TL;DR: Launch Docker image or create new TopLogic app with Maven.

The TopLogic engine is a development tool for web applications. TopLogic supports a model-based no-code approach in combination with in-app development. This means that application development starts with the installation of the engine. Built-in modeling tools are used to create the application models, configurations and interfaces according to the WYSIWYG principle and an executable application is immediately available. For simple applications, this can save the build-deploy cycle altogether.

However, TopLogic is so flexible that you are not locked into either the no-code approach or in-app development, but can switch to full-stack development later if needed without losing or duplicating work results. TopLogic's openness means that the engine can be extended almost at will to implement any special requirement. A classic process model with source repository, version control, build, testing, continuous integration and deploy is also seamlessly supported. If you start the engine in development mode, you have the option of exporting models and configurations generated in-app to the development environment and transferring them from there to the source repository and the build process.

Depending on the use case, there are different ways to install the TopLogic engine, or to integrate it into the application development.

Try TopLogic locally on my computer

The easiest way to try TopLogic locally on any machine (see recommended system requirements) is to run a pre-configured variant as a Docker image. No developer tools are required for this, but the following limitations must be accepted:

• Only in-app development
• No transfer of work results to a development environment possible

Instructions on how to use TopLogic in this way can be found in Launching pre-configured TopLogic as a Docker image.
However, it is of course also possible to run a TopLogic development project locally without deploying it in a web container (see next paragraph).

Install TopLogic productively for pure in-app development.

No build process is required for this. A pre-configured TopLogic can be installed directly and an application can be developed using in-app editors. Since all configuration steps are performed directly in the running production application, this approach is particularly suitable for

• small applications with a manageable number of users
• Replacing an Excel sheet with a professional web application

There are 2 ways to run a pre-configured TopLogic in a web container / on a web server:

a) Install pre-configured TopLogic as a Debian package.

b) Install pre-configured TopLogic via Cloud-Init.

Starting a development project with TopLogic

Creating a new application based on TopLogic offers the most possibilities, but requires some developer know-how:

• Checking work products into source repository.
• Collaborate with multiple developers via a version control system (e.g. Git).
• Test, build, deploy via a continuous integration system (e.g. Jenkins).
• Decoupling of development, test, and production systems.
• Integrate function extensions via code in development environment (e.g. Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, ...)
• Deployment as Debian package (deb), Docker image(e.g. in Kubernetes) or as WAR in own application container (e.g. Apache Tomcat, IBM WebSphere, ...).

This way is described in Creating a new TopLogic app with Maven.