Web Applications VS. Desktop Applications

[freshOne]

if u worked on both,
which do u think is easier?
which is more challenging?
how do u describe working on both? wht's the difference??

[rangana]

How do you describe desktop from Web Applications by the way ;)

Just can't seem to have a picture on both of them :lol:

[ngaisteve1]

if u worked on both,
which do u think is easier?
which is more challenging?
how do u describe working on both? wht's the difference??

I'm doing both in my current job now, using Visual Studio. Seem not much difference, still need to learn how to debug, fix problems etc. Programming general principles are quite the same.

[hammerstein_04]

Sorry ngaisteve1, but I have to disagree. In my opinion Visual Studio and .NET bring web and application frameworks closer, but there are large differences in how you develop each. Sure, you can develop a set of libraries for common functionality, introduce that into the web and desktop application, but debugging, logging etc. that can all be very different. Obviously if you're using .NET you can use C# (or VB.NET) for both the web and desktop app which makes your life easier.

freshOne, it all very much depends on what you're trying to achieve as to which one is easier, which one is more challenging. Desktop applications bring with them a great deal more components and realtime interactivity, whereas web applications bring greater immediate graphical customisation.

As for your poll, PHP vs .NET I don't think that's a very fair or relevant comparison unless you're looking for which direction to take for employment purposes.

[Paul]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and with "web 2.0" web applications are becoming a lot more common. I wonder if taking the web application road will now be a lot more profitable as a career than before.

[Horus_Kol]

i don't think that web applications are going to reach the point of fully replacing the functionality of desktop applications... the limitations of browsers and HTTP prevent a lot of functionality from happening (plus security issues and so forth).
Google and MS have done a lot of development in this area over the areas (GMail, Outlook for Browsers, etc) - but these web apps still don't come close enough to be a viable permanent solution in place of the actual desktop software.

but, I do think we are going to be seeing a lot of muddying of the waters between the two - especially as we have had Application Servers for a good while now which give all the advantages that a desktop solution offers, combined with the transferability which have a remote server store has - but these use their own communications protocol over TCP/IP instead of the stateless HTTP... plus, you have to install at least a small and dedicated client on your desktop.


As for development (having experience of both sides) - I think web applications is much more challenging... it is easy to limit a desktop application to only certain platforms and versions... plus, a lot of the work of presenting your application is already there in libraries...

With web applications, there is an expectation that your site should work seamlessly in any browser, on any platform... and there are very few standard libraries for interfaces in web development at the moment - because, unlike desktop applications where the expectation is to conform to whatever the platform standard is - there is an expectation in web applications to be "fresh" and "new" and "cutting edge" (although, at the end of the day, we all pretty much end up doing the same thing anyway, just with different colours and rounded/soft edges).

[ngaisteve1]

As for development (having experience of both sides) - I think web applications is much more challenging... it is easy to limit a desktop application to only certain platforms and versions... plus, a lot of the work of presenting your application is already there in libraries...

With web applications, there is an expectation that your site should work seamlessly in any browser, on any platform...


Good point, Horus. But then, certain desktop application also required to be run on as many platforms to be more competitive in the market. So, I guess the problem left for web application compare to desktop application is the cross-browser thing.

I think with the fast pace of the technology (faster Internet connection) and as developer become more and more intelligent, I think more and more desktop applications can be replaced by web applications. Example, Google docs.

[Horus_Kol]

Good point, Horus. But then, certain desktop application also required to be run on as many platforms to be more competitive in the market.
Not so much... at least, with desktop applications, you only have to worry about Windows 2000 or XP or Mac OS 10 or...

with web applications, you have to worry about Windows 2000 running FF (1 and 2) IE (5.0, 5.5, 6), Opera (various flavours of).... and then XP running those different browsers, and a few more (IE 7)... and then Mac OS 10 running some of those AND a bunch of others specific to the platform... and then everything else running pretty much anything...


y'see, though - its the general public that "allow" desktop applications to be platform dependent... but websites HAVE to be cross browser....



I think with the fast pace of the technology (faster Internet connection) and as developer become more and more intelligent, I think more and more desktop applications can be replaced by web applications. Example, Google docs.
Again - with browsers and HTTP, I doubt that web applications can ever fully replace the full range of functionality you get with a desktop app (hence, the on-the-fence sitting application server solution)