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The Convergence of Desktop, Web and Mobile Clients

Web development experts have consensus on one thing: Future applications will merge the idea of Web or mobile software. But the implications aren't quite as obvious.

By Esther Schindler

November 30, 2007 — CIO — Everyone (probably including you) expects applications to become less identifiable as "Web" applications versus desktop or mobile apps, especially as Internet access becomes ubiquitous. "In one sense," says David Temkin, CTO of Laszlo Systems, "Web development is dead. Application development and Web development are all the same thing. It's all the same continuum."

Today, developers are conscious of the platform differences, particularly as Ajax apps work to emulate desktop apps. It won't stay that way. Jochen Krause, CEO of Innoopract (the company behind Eclipse RAP), says, "Two years from now, the difference between 'rich Internet' and 'desktop apps' will further diminish."

Users don't care about the semantic distinction, he asserts. They just want software that's simple to use.

No surprise so far. But the melding of platforms, say visionaries at these development tool companies, changes long-held realities about client-server computing, IT infrastructure and the encroachment of mobile computing. These will have several nontrivial consequences in how software is developed and used.

Separating Client and Server

Client/server technology has a long history, but new Web and Internet features may create new tension in the protocols and in application design. Traditional client/server development required the client to ask for information. But Alex Russell, project lead for the Dojo Toolkit, expects to see servers tell other system components about new information ("Look, someone did something for you!"); once, he points out, we called this Push. It's the other half of Ajax, he says, and part of a trend toward collaboration. (For more on the future of collaboration, see "The Immersive, Cinematic Application: Improving the User Experience".) "We're seeing that just starting to take off," adds Russell. "The complexity of doing it is rapidly plummeting; that's good."

What's the right separation between client and server? According to Russell, IT and development departments must offload application load without going offline, and determine how much of the computation work and the data should live on the client side. "These questions are forced," he says, and existing toolkits aren't helping. "The worlds have to replicate each other or talk to each other through a common sublanguage," says Russell.

How the data will flow to and fro is absolutely critical, says Bob Brewin, Sun's chief technology officer for software. Applications can spend too much time in the request response paradigm, he says.

 

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