Universal application platform

Question

Here is an ordinary day in the IT department of a big company. Boss says: �Hey, Jack, we have a new application. Is written in PowerBuilder and is has to be installed on all our 300 workstations !�. �Great, says Jack. Another pain in the ass. Last month was a Java Swing application, three months ago was a Visual Basic� And I have to do all the work. Damn, I think I am gonna switch to a taxi driver job !�.
Swell, isn�t it ? Well, there are a few techniques to improve the installation procedure of a classic two tier application, but why not solve the problem from it�s root ? �Hey, Jack, we have the solution !�, we say to poor Jack. �Ah, yes, I know, web applications of course. Workstations only have to have a browser. But man, they are so clumsy ! They are slow and not easy to develop. And it�s stupid to use internet technologies inside a LAN. And the users always complain about graphical interface. And you know how it is when end users complain about graphical interface !�, says Jack, showing his teeth.
We smile condescendingly. We have a better solution.
Why not have them all ? Why not combine the best parts from both worlds ? This is what we propose now: a Universal Applications Platform. It is a �thing� that will allow LAN applications to be installed on a sever and to be accessed from a sort of browser, just like web applications, but the speed will be just like in 2-tier applications. And they will be easy to develop, with a RAD IDE. And the beauty of the interface will make women cry.
Now seriously. Here is the idea: in a web application, we have a data server which holds data, an application server which performs business computation and a web server which presents the data to its client � the web browser. This is good for an internet application, no doubt about it. But�
There are not many organizations who run web applications, compared to those which have classic 2-tier applications running. The need for this kind of applications was and will continue to be HUGE !
     That is why we think it worth to develop a cool mechanism for LAN applications. It will be similar to normal browser-HTTP-web server mechanism, only the browser will be more cool, the protocol will be heavier (since data will not have to swim across the Internet ocean), faster and more powerful in order to achieve the performance of a 2-tier system. Instead of a web server there will be a �presentation server�, which will generate the �view� part (as in MVC pattern) and will deliver it to its cool browser.
Now let�s put all the pieces together. We have:
-     a data layer which, by the way, would be nice to be obiectual instead of relational;
-     a business layer;
-     a presentation layer: this would be one of the four parts of our cool mechanism;
-     a connection & deliver manager � the second part of our cool mechanism;
-     a cool protocol for local area network communication - the third part of our cool mechanism;
-     a cool �browser� used to access the applications on the server: the final piece.
The presentation layer: this layer will generate the visual format of the data to be displayed to the end user. This layer will have to overcome the limitations of the HTML/CSS/JavaScript/AJAX and to provide a native-like interface and joy of living to end-users.
The connection & delivery manager: this will be something like a web server. It will manage connections and will deliver the requested content to each client.
The protocol for local area network communication: this will not be stateless like HTTP, it will be specially designed for LAN communication, for easy development and also for the performance needed by enterprise class applications. The communication could also be done by messages like in the old PeopleSoft architecture.
The �Browser�, or maybe is better to call it �executer�: this will be platform dependent. It will receive from the presentation layer a �description� of the page to be displayed and will build/render the page based on the underlying operating system capabilities. That description will contain both the structure of the page and the data.
The four layers - data, business, presentation layers and the connection manager - may be part of the same server program if best performance is desired, or they can be different programs, as they are now in web applications. The business layer could be represented by a stored procedures engine inside the data server, or it can be a regular J2EE server. The cool browser can be a regular browser updated to support the new cool protocol, but it better be totally new.
Of course this new devices will have to be widely accepted and become a de-facto industry standard, otherwise the goal of Universal Platform will not be achieved.
A few words about terminal software solution. We do not like this solution because this software is complicated and the network traffic increases unacceptably. And a word about applets: it is not a bad idea, still there is place for serious improvement. And Flash ? Not bad.
This was my idea. I hope you like it. If not, let forgotness lay above it�

Answer 1

you must use twitter for promoting such pages with the community