Rich Internet Applications (RIA)

On my last web application project, we realized the JSP/JSF presentation layer we implemented was not cutting it anymore. Transitions between pages were too slow, users wanted more dynamic feedback and drag and drop functionality.

The project was put on indefinite hold shortly after that but I wanted to talk about some of the technologies I researched to address these problems.

AJAX

Ajax seems like the mainstream choice. While AJAX could help address the transition time and feedback issues, I don’t believe it could help add drag and drop.

What worries me about AJAX stems from my experience with CSS. Even though CSS is a web standard, some browsers still implement CSS differently. I’ve had to place hacks into my CSS to account for these inconsistencies. It is a pain. Like CSS, web browsers could implement AJAX (XMLHttpRequest) functionality slightly differently. For me, I’d rather stay away from AJAX if at all possible.

Adobe Flex

I first noticed the power of Flash in dynamic web applications (Flex) during the Lost TV show’s alternate reality game (Summer 2006). The game creators introduced a series of mock web sites running Flash. Page transitions were beautiful; AJAX like functionality was built in, as was drag and drop. Since Flash is installed on almost every web browser, cross browser compatibility goes away. Adobe also offers a service called Flex Data Services to provide quick access to data stores. The demo I saw was very impressive. I really like what I’ve seen from this technology.

JavaFX

JavaFX is fairly new and I don’t know too much about it.I believe it is Sun’s answer to Flex. I’ve seen some demos and I’m excited to learn more.

Silverlight

Silverlight is Microsoft’s entry into the RIA development space. I program mostly in Java and don’t have much experience with .Net. I just wanted to mention that this is out there.

Discussion

Which of these technologies are you most excited about? Are you using any of them now? What has your experience been?

More Info

Rich Internet Application (Wikipedia)

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