Analysis and Testing of Ajax-based Single-page Web Applications
Analysis and Testing of Ajax-based Single-page Web Applications
Analysis and Testing of Ajax-based Single-page Web Applications
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Figure 1.4 Screen shot <strong>of</strong> OpenLaszlo <strong>Web</strong>top, a RIA providing functionality for<br />
email, address book, <strong>and</strong> calendars.<br />
• Redundant data transfer between the client/server;<br />
• High user-perceived latency;<br />
• The browser is passive: there is hardly any application-specific clientside<br />
processing.<br />
The concept <strong>of</strong> a Rich Internet Application (RIA) was proposed (Allaire,<br />
2002) as a response, to describe a new class <strong>of</strong> web applications that could<br />
provide richer user interface components on the browser.<br />
The common ground for all RIAs is an intermediate layer <strong>of</strong> code introduced<br />
between the user <strong>and</strong> the server, which acts as an extension <strong>of</strong> the<br />
browser, usually taking over responsibility <strong>of</strong> server communication <strong>and</strong> rendering<br />
the web user interface. An example <strong>of</strong> a RIA technology is a Java<br />
Applet, which extends the web browser, using a Java Virtual Machine (JVM).<br />
Other well-known examples include Adobe Flex (<strong>based</strong> on Flash), OpenLaszlo,<br />
<strong>and</strong> Micros<strong>of</strong>t Silverlight. Figure 1.4 depicts a screen shot <strong>of</strong> a RIA desktop,<br />
built on OpenLaszlo.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the main issues with such technologies is their non-st<strong>and</strong>ard (proprietary)<br />
plugin-<strong>based</strong> nature. Users need to install specific plugins for each<br />
<strong>of</strong> the RIA technologies mentioned above.<br />
1.1.5 <strong>Web</strong> 2.0<br />
<strong>Web</strong> 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005) is a term <strong>of</strong>ten used describing changing trends in<br />
the use <strong>of</strong> web technology, i.e., evolution from a hypertext read-only system<br />
into a dynamic medium <strong>of</strong> user-created content <strong>and</strong> rich interaction.<br />
Even though the term is ambiguously defined, it revolves around web technologies<br />
that promote:<br />
• strong participation <strong>of</strong> web users as a source <strong>of</strong> content (e.g., the online<br />
free encyclopedia Wikipedia, the photo sharing site Flickr),<br />
Chapter 1. Introduction 5