Rich Internet applications

Figure 1. The RIA ecosystem

In the early days of Internet computing, application interfaces were mostly text based and the main development challenges centered on handling the volume of data traffic and diversity of services. Advances in SOA helped pave the way for new software delivery models over the web. The need for providing better user experiences became amplified with software as a service (SaaS) becoming a mainstream, proven methodology for delivering complex software products. RIAs provide that improved user experience by combining the reach of the web with rich, interactive user interfaces. Rich refers to the ability to incorporate client side interactivity and intuitive user interfaces resulting in engaging experiences, whereas reach is the ability to make an application available to almost anyone, anywhere. Technology advancements along with concepts such as social networks are fueling many of the so called “Web 2.0” applications in which data, exposed through services, is considered to be the central element. In RIAs, local computing power is used for rendering user interfaces, integrating video and animations, or even offline data analysis.
RIA platform expectations

An RIA platform is an integrated set of technologies meant for designers, developers, and consumers that provides everything needed to create and deliver compelling applications (see Figure 1). The following are the key expectations of an RIA platform:

* Ubiquitous client runtimes—Runtimes reside on PCs, mobile devices, and (increasingly) consumer electronics to fulfill the goal of universal reach.
* Write once run everywhere consistency—Given that browser and device fragmentation is expected to deepen, the client runtime should work across platforms, and browsers, and it should provide consistent experiences across devices.
* Designer-developer workflows—Design is a key element for creating engaging experiences and designers need to collaborate with developers.
* Heterogeneous data access—RIAs typically access data in disparate formats such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and XML from a variety of services such as RESTful services and web services. The RIA platform should enable this.
* Developer productivity—Shortening time to market is a big competitive advantage. Developers can help an organization seize this advantage with productivity enhancing tools and easy to learn and easy to maintain languages.
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Data synchronization, data management, and on-demand data access—For RIAs that must operate when disconnected, these capabilities are essential.



Challenges in building data-centric RIAs

Because organizations have already invested in building service-oriented architectures, one of the key challenges that RIA developers face is the need to integrate with existing server-side technologies such as J2EE, ColdFusion, PHP, or web services. To this end, they need to be able to work in a seamless way with both client and server code within an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Further, the IDE should provide design time facilities that abstract diverse services and data formats by using technology-agnostic representation of the service operations and data.

XML and JSON are less efficient for exchanging large volumes of data. As a result developers often use binary formats such as Action Message Format (AMF) for such situations. Services that are exposed over AMF can be developed in different languages, including object-oriented (Java) and script-oriented (PHP) languages. RIA developers need a uniform way of working with these AMF services, similar to how Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) has provided a uniform way of working with various web services. There is also a need for the IDE to help the RIA developer author user interfaces by leveraging technology-agnostic data representations to help boost developer productivity.