
• Full Control: The code remains locally accessible and can be seamlessly linked with familiar IDEs like IntelliJ or Eclipse, rather than gathering dust in a pure cloud sandbox.

2. The Java Basis: Full Control and Direct Code Access

Classic low-code platforms often work with rigid generators or hidden black boxes where code must be laboriously exported to make adjustments. Here, it works differently:

• Real Code as a Living Basis: There is no separate export step. The platform works directly on the actual Java code, which is changed and adapted live.
• The Strength of the Java World: Instead of proprietary scripting languages, mature Java technologies are used. Existing libraries, frameworks, and internal corporate Java components can be easily integrated and controlled directly within the code workflow.

3. One Backend, Three Frontends: React, Flutter, and Vaadin

Projects today demand flexibility: Sometimes a modern web application is needed, other times a native mobile app for field staff, or a classic enterprise mask.

• Centralized Logic: Business logic and data structures are defined once in Java.
• Multichannel Output: From this, the system seamlessly serves modern React web interfaces, native Flutter apps, or proven Vaadin views.

This eliminates the need to build a completely separate development team for every single device type.

4. Flexible Deployments: From Docker to Classical Application Servers

Corporate landscapes are heterogeneous. While some companies consistently rely on containers, many established institutions have successfully worked with proven infrastructures for years.

• Freedom of Choice in Hosting: The platform is not tied to a mandatory Docker environment. It can be operated either via modern Docker containers (cloud or private cloud) or deployed seamlessly on classical enterprise application servers within existing data center architectures.
• Maximum Compatibility: This allows the software to fit smoothly into the already existing system landscape without requiring existing operating concepts to be overhauled.

Conclusion

There is no single way to build software. Whether browser or desktop, low-code or hard-code, Docker or application server - what matters is that the architecture fits the use case. Combining the robustness and openness of directly modifiable Java code with the speed of visual design tools and flexible deployment options creates a pragmatic alternative for demanding enterprise software.

We make all of this possible with VisionX.

This exact intersection is where VisionX excels. As a platform that combines rapid visual development with full Java compatibility and open standards, VisionX benefits immensely from modern, cloud-native database architectures like Neon.

Why Database Infrastructure Matters for VisionX

VisionX empowers development teams and enterprise architects to design business applications, data models, and complex integrations visually while seamlessly generating clean, maintainable code underneath. By default, VisionX relies on proven relational database systems, with PostgreSQL serving as one of its primary production standards.

However, to fully capitalize on the agility that VisionX delivers, the underlying database environment must keep pace. Integrating Neon as the PostgreSQL database layer resolves traditional administrative hurdles and provides concrete operational advantages directly within the VisionX development lifecycle.

1. Seamless Prototyping & Instant Environment Branching

In VisionX, data models, business logic (Actions), and visual UI components are developed hand in hand. When features are updated or relational structures are refactored, testing requires reliable, isolated data environments.

• The VisionX Advantage: Neon's Copy-on-Write Database Branching allows instant cloning of PostgreSQL databases via API within milliseconds. Prior to deploying schema changes or testing new VisionX workflows, developers can branch the production database state. Teams test new VisionX applications against realistic data structures without risk to production or time-consuming manual database dump/restore cycles.

2. Resource Efficiency Across Multi-App Portfolios

Enterprises frequently use VisionX to build vast portfolios of specialized internal tools, operational dashboards, and micro-applications. Operating dedicated, always-on database instances for every minor utility quickly drives up operational costs.

• The VisionX Advantage: Thanks to Neon's Scale-to-Zero compute capability, databases for rarely accessed or off-hours VisionX applications automatically suspend when inactive. The moment a user accesses the VisionX frontend, the database compute instance resumes within milliseconds. This enables organizations to host dozens of specialized VisionX utilities at minimal infrastructure cost.

3. Resilience Under Peak Load & Serverless Patterns

VisionX applications process high-throughput data operations and expose automated REST interfaces. During heavy concurrent user access or automated batch processing, legacy PostgreSQL configurations often face connection exhaustion.

• The VisionX Advantage: Neon's built-in connection pooling handles spikey, concurrent query flows from VisionX smoothly. The application maintains predictable performance and connection stability without requiring complex external proxy management.

Architecture Overview: VisionX + Neon

+-------------------------------------------------------+
|                   VisionX Platform                    |
|  (Visual Designer, UI Components, Actions, REST API)  |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|
(Standard JDBC / PostgreSQL)
|
+-------------------------------------------------------+
|                         Neon                          |
|  * Copy-on-Write Branching (Instant Test Databases)   |
|  * Auto-Scaling & Scale-to-Zero (Cost Optimization)   |
|  * Built-in Connection Pooling (PgBouncer-level)      |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

Key Benefits for Engineering Teams

Integrating Neon reinforces core VisionX principles: uncompromised speed, enterprise stability, and zero vendor lock-in.

• Zero Infrastructure Overhead: Engineers stay focused on modeling business logic and UI layouts in VisionX rather than provisioning and managing physical database instances.
• Accelerated CI/CD Pipelines: Automated deployment pipelines for version-controlled VisionX projects pair naturally with instant database branching.
• Full Native Standard Compatibility: Because Neon delivers 100% PostgreSQL compatibility, VisionX connects using standard JDBC drivers and standard SQL queries without requiring custom drivers or proprietary connectors.

