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RIA Opinion: Is "Rich Internet Application" Too Broad a Term?

What do <em>you</em> think an RIA is? Do we need another term?

By Cleve Gibbon
Article Rating:
August 6, 2008 10:15 AM EDT
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 4,031

Cleve Gibbon's "Java Soup" Blog

Which of the following are RIAs: Google Earth, Gmail, Picnik, iTunes? "RIA" is too broad term and trying to stuff all this types of application into that bucket. I think discussing the terms will deliver much more value. What do you think an RIA is? Do we need another term?

What do you think an RIA is? Which of the following are RIAs:

Take a couple of seconds to think about that and then read David Herron’s Thoughts on Rich Internet Applications. Now go back and classify the above applications.

Now think about these new types of web application that can you tear off from the web browser and place on your desktop and for them to continue working. At that point I realised that RIA is too broad term and trying to stuff all this types of application into that bucket is only fuelling the confusion. But do we need another term? I think discussing the terms will deliver much more value.

RIAs are not installed in the traditional sense but are delivered over the Internet, when they may involve a small amount of installation on the desktop. Furthermore, all updates and fixes are delivered over the Internet.

Are there any other characteristics? Who’s gonna kick things off…?

Published August 6, 2008 – Reads 4,031
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More Stories By Cleve Gibbon

Cleve Gibbon has a degree in Computer Science and a PhD in Object-Oriented Design Heuristics. Although he loved lecturing at the University of Nottingham, UK, he left academia to learn more about how to design good commercial software. For ten years he was a Java developer responsible for delivering production-based systems; now, although he still builds Java apps, he merely retains a keen interest in Java and where the community plans to take Java over the next ten years. He blogs here.

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Most Recent Comments
HommeDeJava 08/13/08 05:18:34 PM EDT

There is some evidence that someone came upon this RIA acronym quickly and without a lot of thought.

Sometimes, people rushes to give a name or an acronym to a new concept without giving the question adequate thought.

We should rather be talking about Rich Web Application (RWA) or Rich Webapp. Internet is far more than the HTTP protocol.

Terminology is a science which deals with the terms of a specialist discipline in a systematic manner.