www.uwebc.

org/opinionpapers
November 16, 2005

Rich Internet Applications Tom Noda

Shawn Helwig
Technical Comparison and Case Studies of AJAX, Flash, and Java based RIA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY time and costs, taking web development to a whole new
level. The second wave of web applications is now starting
WEB APPLICATIONS: NEW TRENDS to roll in. The questions companies need to ask internally
Web-based applications have jumped in use and popu- is when to get on board, and how best to ride the tide.
larity in the last decade, beginning with Amazon.com’s
e-commerce Web site in the 90’s
to today’s enterprise resource plan- WHO SHOULD READ THIS PAPER?
ning and business intelligence ap- This evaluation will help Web developers and
plications. Using a browser, end marketers understand the next generation of
users can book airline tickets, bid applications from both a business
on auctions, check email, buy and and technical perspective.
sell stocks, submit tax forms, or
listen to music from any networked RIA technologies are still immature
computer. If this was the first wave and evolving day by day. This pa-
of web applications, the second per guides you through the en-
big wave is yet to come in the form trance gate of Rich Internet Applica-
of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). tions, and provides many RIA re-
sources to explore further.
You may already be
familiar with words
like “AJAX,” “Flex,” CONTENTS
“Thin Client,” or
“Rich Client.” These Image sources: Zimbra, Zamlon, Harley-Davidson
technologies
are part of the
RIA family.

2 What Are Rich Internet Applications?

LIMITATION OF A brief explanation of Rich Internet Applications.
CU RR ENT W EB 2 Five Driving Forces of RIA
APPLICATIONS What fueled this new paradigm? Five major factors
The Internet was originally designed for simply transport- are identified and discussed.
ing documents and information. The technology it was
3 RIA Case Studies
built upon lacked the interactivity of desktop applications.
Business case studies where RIA technologies have
That’s changed in the past decade as innovators have
already been utilized.
developed a richer user experience, despite huge chal-
lenges. Imagine trying to deliver electricity through water 5 Technological Platforms
pipes! Great progress has been made, but fundamental Three major RIA platforms (AJAX, Macromedia Flash,
challenges still remain. Java) are explained.
7 Platform Comparisons
Strengths and weaknesses of current platforms are
THE PROMISES OF RIA identified and compared.
RIA will not replace water pipes with electric wires. Rather, 8 How to Get Started
innovators discovered a way to transport electricity Exploring technologies and creating business cases
through water pipes. Thanks to this breakthrough discov- for RIA in your company.
ery, we can now deliver very sophisticated, responsive,
interactive and graphically rich applications over the web.
RIA technologies are not only enriching user experiences,
but also empowering businesses to reduce development

