Evaluation of widget-based approaches for developing rich internet applications
Date
2011-04-15
Authors
Mendes, Paco Azevedo
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Abstract
A widget is a packaged interactive client-side application developed using Web
standards and techniques. Widgets present an opportunity to formalise the approaches
that are used to develop and deploy Rich Internet Applications (RIAs)
for multiple platforms. The objective of the research presented in this report is to
evaluate whether widgets successfully meet the requirements of a RIA, which are
identified by behaviour, ease of development, security, portability and presentation
concerns. A review of the widget landscape has been conducted and used to
develop a conceptual widget framework. A film rating and recommendation service
has been developed based on this framework and is used to evaluate whether
widgets meet the requirements of a RIA. It has been determined that widget-based
development approaches assist in reducing the complexities of RIA development.
This is achieved by providing developers with simplified interfaces that abstract
the complexities of accessing local and remote behaviour. The main weaknesses
identified are the vast incompatibilities between existing implementations and the
relaxed security measures being used. Further standardisation efforts are required
to reduce the incompatibilities in the landscape and improve the security and
portability of widgets.