Saturday, October 11, 2003

Source: Steve Eichert says: Over the course of the last four years I've written a lot of web based applications for clients.  The applications started pretty simplistic and over the years have gotten more and more complex.  The one thing that has stayed the same over the years is the fact that the applications have been browser based.  This past week one of my colleagues posed a question that made me think about how much longer this will be the case.  The question he asked was something like this.... “If you had the option of choosing to create either a web (browser) based application or a smart WinForms client for a custom Intranet application which would you choose?” The first thought I had was to choose web based, but after another split second of thought I changed my mind.  Many of the reasons for sticking with web based applications have been nullified by the web deployment features available in .NET.  Although I haven't begun trying to sell clients on smart client applications I think it might be time to start.  Smart clients can provide users with a richer user interface while still providing many of the benefits of a web based application.  Future versions of the .NET Framework will surely make this even more true.  Is it time to move to smart clients?  I think so! [Steve Eichert] 9:48:39 AM    trackback []     Articulate []