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“Tech Talk” by Kevin Self
The Future of Web Interfaces
The only thing constant is change, and in the world of computer technology, this is never truer. Browser technology has evolved rapidly over the last few years, from an interface designed to display documents, to a rich user interface medium, adapting to the demands of people who have no patience for awkward controls and confusing workflows. More recently, technologies, loosely termed as Web 2.0, including technologies like AJAX and JavaScript have allowed Web Interfaces to become more responsive, intelligent and interactive.
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Kevin Self
VP, Information Technology
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AJAX is not a single technology, but a collection of technologies and techniques designed to make the Browser more interactive and responsive. Traditional Browser technology is based on a send…wait…receive loop. The Browser submits to the Web Server a ‘request’ to fetch and display information on the screen. It then waits for the Web Server to assemble the page requested which is then returned back to the Browser. When the Browser receives the page, it displays it and returns control back to the user. This technology was well suited to the original purpose of a Browser, which was to fetch and display pages of documents, however, the Browser has now evolved beyond this original purpose into a complete Application Platform.
AJAX is designed to improve the responsiveness of the Browser by allowing ‘Asynchronous’ communication with the Web Server. Simply put, asynchronous communication allows the browser to ‘submit’ a request for data to the Web Server and then continue with some other task (for example, allowing the user to press another button or navigate to a different part of the interface), rather than waiting for the response to arrive. Then, when the response does arrive, the Browser can act on the data and display it. This simple, but profound change in the Browser to Web Server communication cycle gives the illusion of a much more responsive application.
JavaScript, a subset of the Java language is a powerful technology that allows Web developers to create rich, creative, innovative and powerful ‘widgets’ or usable visual components (Drop Down’s Tables, charts, fancy buttons etc.) These visual screen elements significantly improve the user experience by allowing developers to integrate pre-built building blocks into their Browser applications, making them more expressive, innovative and usable. Moreover, with the growth of the Brower Interface, a large market of off-the-shelf screen elements allows developers to select from thousands of ready built components, thus reducing the time it takes to develop powerful, easy to use and visually appealing user interfaces.
The next generation of Remote Transfer (Engage) takes advantage of all of these Web 2.0 advances in technology to deliver a well balanced, powerful, but straightforward application that improves the interface by bringing better performance and improved usability to the User. AJAX techniques and technologies have been incorporated into the new Engage interface to improve responsiveness of the interface by only loading parts of the screen and data when it is needed. This has given the application a more ‘Desktop Application’ like feel while still retaining the ability to use a Browser to launch the Application. The user feels that the system is more responsive to their actions thus improving their overall experience. In addition, JavaScript has been used extensively to provide powerful features like drag and drop, folders/trees and a cleaner look by using a richer set of controls and advanced visual frameworks. This also improves the user experience by simplifying and shortening workflows, utilizing commonly used and recognized metaphors for specific tasks and reducing the learning curve for application use. All of this allows the user to become comfortable and hence more productive with the system faster with less effort.
In Summary, then by taking advantage of new Visual Web based technologies, innovating and looking ahead to the future will ensure that we continue to improve by making change a constant in our endeavors.
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