Rich Internet Applications (RIA)
What?
Rich Internet applications (RIA) are web applications that have the features and functionality
of traditional desktop applications. RIAs typically form a stateful client application with a
separate services layer on the backend.
Benefits
Although developing applications to run in a web browser is a much more limiting,
difficult and intricate process than developing a regular desktop application, the efforts are
often justified because:
- Smaller installation footprint. The overhead for updating and distributing the application is trivial or significantly reduced compared to a desktop application
- Updates/upgrades to new versions are transparent to the end user.
- Users can use the application from any computer with an internet connection.
- Most RIA technologies allow the user experience to be consistent, regardless of what operating system the client uses.
- Web-based applications are generally less prone to viral infection than running an actual executable
Because RIAs employ a client-side engine to interact with the user, they are, when compared
with "traditional" web applications:
- Richer. They can offer user-interface behaviors not obtainable using only the HTML widgets available to standard browser-based Web applications. This richer functionality may include anything that can be implemented in the technology being used on the client side, including drag and drop, using a slider to change data, calculations performed only by the client and which do not need to be sent back to the server, for example, a mortgage calculator.
- More responsive. The interface behaviors are typically much more responsive than those of a standard Web browser that must always interact with a remote server.
The most sophisticated examples of RIAs exhibit a look and feel approaching that of a desktop
environment. Using a client engine can also produce other performance benefits (Client/Server
balance, asynchronous communication, network efficiency).
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