Tree of Life Computers - Web Applications

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Web Applications.

Universal Availability.

The idea of putting useful computer application systems on the web, or as a web application on a network, is an extremely attractive one because it can then be shared by people anywhere, provided they have simple browser access to the web application. This standardisation of access to a simple level allows such an application to be used in widely dispersed geographic locations in one or many companies and by private citizens using any of a wide variety of computers and situations. Both the commercial and social opportunities are exciting.

The Beneficiaries of Web Applications.

There are several groups of people who have recognised the benefits of Web applications. Firstly those who want to present a reactive and automatic interface to the public, or a chosen public, to provide and obtain information or sales or purchases. The second group are those who want to provide a data processing application or specialised information system to their own dispersed employees or contacts. Many large corporations fall into this category and have transformed their business costs by using the web in this way. A third group of Web application employers are those with a knowledge of a specialist area of activity who want to sell that knowledge and ability to other users of the Web. These are aimed at many many areas of business, for example car dealers and travel agents. Clearly, a fourth group of people are affected by Web applications, those that write them, which includes Tree of Life Computers.

Protecting the system.

It is in the generality and simplicity of this very attractive definition of a web application that the difficulty in its achievement is rooted. A web application is not different to any other computer application in the sense of its functional requirements, design detail and computational arrangement but then the added dimension begins to bite. The biggest single additional dimension of a Web Application is that the application system, instead of being safely cocooned in a local network, is exposed to all the rigours and attacks of the web. This means that security has to be considered for the system in every element, in the design, in the specification and even in the choice of coding constructs used. There is some cost associated with the very real benefit of a universal Web application.

Controlling the Application.

There is an additional, rather technical, dimension to Web application development. By specifying that the system should be accessed via a web browser, perhaps even any browser, this implies the need for efficient network communication but also to be able to cope with an uncontrolled client. The client can log off, or switch off, in any way and time they fancy and log on again somewhere else at some other time. Or they could simply abandon the session they are having with the computer and go off and do something else. The system must cope safely with such carelessness and unconcern, preserving the client data in the best manner possible and also preventing invasion by unauthorised folk. The client user also expects the system to conduct a coherent and logical dialogue with themselves, even though there is no reliable feedback mechanism with the client. The management of this confusion is called state management. This is simple and natural for traditional computer applications but complex and unnatural for web browser based systems.

Top Published by Tree of Life Computers, Kintyre, Scotland -1st August 2005. Top