Why RIA?

[Former Member]

Hi All,

I need to know why any RIA is needed ?

How does it fit in SAP world?

How does it differ from WD or pdk ,Adobe Interactive forms or any other UI development?

I want to know in terms of performance,ROI etc.

Regards

Akshaya

[GrahamRobbo]

Why don't you start with [Wikipedia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Internet_application] or [Google|http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=richinternetapplications&btnG=Search&meta=]

If you help yourself before starting new forum threads people will be more inclined to help you.

Cheers

Graham Robbo

[Former Member]

RIA is an approach to building applications (not just UI) ... applications that offer a rich experience to the person who is using it. Since its an approach its not tied to any technology.

Here's my definition of RIA from an [old blog post|http://weblog.mrinalwadhwa.com/2008/10/24/what-is-an-ria/]

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What are Rich Internet Applications? .. while there are many definitions on the web, I like to decide if something is an RIA or not based on the following criteria u2026

1. It has to be an Application u2026 something that deals with dynamic data, takes an input and processes it to produce valuable output.

2. Its primary function should be to deal with data that lives on the Internet (or intranets).

3. It should offer a user experience that is Richer than what weu2019ve been used to in the past in a particular environment.

If a piece of software satisfies the above criteria, in my opinion, its an RIA. If you think about these points for a little bit, youu2019ll quickly realize that, even though a fairly new buzzword, is not a new concept u2026. Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Messenger, Gmail etc were all RIAs that came out several years ago. After some more thought, youu2019ll realize that in todayu2019s context majority of applications that we build have something to do with data that lives elsewhere on the network, therefore the dominant factor that defines an RIA is the richness of the experience users have while using it. So if we oversimplify, RIAs are applications built with special attention to user interface and user experience.

Many modern interface development technologies have been labeled as Rich Internet Application Technologies .. these include AJAX, various Javascript libraries and frameworks, modern browsers, Gears, Flex, Flash Player, AIR, Silverlight, JavaFX etc .. while these technologies facilitate building an RIA it does not automatically imply that everything built with them is an RIA u2026 in fact, it is very easy to build a Not So Rich Internet Application with these so called RIA technologies. At the same time, it is important to note that the use of these technologies is not a prerequisite to building an RIA either.

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So now to answer your questions ...

+

>> I need to know why any RIA is needed ?+

RIAs are needed if you care about not only solving a complex business problem .. but also about giving the user of your application a great enjoyable experience while he solves the problem. Why? because an enjoyable experience makes people happy with their work ... happy people .. or people who enjoy their work are more productive .... productivity is money

+

>> How does it fit in SAP world?

+

It fits into the SAP world because ... SAP is used by users .. real people ... and making their life easier creates value ... business value .. be it in the SAP world or elsewhere.

+

>> How does it differ from WD or pdk ,Adobe Interactive forms or any other UI development?+

RIA is an approach .. what you mention above are technologies .. you can use any technology to build an RIA ... Flex/Flash/Silverlight/JavaFx are tecnologies that make it easier to build rich experiences but you do not have to use them to build an RIA

@Graham I disagree with the Wikipedia definition by the way ... see comments of this [blog post|http://weblog.mrinalwadhwa.com/2008/10/24/what-is-an-ria/ ] ... but that doesn't matter as long as people think about a User and how he will feel when he uses an application and choose the best technology to deliver an experience rather than a solution (however complex)

The rest of it is all buzzwords.

Thank you,

Mrinal

[Former Member]

Blag told me the formatting was lost because apparently there is a character limit ... so posting again in two parts to make the text readable .. sorry about the confusion ...

RIA is an approach to building applications (not just UI) ... applications that offer a rich experience to the person who is using it. Since its an approach its not tied to any technology.

Here's my definition of RIA from an [old blog post|http://weblog.mrinalwadhwa.com/2008/10/24/what-is-an-ria/]

-

---

What are Rich Internet Applications? .. while there are many definitions on the web, I like to decide if something is an RIA or not based on the following criteria u2026

1. It has to be an Application u2026 something that deals with dynamic data, takes an input and processes it to produce valuable output.

2. Its primary function should be to deal with data that lives on the Internet (or intranets).

3. It should offer a user experience that is Richer than what weu2019ve been used to in the past in a particular environment.

If a piece of software satisfies the above criteria, in my opinion, its an RIA. If you think about these points for a little bit, youu2019ll quickly realize that, even though a fairly new buzzword, is not a new concept u2026. Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo Messenger, Gmail etc were all RIAs that came out several years ago. After some more thought, youu2019ll realize that in todayu2019s context majority of applications that we build have something to do with data that lives elsewhere on the network, therefore the dominant factor that defines an RIA is the richness of the experience users have while using it. So if we oversimplify, RIAs are applications built with special attention to user interface and user experience.

Many modern interface development technologies have been labeled as Rich Internet Application Technologies .. these include AJAX, various Javascript libraries and frameworks, modern browsers, Gears, Flex, Flash Player, AIR, Silverlight, JavaFX etc .. while these technologies facilitate building an RIA it does not automatically imply that everything built with them is an RIA u2026 in fact, it is very easy to build a Not So Rich Internet Application with these so called RIA technologies. At the same time, it is important to note that the use of these technologies is not a prerequisite to building an RIA either.

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Edited by: Mrinal Wadhwa on May 16, 2009 4:10 PM

[Former Member]

So now to answer your questions..

>> I need to know why any RIA is needed?

RIAs are needed if you care about not only solving a complex business problem .. but also about giving the user of your application a great enjoyable experience while he solves the problem. Why? because an enjoyable experience makes people happy with their work ... happy people .. or people who enjoy their work are more productive .... productivity is money

>> How does it fit in SAP world?

It fits into the SAP world because ... SAP is used by users .. real people ... and making their life easier creates value ... business value .. be it in the SAP world or elsewhere.

>> How does it differ from WD or pdk ,Adobe Interactive forms or any other UI development?

RIA is an approach..what you mention above are technologies..you can use any technology to build an RIA..Flex/Flash/Silverlight etc. are tecnologies that make it easier to build rich experiences but you don't have to use them to build an RIA

@Graham I disagree with the Wikipedia definition by the way..see comments of this [blog post|http://weblog.mrinalwadhwa.com/2008/10/24/what-is-an-ria/ ] ..but that doesn't matter as long as people think about a User and how he will feel when he uses an application and choose the best technology to deliver an experience rather than a solution (however complex)

The rest of it is all buzzwords.

Thank you

Mrinal