AJAX-Design
The browser as we know it is simple and very functional. Because we have been using the same browser layout for more than a decade, we have grown accustomed to using the browsers for our web information. The most basic application for developing a good web based application, HTML, has been used and revamped for so many times so that it could be integrated and could answer the needs for today’s web development.
But I think HTML has reached a point that it cannot possibly go forward. The static pages that can provide RIA today could be all for nothing if we still cling to simple HTML. The stage that has been set by a browser that really leans to HTML greatly affects our RIA development today to almost a certain halt. We may be able to build a good Ajax based application or even forward it with a server-push technology but that’s it. The vulnerabilities and inefficiency will still be there.
There are two ideas are being used today that could help the browser become capable of more than being just an HTML centric application.
The first idea is the addition of layers to the browsers. It is not a plug-in but an additional component that will be injected in the browser to provide a better stage for RIA-type of websites and online applications. Toolkits such as DOJO provide the necessary layers that could be used for providing additional functions.
Essentially, this technique looks like Ajax and it is. Ajax is touted as the next best thing in web development technology. Its popular variety called the server-push or Comet gives even better web experience as it pushes information continuously.
The browser is not able to handle this upfront. An RIA with an HTML is just too slow for better customer experience. On the other hand, the RIA cannot just leave the legacy of HTML as it provides the backbone for a safer and stable online application. JavaScript has taken the experience of providing RIA to a whole new level but since it has security flaws, it needs HTML to cover its steps from hackers.
Another option for the advancement of browser is to completely change the HTML based experience. Online companies have taken up the challenge of providing alternatives to HTML giving the browser a new life.
Microsoft’s Silverlight and Adobe’s FLEX are some of the technologies today that have given users and developers an alternate stage to develop an application. It even gives the developers a chance to build web friendly applications that could be used outside the browser and move on to the desktop experience.
However, the challenge is not on the developer’s side but on the hardware capabilities of users. The hardware prices today are not very encouraging for users to upgrade. But time will tell as better technologies are presented everyday the basic requirement in running these applications increasingly becomes affordable.
The browser experience has to be changed and it is up to Ajax and different RIA technologies to change the browser experience or change them altogether.
