State capture and retrieval for rapid deployment environments

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

• receiving a state capture designation for an element of an application within an application design environment, indicating that the application, once deployed, will include a state capture functionality for capturing a state of the element and a state restoration function for restoring the state of the element;
• persisting, in response to the receiving the state capture designation, the state capture designation for the element within a state capture definition of an application metadata document;
• storing, following deployment of the application within a runtime environment and in response to an invocation of the state capture functionality, a captured state of the element, wherein the state capture designation is made with respect to a state metadata document configured to store state capture content including the captured state;
• receiving a state restoration request for the captured state, received by way of the state restoration functionality and following a re-deployment of the application with an update to the element that was included as part of an update to the application within the application design environment, wherein the update to the element includes a change to an element type of the element from an original element type to an updated element type, and wherein the element and the updated element are included within the application metadata document that is rendered within the runtime environment to provide the application;
• and
• restoring, in response to the receiving the state restoration request, the captured state to the updated element within the runtime environment, wherein restoring the captured state to the updated element comprises translating the captured state from the original element type to the updated element type.

A computer program product, the computer program product being tangibly embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause at least one computing device to at least:

• provide a plurality of selectable elements within an application design environment;
• receive a selection of an element from the plurality of selectable elements for inclusion within an application;
• receive a state capture designation individually designating the element from among the plurality of selectable elements as having a state capture functionality;
• persist, in response to the state capture designation being received, the state capture designation for the element within a state capture definition of an application metadata document;
• deploy the application within a runtime environment, including rendering the element and receiving a state change to a state of the rendered element;
• receive an invocation of the state capture functionality and capture the state of the rendered element, wherein the state capture designation is made with respect to a state metadata document configured to store state capture content including the captured state;
• receive an update to the element within the application design environment, wherein the update to the element includes a change to an element type of the element from an original element type to an updated element type, and wherein the element and the updated element are included within the application metadata document that is rendered within the runtime environment to provide the application;
• re-deploy the application within the runtime environment, including rendering the updated element;
• and
• restore the state of the rendered, updated element using the captured state, wherein to restore the captured state to the updated element, the captured state is translated from the original element type to the updated element type.