Nest is a Web Application Framework standing on top of the web oriented programming interface (WOPI). It's role is that of standardizing and simplifying the development and the deployment of applications residing on a web server and serving multiple client.
In other words, it's a standardized base platform for the so called S-D-S (server-database-script) applications.
The current release of Nest has full support for its application development model. Vital elements of web based applications as session handling, login management, page routing are all supported and flexible but efficient site-specific expansion hooks are provided.
The number of built-in services (web application modules) is still low, but all essential services plus a number of complex services (that can be used as a template for user designed modules) are provided.
The ORM data model is essential, but effective for simple uses, while it can be diretly bypassed (or better, integrated) with direct database interaction via Falcon DBI modules.
There isn't still any native and integrated support for AJAX, but where necessary it is possible to use third party Javascript libraries (as MooTools or JQuery) to add AJAX features to a Nest based application. Also, a web-server AJAX aware API support is already provided, even if essential.
Nest is conceptually based on the orthogonal concepts of minimal lines per result and minimal override.
Minimal lines per result means that the target of Nest is that of minimizing the amount of live code that must be written to obtain a complete web application. Minimal override means that Nest doesn't "cover" the standards of the system hosting it (Falcon and WOPI), but instead adds new features to it. This means that, although Nest offers powerful features in top of WOPI, all the features of the standard web interface are at disposal of the final implementor. Even if offering an ORM (Object Relational Model), it doesn't prevent the implementor from using raw SQL commands, and even generating its own tables or databases outside Nest support, so to use all the performance-wise features that an abstract model would lose.
Other than the two cardinal concepts, Nest is based on modular design. Nest exposes some components that can be separately configured, integrated or eventually completely reimplemented and overridden at implementor's will, without the need to intervene on the official installation, directly on the target site. The strictly modular design allows for easier code sharing and reuse.