Rich Internet application

A rich Internet application (RIA) is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered by way of a site-specific browser, a browser plug-in, an independent sandbox, extensive use of JavaScript, or a virtual machine.^[1] Adobe Flash, JavaFX, and Microsoft Silverlight are currently the three most common platforms, with desktop browser penetration rates around 96%, 76%, and 66%, respectively (as of August 2011).^[2] Google trends shows (as of September 2012) that plug-ins based frameworks are in the process of being replaced by HTML5/JavaScript based alternatives.^[3][4]

Users generally need to install a software framework using the computer's operating system before launching the application, which typically downloads, updates, verifies and executes the RIA.^[5] This is the main differentiator from HTML5/JavaScript-based alternatives like Ajax that use built-in browser functionality to implement comparable interfaces. As can be seen on the List of rich Internet application frameworks which includes even server-side frameworks, while some consider such interfaces to be RIAs, some consider them competitors to RIAs; and others, including Gartner, treat them as similar but separate technologies.^[6]

RIAs dominate in browser based gaming as well as applications that require access to video capture (with the notable exception of Gmail, which uses its own task-specific browser plug-in).^[7] Web standards such as HTML5 have developed and the compliance of Web browsers with those standards has improved somewhat. However, the need for plug-in based RIAs for accessing video capture and distribution has not diminished,^[8] even with the emergence of HTML5 and JavaScript-based desktop-like widget sets that provide alternative solutions for mobile Web browsing.

Plug-ins

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash manipulates vector and raster graphics to provide animation of text, drawings, and still images. It supports bidirectional streaming of audio and video, and it can capture user input via mouse, keyboard, microphone, and camera. Flash contains an object-oriented language called ActionScript and supports automation via the JavaScript Flash language (JSFL). Flash content may be displayed on various computer systems and devices, using Adobe Flash Player, which is available free of charge for common web browsers, some mobile phones and a few other electronic devices (using Flash Lite).

Apache Flex, formerly Adobe Flex, is a software development kit (SDK) for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform. Initially developed by Macromedia and then acquired by Adobe Systems, Flex was donated by Adobe to the Apache Software Foundation in 2011.

Java

Java applets are used to create interactive visualizations and to present video, three dimensional objects and other media. Java applets are more appropriate for complex visualizations that require significant programming effort in high level language or communications between applet and originating server.

JavaFX

JavaFX is a software platform for creating and delivering rich Internet applications (RIAs) that can run across a wide variety of connected devices. The current release (JavaFX 2.2, August 2012) enables building applications for desktop, browser and mobile phones. TV set-top boxes, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players and other platforms are planned. Java FX runs as plug-in Java Applet or via Webstart.

Microsoft Silverlight

In recent years, Microsoft Silverlight has emerged as a potential competitor to Flash^{[citation needed]}. While not yet as prevalent on websites as Flash, Silverlight has been used to provide video streaming for many high profile events, including the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing,^[9] the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver,^[10] and the 2008 conventions for both major political parties in the United States.^[11] Silverlight is also used by Netflix for its instant video streaming service.^[12]

HTML5/JavaScript

GWT

Google Web Toolkit is an open source set of tools that allows web developers to create and maintain complex JavaScript front-end applications in Java. Other than a few native libraries, everything is Java source that can be built on any supported platform with the included GWT Ant build files. It is licensed under the Apache License version 2.0.

ExtJS

ExtJS is a pure JavaScript application framework for building interactive web applications^[13] using techniques such as Ajax, DHTML and DOM scripting.

Vaadin

Vaadin is an open source Web application framework for rich Internet applications. In contrast to JavaScript libraries and browser-plugin based solutions, it features a server-side architecture, which means that the majority of the logic runs on the servers. Ajax technology is used at the browser-side to ensure a rich and interactive user experience. The client-side portion of Vaadin is built on top of, and can be extended with, Google Web Toolkit.

History

The term "rich Internet application" was introduced in a white paper of March 2002 by Macromedia (now merged into Adobe),^[14] though the concept had existed for a number of years earlier under names such as:

• Remote Scripting, by Microsoft, c. 1999
• X Internet, by Forrester Research in October 2000^{[citation needed]}
• Rich (Web) clients^{[citation needed]}
• Rich Web application^{[citation needed]}

Design, distribution, cost

Rich Internet applications use a Rich Client deployment model (deployment of a compiled client application through a browser) rather than a thin-client-server model (where the user's view is largely controlled from the server).

Flash, Silverlight and Java are application platforms accessed by the user's web browser as plug-ins. These application platforms limit the amount of data downloaded during initialization to only what is necessary to display the page. The browser plug-in is only downloaded once, and does not need to be re-downloaded every time the page is displayed; this reduces application load time, bandwidth requirements, and server load.

Proponents of RIAs assert that the cost of RIA development and O&M is typically lower than that of HTML-based alternatives due to increased developer productivity and standardized, backwards compatible nature of the application platform runtime environments. A 2010 study conducted by International Data Corporation demonstrated an average savings of approximately $450,000 per application in the case of Flash platform development (in conjunction with use of the open source Flex SDK), a 39% reduction in cost over a three-year period.^[15]

Characteristics

RIAs present indexing challenges to Web search engines, but Adobe Flash content is now at least partially indexable.^[16]

Security can improve over that of application software (for example through use of sandboxes and automatic updates), but the extensions themselves remain subject to vulnerabilities and access is often much greater than that of native Web applications. For security purposes, most RIAs run their client portions within a special isolated area of the client desktop called a sandbox. The sandbox limits visibility and access to the file-system and to the operating system on the client to the application server on the other side of the connection. This approach allows the client system to handle local activities, calculations, reformatting and so forth, thereby lowering the amount and frequency of client-server traffic, especially versus client-server implementations built around so-called thin clients.^[17]

New trends

In November 2011, there were a number of announcements that demonstrated a decline in demand for rich internet application architectures based on plug-ins in order to favor HTML5 alternatives. Adobe announced that Flash would no longer be produced for mobile^[18] or TV^[19] (refocusing its efforts on Adobe AIR). Pundits questioned its continued relevance even on the desktop^[20] and described it as "the beginning of the end".^[21] RIM announced that it would continue to develop Flash for the PlayBook, a decision which has been described as "RIM's worst decision to date".^[22] Rumors state that Microsoft is to abandon Silverlight after version 5 is released.^[23] The combination of these announcements had some proclaiming it "the end of the line for browser plug-ins".^[24]

See also

• HTML5
• List of rich Internet application frameworks
• PIGUI

References

• More on Swiffy (external link)
• Gordon (external link)
• Smoke Screen you (external link)

External links

• Accessible rich Internet applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 - W3C Candidate Recommendation 18 January 2011
• Rich Web Client Activity Statement, W3C