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There is still room for desktop application, mostly for heavy lifting applications such as editing (image editing, video editing, publishing....), but I would also tend to say that most desktop applications should move to the web. Let me answer your concerns one by one:
Quote: -why require your app to be used from internet?
Deployment is the key answer: deploy your application to your web server and everyone in your organisation can use it. No need to deploy to each desktop. Also, the larger the organisation, the more likely there will be desktops with a slightly different configuration and for whatever reason the application/installation won't work correctly on their desktop.
Quote: -what about security concerns when data is online?
Whether this is a desktop application or a web application, I'm sure you store data in a database, so same security concerns are shared between desktop and web applications (online doesn't necessarily mean in the cloud).
Quote: -desktop applications just have different UI/and different feel when interacting with them
HTML5, CSS3 and frameworks like AngularJS have gone a long way and there's now more and more modern web applications with a desktop look and feel.
Alex Sanseau
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Alex Sanséau wrote: more modern web applications with a desktop look and feel.
You surely mean the look, feel and elegance of a desktop around 1990? In 1990 I only had to know a little about the Win API and you come with all this: HTML5, CSS3 and frameworks like AngularJS.
You even forgot those funny little browser incompatibilities, bugs in your frameworks and other weird things.
Some progress.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
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The debate is not about which of desktop apps or web apps is the easiest to write.
Talking about the Win API, those desktop applications would only work on Windows - while web applications would work for Windows users, Mac users, Linux users, iPhone users, Android users...
This is another good reason to go for a web application where you can.
Alex Sanseau
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Web applications are in best of the cases unsecure.
Web applications offer low perfomance and limited capabilities compared to desktop apps.
People like it or not Web applications are browser dependant and this is will be forever.
Web applications consumes higher resources than the functional equivalente desktop app just because
you need to run the browser even for a Hello World page.
Web applications put at the same level to users that own a dual core machine and the other who use a Core I7 PC or a Mac. This means that web applications can't take adventage of the full hardware capabilites of the hosting computer.
Web applications demand that all your data sensitive or not be stored on remote server and be kept out of your sight or control.
Web pages are just for certain kind of applications. Not a panacea...
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Quote: Web applications are in best of the cases unsecure
That's right, I guess that's why we're all using internet banking!
Alex Sanseau
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Because it's the only choice that banks give to us... And if your bank have a security hole.. they'll never are going to recognize the issue... and if you get lucky and your account is not affected.. perhaps you'll never know....
But my consideration was a general one.
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You miss the points.
I meant it is constraint to require your app to be available ONLY online.
What if I don't have internet connectivity.
Security for application which is online and security
for application which is desktop (and is for instance not
connected to internet) is DIFFERENT thing.
Alex Sanséau wrote: but I would also tend to say that most desktop applications should move to the web
This is wrong. This is like saying all bananas should become apples.
There are people who like to use/create desktop apps. So that statement makes no sense to me.
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I’d like to comment on an area where desktop apps seem to rule. I have the pleasure of developing desktop applications that are used to control robots, sensors, pumps, heaters, digital IO devices; FPGAs ’and the list can go on. These application require UI’s that range from simple (for the production worker) to elaborate (for the engineers), they must present all the required elements in a clean modern UI. These applications are very specific when it comes to the OS and additional API’s or 3rd party libraries, so we do program to a limited customer base. Additionally the applications do use local and wide area network communications, backend databases and network services; if any of these resources are not available the application must compensate (it most continue to run, production cannot stop). I am interested in WEB technologies, applications for Smartphones, Wearables, SmartTV’s etc. (we may make the overall picture and status of the equipment viewable on a SmartPhone). But to control this type of equipment the desktop APP seems to be the way to go and desktop apps will be needed.
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koolprasad2003 wrote: but still there exist lot of old softwares which was developed under desktop applications and now want to move to web based interface or to some smart
devices
I can just see high-tech companies agreeing to place their proprietary IP in the cloud...
Recent events (e.g. the U.S. Federal Government's attempts to subpoena data from Microsoft servers in Ireland) have shown that unless you own the platform that contains the data - you don't own the data.
I would use web storage or web programs only for things that I would not mind seeing on the front page of my local newspaper.
If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack.
--Winston Churchill
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