Page 151 - DLIS408_INFORMATION_TECHNOLOGY-APPLICATIONSL SCIENCES

Information Technology and Application

Notes Benefits

Web applications do not require any complex “roll out” procedure to deploy in large
organizations. A compatible web browser is all that is needed;
Browser applications typically require little or no disk space on the client;
Companies require no upgrade procedure since all new features are implemented on the
server and automatically delivered to the users;
Web applications integrate easily into other server-side web procedures, such as email and
searching.
Companies also provide cross-platform compatibility in most cases (i.e., Windows, Mac,
Linux, etc.) because they operate within a web browser window.

Drawbacks

In practice, web interfaces, compared to thick clients, typically force significant sacrifice to
user experience and basic usability.
Web applications absolutely require compatible web browsers. If a browser vendor
decides not to implement a certain feature, or abandons a particular platform or operating
system version, this may affect a huge number of users;
Standards compliance is an issue with any non-typical office document creator, which
causes problems when file sharing and collaboration becomes critical;
Browser applications rely on application files accessed on remote servers through the
Internet. Therefore, when connection is interrupted, the application is no longer usable.
However, if it uses HTML5 API’s such as Offline Web application caching, it can be down-
loaded and installed locally, for offline use. Google Gears, although no longer in active
development, is a good example of a third party plug in for web browsers that provides
additional functionality for creating web applications;
Since many web applications are not open source, there is also a loss of flexibility, making
users dependent on third-party servers, not allowing customizations on the software and
preventing users from running applications offline (in most cases). However, if licensed,
proprietary software can be customized and run on the preferred server of the rights owner;
They depend entirely on the availability of the server delivering the application. If a
company goes bankrupt and the server is shut down, the users have little recourse. Tradi-
tional installed software keeps functioning even after the demise of the company that
produced it (though there will be no updates or customer service);
Likewise, the company has much greater control over the software and functionality. They
can roll out new features whenever they wish, even if the users would like to wait until the
bugs have been worked out before upgrading. The option of simply skipping a weak
software version is often not available. The company can foist unwanted features on the
users or cut costs by reducing bandwidth. Of course, companies will try to keep the good
will of their customers, but the users of web applications have fewer options in such cases
unless a competitor steps in and offers a better product and easy migration;
The company can theoretically track anything the users do. This can cause privacy problems.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. A .................... is an application that is accessed over a network such as the internet or an
intranet.
2. In .................... the web application, concept was introduced in the Java language in the
servlet specification version 2.2.
3. In ...................., the term Ajex was coined, and applications like Gmail started to make their
client sides more and more interactive.
4. .................... is the director of the world wide web consortium.

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