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A special purpose language is used to create logic in a language or using a tool that fits the specific need more appropriately than a general purpose procedural language like Java. This reduces code because it is easier to describe what you want in a context that closely matches the problem that needs to be solved than it is to use a generic language. High level conepts can be expressed without the need to write a lot of code.

Generic Versus Special Purpose User Interfaces

For OFBiz OOTB the point for the generic artifacts (in all tiers of the application) is to be as inclusive as possible. There is one reason for this: it is easier to know something is there and decide you don't want it and then to remove it than it is to not know that it exists and either try to find it or end up implementing it anew.

How do you decide which fields you want on a screen? It depends on the organization, and even more so on the role within the organization.

There is no one answer for all users of OFBiz. There isn't even an answer for everyone in a single organization (unless it is REALLY small).

This has been thought through and the OFBiz framework was designed very specifically to handle this sort of thing. It is relatively easy to create user interfaces that are specific to certain roles within an organization, and that is what OFBiz customization or creation of derivative works or creation of special purpose user interfaces is all about. That's the very definition of it.

Data Layer

The best-practice tool to use in the data layer is the OFBiz Entity Engine. For most applications the Entity Engine will elegantly do the work for 99% of your database interaction needs. In the few cases where the Entity Engine is not sufficient I recommend using custom JDBC code for your queries or other commands. That would be one of the second-best-practices that are sometimes needed.

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