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Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are web applications that have most of the characteristics of desktop applications, typically delivered by way of standards based web browser plug-ins or independently via sandboxes or virtual machines. Examples of RIA frameworks include Curl, Adobe Flash/Adobe Flex/AIR, Java/JavaFX, uniPaaS and Microsoft Silverlight.

The term was introduced in March 2002 by vendors like Macromedia who were addressing limitations at the time in the "richness of the application interfaces, media and content, and the overall sophistication of the solutions" by introducing proprietary extensions.

As web standards (such as HTML 5) have developed and web browsers' compliance has improved there is less need for such extensions, and Javascript compilers with their associated desktop-like widget sets reduce the need for browser extensions even further. HTML 5 delivers a pseudo-application platform.

It is still not possible to build RIA-like Web applications that run in all modern browsers without the need of special run-times or plug-ins. This means that if one could run a modern Ajax-based Web application outside of a web browser (e.g. using Mozilla Prism or Fluid) it would essentially be an RIA, though there is some contention as to whether this is actually the case.

Deployment

With a few but growing number of exceptions (most notably YouTube which currently relies on Adobe Flash for video playback) the vast majority of the most popular web sites are native web applications. Despite this, every major site makes use of RIA frameworks such as JavaScript/JavaFX and Adobe Flash. With Adobe Flash having a 98% or more market penetration in mature markets, it is actually more standard than any of the web browsers in existence. Adobe Flash runs on more platforms and more devices and can run outside of the web browser environment, thus making it the only truly universal web standard and the ideal deployment environment for Rich Internet Applications. Online gaming is one area where RIAs are prevalent. Applications (such as Dimdim) which require access to video capture also tend to use RIAs (with the notable exception of Gmail which uses its own task-specific browser plug-in).

Key characteristics

• Accessibility Adobe Flash is an RIA framework that is universally searchable.
• Advanced communications with supporting servers can improve the user experience, for example by using optimised network protocols, asynchronous I/O and pre-fetching data (eg Google Maps). Accordingly, reliable broadband connections are often required.
• Complexity of advanced solutions can make them more difficult to design, develop, deploy and debug than traditional web applications (but typically less so than application software).
• Consistency of user interface and experience can be controlled across operating systems. Performance monitoring and fault diagnosis can be particularly difficult.
• Installation and Maintenance of plug-ins, sandboxes or virtual machines is required (but applications are smaller than their predecessors and updates are typically automated). Installation is typically faster than that of application software but slower than that of native web applications and automation may not be possible.
• Offline use may be supported by retaining state locally on the client machine, but developments in web standards (prototyped in Google Gears) have also enabled this for native web applications.
• Security can improve over that of application software (for example through use of sandboxes and automatic updates) but the extensions themselves are subject to vulnerabilities and access possible is often much greater than that of native web applications.
• Performance can improve depending on the application and network characteristics. In particular, applications which can avoid the latency of round-trips to the server by processing locally on the client are often a lot faster. Offloading work to the clients can also improve server performance. Conversely the resource requirements can be prohibitive for small, embedded and mobile devices.
• Richness by way of features not supported natively by the web browser such as video capture (eg Adobe Flash).
• Standards Flash revolutionized delivery of video content on the web, dethroning such stalwarts as Media Player and Quicktime.

Frameworks

An appropriate Rich Internet application framework is usually required to run an RIA, and needs to be installed using the computer's operating system before launching the application. The software framework is typically responsible for downloading, updating, verifying and executing the RIA.

Rich Internet Clients

Rich Internet Clients (RIC) are rich client applications which install from and run well over the Internet. They combine the rich user experience of the classic rich client with the reach (the ability to run from any computer, anywhere) of a web client, while overcoming many of the disadvantages of both technologies.

Traditional rich clients often require a Virtual Private Network, Citrix hosting some or other such infrastructure to be securely accessed outside of a company's local intranet. Traditional rich clients also typically need to be manually upgraded by the end user. Rich Internet Clients are not constrained by these limitations, and are thus capable of taking on many of the roles traditionally reserved for web applications.

A Rich Internet Client is normally characterized by the following features:

• Web-Based Deployment and Installation
• Ability to run securely over the open Internet without requiring any additional infrastructure
• Ability to run on multiple operating systems (At least Windows, Macintosh & Linux)
• Fully automated software upgrades

References

1. ^ RIA War Is Brewing
2. A Convergence of User Interface Paradigms of Web and Desktop
3. Software CEO, Develop faster and cheaper, from client/server to RIA to mobile to SaaS
4. Which Rich Internet Application (RIA) Technology Will Lead The Pack
5. Macromedia March 2002 requirements for Rich Internet Applications
6. Mozilla Prism Apps aren’t RIAs
7. http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html
8. Gmail Voice and Video Chat
9. Once Nearly Invisible To Search Engines, Flash Files Can Now Be Found And Indexed
10. Living in the RIA World: Blurring the Line Between Web and Desktop Security, 2008
11. Laszlo: An Open Source Framework for Rich Internet Applications

External links

• The W3C Rich Web Clients Activity

• Web 2.0
• Software architecture
• Cloud computing
• Rich Internet applications