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RIAs
So I’ve been working on a RIA (Rich Internet Application), for some time now. The whole idea behind an RIA is to create an application that runs within browser “plug-in” and thus has more power and capability *on the client* than you get with HTML/Javascript.
There have been all sorts of cool web applications for some time that do lots of cool things *on the server*. The cool kids call these Web 1.0 apps. Web 2.0 apps do cool things on the server and the client. Think Google Maps. You can drag around the map, roll the wheel on your mouse and zoom in and out. Compare this to Mapquest. Each time you click, the page is submitted to the server and then it reloads. Not very fluid. Both get you to the same end, but the Google experience is better.
So creating an RIA is about creating a great user experience. My target plug-in is Flash. It’s out there the most and has been around the longest — and you can create a good user experience with Flash.
In the last 2 months there has been a lot of buzz around RIAs. Microsoft has introduced their plug-in for RIA development — Sliverlight. Sun recently announced theirs, JavaFX. (Although one could say that Sun was in this game at the beginning of the web with Java Applets).
So now we have Adobe, Microsoft and Sun. Three big names, three big players. I think RIAs are the future of software development. I think Adobe has a lead though, because with their tools, you can run on the desktop too.
