Developing Rich Internet Applications

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Developing Rich Internet Applications
Richard Monson-Haefel
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Developing Rich Internet Applications

• Agenda
• What are Rich Internet Applications
• What RIA options are available
• Comparing RIA Solutions

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Developing Rich Internet Applications

• Agenda
• What are Rich Internet Applications
• What RIA options are available
• Comparing RIA Solutions

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What are Rich Internet Applications

• Defining RIA
• Any web browser technology that provides more
  sophisticated user-interface capabilities than
  HTML and CSS alone
• A web browser technology that communicates with
  backend services

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What are Rich Internet Applications
Server Application
Web Browser
Internet
Get Data
Build Interface
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What are Rich Internet Applications
Server Application
Web Browser
Internet
Get Data
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What are Rich Internet Applications
Server Application
Web Browser

• Java EE
• Microsoft .NET
• LAMP
• Other

• Microsoft IE
• Mozilla FireFox
• Apple Safari
• Other

request
Internet
response
Rich Internet Application

• Ajax (Dojo, GWT, Prototype, etc.)
• Adobe Flex
• Curl
• Microsoft Silverlight

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What are Rich Internet Applications

• RIA
• Good portability
• Good reach
• Single-source medium-weight distribution
• Centralized Managment
• Stateless/stateful paradigm
• Distributed Processing
• Sophisticated UI
• Becoming Mainstream

• HTML/HTTP
• Excellent portability
• Unprecedented Reach
• Single-source light-weight distribution dbdfgdfg
• Centralized management
• Stateless paradigm
• Most processing done on server
• Retro Green Screen user experience
• Broad Adoption

• Client/Server
• Tight coupling
• Limited Reach
• Multi-channel heavy-weight distribution
• Fragmented management
• Stateful paradigm
• Distributed Processing
• Very Sophisticated UI
• Limited Adoption

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Developing Rich Internet Applications

• Agenda
• What are Rich Internet Applications
• What RIA options are available
• Comparing RIA Solutions

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What RIA options are available

• Adobe Flash
• Ajax
• Curl
• Java applets
• Microsoft Silverlight
• Mozilla XUL

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What RIA options are available

• Flex
• Second most popular RIA solution
• Based on Flash player nearly ubiquitous
• 99 of all web browsers support flash 6 and above
• gt 94 now support Flash 9.0
• Principle value proposition
• Extremely rich multi-media capabilities
• Excellent Tooling (especially Flex)
• The Box problem

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What RIA options are available
Adobe Flex
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What RIA options are available
Adobe Flex
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What RIA options are available
Adobe Flex
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What RIA options are available

• Ajax
• Currently the most popular RIA solution
• Built on Web Browser Standards
• ECMAScript/JavaScript
• DOM
• CSS
• XMLHttpRequest API
• Principle value proposition
• Seamless integration with HTML
• Over 240 Ajax toolkits to choose from
• Prototype 51.7
• Script.aculo.us 38.6
• Dojo 18.4
• Tooling needs improvement
• Reach is not as extensive as Flash or Java
• Browser incompatibilities remains a problem.

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What RIA options are available
Ajax
2
A DIALOG BOX POPS UP SHOWING MARKET DATA ON THE
STOCK
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What RIA options are available
Ajax
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What RIA options are available
Ajax
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What RIA options are available

• Curl
• Created at MIT in 1995
• A markup, object-oriented, dynamic language
• Excellent Curl IDE
• Off-line/on-line Curl RTE
• Principle value proposition
• Fastest RIA solution available today
• Handles 100,000 records
• The Box problem

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What RIA options are available

• Java-applet based
• Third most popular RIA solution
• Based on Java plug-in
• gt 93 of all web browsers support Java
• Principle value proposition
• Huge ecosystem and developer community (4
  million)
• Extensive penetration into mobile devices
• Three competitors
• Nexaweb
• Sun Microsystems JavaFX Script
• Excellent Tooling
• The Box problem

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What RIA options are available
Java
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What RIA options are available

• Java-applet Example

Java
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What RIA options are available

• Microsoft Silverlight
• Just released version 1.0
• Based on a Microsoft plug-in
• Supported on the following browsers
• Safari
• Mozilla
• FireFox
• IE
• Principle value proposition
• Large Microsoft developer community
• Rich multi-media capabilities promised
• Microsoft is the only Vendor
• Excellent Tooling
• Excellent integration with Windows operating
  system and WPF
• The Box problem

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What RIA options are available

• Microsoft Silverlight Example

Microsoft Silverlight
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What RIA options are available

• W3C/Mozilla
• W3C Non-Pervasive standards
• XForms Forms-centric RIA format is XML
• SVG 2D Vector Graphics format is XML
• W3C Pervasive Standards
• CSS Style of presentation format is XML
• XHTML HTML normalized to XML
• XMLHttpRequestObject (currently in development)
• Mozilla open source project
• Frequently implements W3C standards
• Defines its own XUL RIA technology which is not
  portable to other browsers

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What RIA options are available
Mozilla XUL
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Developing Rich Internet Applications

• Agenda
• What are Rich Internet Applications
• What RIA options are available
• Comparing RIA Solutions

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Comparing RIA Solutions

• Each project will determine requirements, some of
  which may universal other of which are project
  specific.
• Identify Capabilities
• Reach
• Off-line Capabilities
• High-Level Tooling
• Performance
• HTML Integration
• Web Accessibility
• Etc.

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Comparing RIA Solutions
RIA Platform
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Ajax
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Curl
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Microsoft Silverlight
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Retail Store
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Tax Filing
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Product Configuration
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Trading Application
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
Ajax
Microsoft Silverlight
Curl
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
Ajax
Retail Store
Microsoft Silverlight
Curl
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
Ajax
Tax Filing
Microsoft Silverlight
Curl
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
Product Configuration
Ajax
Microsoft Silverlight
Curl
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Comparing RIA Solutions
Adobe Flex
Ajax
Trading Application
Microsoft Silverlight
Curl