Flex RIA Application Architecture Thoughts
I just killed a Flex application design, from a sharp young web developer. It’s the first time I realize that there is a generation of developers whose first application developments were web (HTML) base application. They are very page oriented. The design I killed are basically a stack of Flex pages filliping back and forth (more forth than back though).
Come to think of some RIA architecture issues (observations) we Flexers should be aware of…
Tradition Comes Back
Who still remember Client-Server based application development? Hey, it used to be hot buzz word. I think RIA developers, especially designers and architects, should dig some good old C/S design concepts out, should I say, design patterns. All descriptions of the RIA benefits can be found from some of those C/S books. Of cause, the enabling technologies are very different.
Skill Comes Back
Window based application development skills are becoming important base for RIA application design and development. Web application developers should take really good hard look at window application. RIA doesn’t give good usability, it gives possibility. As always, good design does.
Simplicity is King
We all know MVC is the core of milt-tier application architecture. The question is that how deep or how low we will keep applying it. We all love Flex and excited by RIA. But, Flex is really a UI or client technology after all. When we are architecting an application, we should consider UI is one of few system components. The server side, regardless which technologies employed, is still playing a essential role in the enterprise computing environment. What will happen when we are too focusing on Flex side of system is that, we’ll apply all kinds of design patterns learned from either J2EE or .Net world, we’ll come up all sorts of frameworks, a few layers of components, couple of tiers of abstractions and on and on. Before we know it, we’ll be running a server alike thing within every user’s browser. We have to remind ourselves, big picture and big picture. After all, simplicity is the king of useability.
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