Conclusion

For organizations engineering enterprise solutions with VisionX, Neon offers an ideal PostgreSQL foundation. By eliminating operational friction around provisioning, branching, and scaling relational databases, the combination ensures that database management remains as agile, flexible, and efficient as VisionX itself.

Supabase is an open-source alternative to Firebase. It is a Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) that provides developers with all the necessary backend functionalities to quickly build modern web and mobile applications without having to manually manage servers.

Key Features

• PostgreSQL Database
• Authentication
• Real-time Updates
• Auto-generated APIs
• Storage
• Edge Functions

You can find the source code on GitHub, and the Docker-Compose files are also ready to go.

However, we tried the online version and simply registered for the Free Plan. The registration is very easy, and you are ready to go in 2 minutes. After registration, you simply create a new application with VisionX and connect it to the database using a custom data source.

The most complicated part was finding the URL. In our case:

Supabase connection

After the Supabase connection was configured, VisionX could be used as usual. We created a person mask for entering first name, last name, date of birth, and description. This was a simple test mask without any complex logic.

We then tested the features of the Supabase interface (creating new columns, modifying data, creating data models, REST API) and found no problems. Supabase is a practical solution, especially for VisionX applications.

The only thing that could be improved is the table editor, because when editing a column, you have to keep the focus on the editor before pressing ENTER to save; otherwise, the original value is saved. However, this might actually be intended

Of course, we could also install it as a web application as usual:

VisionX application

We spent about 60 minutes with Supabase and were able to utilize all features of VisionX fully. The logging features and statistics provided by Supabase are particularly handy.

Our conclusion: VisionX and Supabase are a match!

This update packs a punch, bringing significant upgrades to our Mobile App and Next-Generation Web experience, alongside essential platform refinements, cloud efficiency gains, and key developer fixes.

Whether you are building cross-platform enterprise apps or fine-tuning existing layouts, version 6.6.601 delivers a smoother, faster, and more customizable developer journey.

Here is a breakdown of everything new in VisionX 6.6.601

Mobile App: Advanced Security, Richer UI & Better Customization

The VisionX Mobile experience gets a huge leap forward with security features, expanded UI components, and flexible styling tools.

• On-Device Data Encryption

  Local data is now automatically encrypted prior to storage on the device.

• Biometric & PIN Security (Optional)

  Enable Face ID, Fingerprint, or PIN protection for secure app access.

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

  Native support for MFA workflows straight out of the box.

• Encrypted Data Export (HTML Safe)

  Export encrypted device data directly on the device in a secure format.

• UI Styling

  Extended styling customization across menus, buttons, tables, and form components.

• Brand-new Button Group control
• Brand-new Password strength control
• Foldable group panels
• Modern Tabset component
• Direct access to all FontAwesome and Material Design Icons
• Optional Copy-to-Clipboard button inside text editors
• Optional Show-password button inside password editors
• Image manipulation for image editors
• Contextual visual indicators/markings for empty menus and empty tables
• Display small arrows if more records are available within table views
• Configure image quality and size in settings

Web (Next Generation): Speed, Precision & Smooth Workflows

Our Next-Gen Web platform gets performance enhancements and UI improvements designed for high-data volume applications.

• Sticky Table Headers

  Table headers now stay fixed at the top while scrolling through long rows of data.

• Redesigned Signature Pad

  Rebuilt from the ground up for reliable, smooth digital signature capture across devices.

• Improved Lazy Loading
• Image Choice Editor Fixes

  Resolved display and rendering glitches for images inside image choice editor.

Core Platform & Developer Experience

We have introduced handy quality-of-life enhancements and platform optimizations to speed up daily design workflows.

• Finer Spacing Controls

  Granular horizontal and vertical layout control between labels, editors, and panels.

• Security Protocol (AddOn)

  A dedicated Security protocol is now available as an AddOn for audit-heavy environments.

• Directory Switching

  Switch application directories directly within VisionX without leaving the tool.

• Cloud Footprint Reduction

  Memory optimization reducing RAM consumption for cloud-hosted deployments.

• Localized Module Setup

  Module installations now seamlessly respect system translation tables.

• Streamlined Documentation

  Module documentation is automatically provided directly in the /doc directory.

• External File Change Alerts

  The Action Editor now alerts you immediately if files have been modified externally.

• Mobile Engine Support

  Native support aligned with the latest mobile app builds.

Key Bug Fixes & Stability Improvements

This update addresses critical feedback from our developer community!

• Anchor Positions

  Fixed input issues with anchor positions in the Designer.

• Multi-Module Integration

  Resolved a bug where only one module was integrated in the Designer instead of all selected modules.

• Application Import

  application.xml settings are now properly preserved when importing applications.

• Combobox Column Renaming

  Resolved an issue where Combobox table columns could not be renamed.

• Live Preview Accuracy

  Live Preview now instantly reflects newly created reports and newly added tables in existing screens.

