Design, Distribution, Cost
Rich Internet applications use a Rich Client deployment model (deployment of a compiled client application through a browser) rather than a thin-client-server model (where the user's view is largely controlled from the server).
Flash, Silverlight and Java are application platforms accessed by the user's web browser as plug-ins. These application platforms limit the amount of data downloaded during initialization to only what is necessary to display the page. The browser plug-in is only downloaded once, and does not need to be re-downloaded every time the page is displayed; this reduces application load time, bandwidth requirements, and server load.
Proponents of RIAs assert that the cost of RIA development and O&M is typically lower than that of HTML-based alternatives due to increased developer productivity and standardized, backwards compatible nature of the application platform runtime environments. A 2010 study conducted by International Data Corporation demonstrated an average savings of approximately $450,000 per application in the case of Flash platform development (in conjunction with use of the open source Flex SDK), a 39% reduction in cost over a three-year period.
Read more about this topic: Rich Internet Applications
Famous quotes containing the word cost:
“Now that is the wisdom of a man, in every instance of his labor, to hitch his wagon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods themselves. That is the way we are strong, by borrowing the might of the elements. The forces of steam, gravity, galvanism, light, magnets, wind, fire, serve us day by day and cost us nothing.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)