Tech Buzz: Web Application

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Technology / Topic : Web Application

In current world, we are directly or indrectly using internet for many things in our daily life. We do use internet for checking weather, news, travel, stock etc..

All our needs are served by applications running on internet. These applications are none other than 'Web Applications'. No wonder web applications have become such a ubiquitous phenomenon.  

 However, due to their highly technical and complex nature, web applications are a widely unknown and a grossly misunderstood fixture in our everyday cyber-life.

Web Application:

From a technical view-point, the web is a highly programmable environment that allows mass customization through the immediate deployment of a large and diverse range of applications, to millions of global users. Two important components of a modern website are flexible web browsers and web applications; both available to all and sundry at no expense.

Web applications are computer programs allowing website visitors to submit and retrieve data to/from a database over the Internet using their preferred web browser. The data is then presented to the user within their browser as information is generated dynamically (in a specific format, e.g. in HTML using CSS) by the web application through a web server.

How do web applications work?
The figure below details the three-layered web application model. The first layer is normally a web browser or the user interface; the second layer is the dynamic content generation technology tool such as Java servlets (JSP) or Active Server Pages (ASP), and the third layer is the database containing content (e.g., news) and customer data (e.g., usernames and passwords, social security numbers and credit card details).

The figure below shows how the initial request is triggered by the user through the browser over the Internet to the web application server. The web application accesses the databases servers to perform the requested task updating and retrieving the information lying within the database. The web application then presents the information to the user through the browser.

Benefits

• Browser applications typically require little or no disk space on the client, upgrade automatically with new features, integrate easily into other server-side web procedures, such as email and searching.
  
• They also provide cross-platform compatibility in most cases (i.e., Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) because they operate within a web browser window.

Drawbacks

• Standards compliance is an issue with any non-typical office document creator, which causes problems when file sharing and collaboration becomes critical.
  
• Browser applications rely on application files accessed on remote servers through the Internet. Therefore, when connection is interrupted, the application is no longer usable. 
  
• Since many web applications are not open source, there is also a loss of flexibility, not allowing customizations of software, preventing users from running applications offline (in many cases), and making users dependent on third-party servers.

Regards, 
Suman  G

Tech Buzz : Rich Internet Application

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Rich Internet Applications

Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are web applications that have many of the characteristics of desktop applications, typically delivered either by way of a site-specific browser, via a browser plug-in, or independently sandboxes or virtual machines. RIAs generally split the processing across the Internet/network divide by locating the user interface and related activity and capability on the client side, and the data manipulation and operation on the application server side.

Adobe Flash, Java, and Microsoft Silverlight are currently the three most common platforms.

Users generally need to install a software framework using the computer's operating system before launching the application, which typically downloads, updates, verifies and executes the RIA. This is the main differentiator from JavaScript-based alternatives like Ajax which use built-in browser functionality to implement comparable interfaces. While some consider such interfaces to be RIAs, some consider them competitors to RIAs and others, including Gartner, treat them as similar but separate technologies.

Why RIA?

• Users are dissatisfied with the capabilities and performance of simple HTML-based Web applications
  
• Need for desktop type interactions
  
• Bringing Interactivity & Intuitiveness Into Web Applications
  
• Adds complexity to design, develop, deploy and debug

Benefits of RIA

• Features that WOW the users
  
• Lot of processing can be off-loaded to the client
  
• Adoption spreads rapidly and dramatically
  
• Improved responsiveness and  platform independence
  
• Businesses have more reach to their offerings through Rich web applications.
  
• Deployments costs are minimal

Here are the statistics on RIA,

Examples

Checkout these sites which exhibits the features of RIA.

The Broadmoor   Make hotel reservations and see results immediately.

MINI USA  Design your own Mini and send it to the dealer. Nike Running  Log and see your training progress, and find the right shoes. E*TRADE Get fast stock quotes with no page reloads. Enter a ticker symbol in the Quotes module on the top right. New York Stock Exchange Experience market activity on the NYSE virtual trading floor. JENN-AIR Design your own refrigerator. FootJoy Find the right golf product to fit your needs. Dai Nippon Search for the right printer ribbon. Yankee Candle Quickly create a custom candle. Camera Finder Demo Find the perfect digital camera in seconds.

Regards,

Suman G