Ready to Upgrade?

VisionX 6.6.601 is available in the download area!

Download the update to take advantage of the new web & mobile components and performance enhancements.

Our mobile app will be available in the stores within the next few weeks!

The version contains our latest libraries and bugfixes, especially react UI and flutter UI features. Both UIs are included in VisionX 6.6.521.

Our (native) app has many new customization features for your individual app experience.

! It's now built with Flutter 3.44.2 !

UI Customizing
No records available
General styling
Style the menu
Tabset
Menu options
Flutter 3.44 support

Our reactUI is based on latest standards and security fixes.

We don't have any known vulnerabilities. Especially the signature pad is important because we rewrote it from scratch.
The table got a small but nice update: The header is now sticky and doesn't scroll with records.

We offer a new WAR modification tool

WAR modification

We have new AddOns

Authentication AddOns
Security Protocol AddOn
Entra ID Integration for VisionX

An EA version is not intended for production use, but is great for development.

The release of VisionX 6.6 is planned for July

Have fun!

Security protocol Add-On

This AddOn adds an additional layer to your application and makes it possible to see login failures, successful logins and logouts, with additional information:

Protocol screen

It's a must-have

Simply get in contact with us!

• Entra ID authentication (with user and group sync)

  The Entra ID authentication uses Azure AD/Entra ID for authentication and synchronizes user and group information from Azure to your application.

  This AddOn supports SLO with your browser.

• AD authentication (with user and group sync)

  The AD authentication uses Kerberos to authenticate against your active directory like Samba or Microsoft AD (Windows Server) and synchronizes user and group information to your application.

  This AddOn supports SSO with your browser.

  This AddOn is a more powerful version of our current AD authentication AddOn which doesn't synchronize user and group information.

• LDAP authentication (with user and group sync)

  This AddOn simply allows manual authentication against your LDAP server. It synchronizes user and group information from LDAP to your application.

All Add-Ons are available separately and can be purchased.
These are not free add-ons.

Simply get in contact with us.

The AddOn integrates seamlessly into your application, giving you the flexibility to choose your preferred login method. The authentication type is determined by the URL you access, for example:

• http://myapp.visionx.cloud/AzureADAuth/ (without Entra ID login)
• http://myapp.visionx.cloud/AzureADAuth/azauth (with Entra ID login)

If Entra ID login is selected, the Entra ID login mask will appear before the application loads:

EntraID login

After a successful login, you will be redirected straight to the application and signed in automatically. All available screens will be visible immediately, based on your specific permissions. During the login process, we automatically sync app roles and user groups from Entra ID to your application.

We support the following web technologies:

• vaadin UI
• react UI
• flutter UI (mobile mode)

On mobile devices, the login process works similarly to the browser, but the login mask is displayed directly within the app:

Entra ID (mobile)

In addition to signing in, you can also change your password or perform a secure logout from Entra ID.

All you need to get started is our Entra ID AddOn.

This release isn't just an update. It's a massive refresh: nearly every library has been upgraded (some because of patched vulnerabilities), and new features unlocked. Even though VisionX apps weren't at risk, we wanted you to have the latest, safest, and most feature-packed version possible.

Bottom line: VisionX 6.5 is stronger, faster, and fresher than ever.

Highlights you will love

Mobile App (VisionX Previewer)

• Speed boost: faster than ever
• Customizable comboboxes: style them your way (see article)
• Deep link and push notifications: build modern apps without worrying about the tech details (read more...)
• Badges for elements and menu: because every great app deserves flair (read here and here)

Next-Gen Web App (React UI)

• Upgraded: React 19 and PrimeReact 10.9
• Compatibility: full dependency refresh
• Keyboard navigation: Tab and Enter work seamlessly in tables, date pickers, and comboboxes
• Performance: tables handle thousands of rows reliably
• Style Designer: revamped to make custom theming effortless

Classic Web App (Vaadin UI)

• Future-proof: compatible with upcoming browser changes (Chrome and beyond)
• Stability: behind-the-scenes work to keep VisionX rock-solid

VisionX Features

• Live preview: VisionX now supports direct preview for the classic and next-gen web app, and remembers your last choice
• Connection pooling: designed for high-traffic apps to reduce database load and boost performance, simple enough for citizen developers
• Morph between 1-tab tabsheet and Group panel seamless

Also available: VisionX Previewer App 3.3.2 in the app stores.

Next stop: VisionX 6.6.

Until then, enjoy the muscle and polish of VisionX 6.5.157
Available now in the customer download area.

We’re currently in the final stages of testing. All our libraries are up to date and free of security issues. We've made extensive updates to our React UI, and our native mobile client has received numerous refinements, including full support for push notifications and deep linking. Background APIs have also been successfully tested with both Apple and Android devices. The native mobile client has been upgraded to the latest versions as well.

At the moment, we're addressing a few visual issues that surfaced during our pre-release testing. These are purely cosmetic and do not affect functionality.

The new VisionX version will include an updated React UI, an enhanced React UI Designer, and the latest native mobile client.

Although the release took longer than expected, it was well worth the effort!

We’ll notify you here once the release is officially available. Thanks for your patience!