Just look at the different varieties of browsers, browser versions,
java
versions, java virtual machines, versions of java virtual machines and
the
massive number of combinations of each.
Different version of browser... Yes. But they are standardizing, and IE
7 goes a long way to help there. As for java versions, JVMs and versions
of the JVM, that's all server side. If you care about a JVM on the
client-side then you're sending down applets, ewwww...
The issue isn't just different versions, either, it's that you have to
support different versions of your application at the same time in a
client-server environment. Let's say you add a column to the customer
table that has to be filled in, in the browser-based solution you update
the code on one machine (the web server) and you're set. In the
client-server world you have to update the code on 100s to 1000s of
machines, can you do that all at the same time? Through what, a code
push? What if a machine was off when you pushed out that update, when it
boots what happens? Is your app setup for auto-update? What if the
auto-update server is down? Plus you had to build/buy that support. Plus
you have issues if you're putting the fat client outside the firewall;
what ports will you open? Are you willing to have them open? Or will you
require a VPN solution? If so, what if your sales guy wants to quickly
use the app from the web kiosk at the airport? (ok, farfetched there,
but you get the point)
Citrix is cool, yes, but it's a band-aid to supporting thick clients
from a thin-client world.
usually looks better and had far less restrictions on its user
interface
than does a java based web application. Usually runs faster too.
What restrictions (that you would care about in a business app) do you
refer to? And a "java based web app"... Again, are you speaking of
applets? As for running faster, that hasn't been my experience. Web apps
allow you to centralize your purchasing power into a few beefy servers
instead of many clients.
-Walden
midrange.com