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium (Confidential, For UWEBC Members use only, not to be reproduced, sold, or otherwise distributed)
Rich Internet Applications
WHAT ARE RICH INTERNET APPLICATIONS?
To better understand RIA, compare two famous map Web
sites: Yahoo! Maps and Google Maps.
Source: Yahoo!, Google
Yahoo! Maps is a traditional web-based application while
Google Maps is regarded as a RIA. What are the differ-
ences?
The images above show maps of Madison, WI.
If users want to move from Madison to Milwau- “ Rich Internet Applications capitalize on the
kee, WI, the two maps behave differently. To move strengths of both web and desktop applications.
locations in Yahoo! Maps, users have to click one of
eight arrow buttons around the map. Every time a user
clicks a button, a page is refreshed, and a new map is
loaded. On Google Maps, users can navigate a map in
any direction by dragging it, and the page remains in
place.
Until recently, the capabilities demonstrated in Google
Maps were only available on desktop applications. Most
browser-based web applications behave more like Yahoo!
Maps by reloading a new page for every user action. To-
day, both web and desktop applications are popular be-
cause each has strengths and weaknesses that comple-
ment each other.
Browser-based web applications are often preferred for
these reasons:
• Standardized tags/scripts are easy to develop
(Rapid development, low development cost)
• No installation, updates or patches are necessary
(Low delivery and maintenance costs)
• Applications are accessible from networked com-
puters (Availability, flexibility)
• Applications can run on different operating systems
(Platform independence)
• User interface (UI) is simple and standardized
(Low learning curve for end users)
© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium
November 16, 2005
However, desktop applications offer the following
advantages:
• Richer user experiences
(Audio, video, communications)
• No page reloading
• Support both online and offline
• Enable more complex applications
(e.g. MS Outlook vs Webmail)
• More responsive and interactive
Rich Internet Applications (RIA) capitalize on
the strengths of both web and desktop ap-
plications. RIA is a set of technologies which
enables some or all of the characteristics
listed above. You may already have heard
terms, like “thin client” or “rich client.” Nu-
ances are slightly different, but they essen-
tially talk about very similar concepts and share the same
goals.
“
FIVE DRIVING FORCES OF RIA
RIAs aren’t new. The first RIA term was coined by Macro-
media in 2002. The idea of a “thin client” existed even
before that. Then, why has RIA gained momentum re-
cently? Here are five major factors:
1. Broadband
Most RIA applications require download of an initial
“thin client” application. This was a huge barrier when
the majority of Internet users relied on dial-up connec-
tions. Broadband gets rid of this barrier and enables
heavier content transports such as audio and video
streaming.
2. Computing Power Shift
The difference in computing power between PCs and
servers has narrowed significantly. For example, desk-
tops, laptops and PDAs now offer audio, video, and
color. RIAs utilize more client computing power than
traditional send and receive web applications. This shift
has created an ideal environment for RIA.
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Rich Internet Applications
3. Better Response to User Actions
Today more than ever, businesses demand complex
and responsive applications. For example, customer
relationship marketing, enterprise resource planning,
and business intelligence applications all require a very
sophisticated user interface to better present information
and quickly respond to user actions. It becomes ex-
tremely difficult for HTML-based applications to meet
these needs.
Meanwhile, online advertising has become more so-
phisticated. Simple graphic banners or spot ads are
gradually being replaced by interactive and pro-
grammed ads called “Rich Media.” Some Rich Media
ads can even keep track of more than 20 different user
interactions.
4. Leading Tech Companies Make Their Move
Big companies have begun to realize the benefits of
RIA. For example, Google Maps and Gmail leverage
RIA by using a technique called “AJAX” (Asynchronous
JavaScript and XML).
Macromedia’s RIA server platform release, notably “Flex
1.5,” also opened the door for many companies and
developers. Microsoft’s .NET Framework shares the
same visions in that it pursues rich and powerful web
application clients while reducing development time
and cost.
Open Source RIA movements are also booming. Laszlo
Systems delivers the “Open Laszlo” server platform for
free while Mozilla Foundation offers a proprietary RIA
technology called XUL (XML User Interface Language).
5. Web Services & SOA
From a developer’s perspective, the emergence of Web
Services and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
changed how we develop business (middleware) appli-
cations. Their emergence also has strong influences on
how presentation layers should be developed and com-
municate with service layers. Web Services and SOA
enable presentation layers to be completely independ-
ent from business logic layers. Most RIA platforms are
pluggable presentation layers on top of existing middle-
ware, thanks to the power of Web Services and SOA.
Not to mention, we cannot ignore XML, which is the
foundation of not only RIA but also Web Services and
SOA.
© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium
November 16, 2005
RIA CASE STUDIES
The followings are Web sites leveraging RIA technologies.
From the customer’s perspective, there is a commonality:
richer user experiences. All RIA applications mentioned
here are available on the web.
Broadmoor Hotel
It usually takes several steps to complete an online ticket
purchase or hotel reservation. If the price and/or date
doesn’t deliver the results we’re looking for, we’re forced
to page back and forth, over and over again. This can be
a very frustrating process.
Source: Broadmoor Hotel - www.broadmoor.com
The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs improved its
online hotel reservation experience using RIA. Now users
can choose dates, check availability & pricing, type cus-
tomer information and complete a reservation all on one
page. Every task is accomplished on demand and in real-
time without multiple steps or pages being reloaded.
RIA can also be applied to any processes that require
multiple steps and back-and-forth page iterations. Regis-
tration is one example, shopping cart checkouts are an-
other. This will not only improve the user experience, but
also reduce server load. For the checkout example, a cli-
ent computer can calculate all pricing, taxes and shipping
costs every time a user interacts. The server will only re-
ceive the final order.
A9
A9, Amazon.com’s search engine company, which is not
as widely-known as Google or Yahoo!, is also an RIA pio-
neer Web site which intensively uses an RIA technique
called AJAX (See pg. 5).
There are a number of unique RIA features and tech-
3
Rich Internet Applications
niques to note from A9. First of all, A9 is one of the first
companies to develop a “drag & drop” feature using
JavaScript. To bookmark search results, for example, us-
ers can drag and drop a title to the bookmark folder. Sec-
ond, internal windows are resizable using split panes and
links. This allows users to adjust page layouts without re-
freshing pages. A9 also uses RIA to create a unique
search experience. It searches asynchronously, meaning
that it handles search requests on the back end while us-
ers are performing other tasks. When the search engine
finds the results, they are displayed on the same page.
Source: A9 - www.a9.com
St. James’s Place Bank
This British retail bank developed a mortgage calculator
utilizing RIA technology. When users type required infor-
mation, the tool searches available mortgages in real-
time, draws a future financial forecast graph and calcu-
lates the interest rate and savings all on the same page.
Users can adjust data in various fields repeatedly without
any page transitions.
RIA can be leveraged best in financial tools such as loan
Source: St. James’s Place Bank - www.sjpb.co.uk
© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium
November 16, 2005
calculators and stock quotes, which require intensive inter-
activity, calculations, and the necessity of graphical data
representations. Examples can be found at E*Trade and
Genworth.
Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams’ Web site implements an RIA tool called
“Color Visualizer” that lets users virtually paint houses and
interiors with dozens of colors. Users can drag and drop
colors to paint a virtual sample room. The image is then
rendered with the selected color immediately.
This is another strength of RIA: customization and simula-
tion. Today, many e-commerce Web sites offer custom-
ized products (e.g. Nike, Dell, Lands’ End). If the prod-
Source: Sherwin-Williams - www.sherwin-williams.com
uct’s look and feel is the major factor in the customers’
decisions to buy products, online customization tools will
have a significant impact on sales. As mentioned earlier,
RIA technology provides graphical richness, responsive
interactivity and enriches the user experience.
Brocade
Brocade, a network equipment company, developed an
executive dashboard application with RIA. As you can see
in Fig. 1, company’s sales data are shown graphically
and can be manipulated interactively.
RIA is suitable for Intranet applications as well. Many busi-
ness applications from ERP, CRM, SCM to Business Intelli-
gence leverage RIA technologies to help employees easily
analyze and manipulate corporate data in real-time
through a web browser.
Developers benefit from RIA as well. For example, SAP
integrated Macromedia Flex server into SAP NetWeaver
Visual Composer. This enables developers and business
4
Rich Internet Applications November 16, 2005

TECHNOLOGICAL PLATFORMS
Today’s rich internet applications are almost all built on
either one of three technological platforms: AJAX, Macro-
media Flash, or Java.

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML)

AJAX is not a single new technology, but a combination of
standard technologies including JavaScript, XML, XSLT
and DOM which together achieve web application rich-
ness. The word “asynchronous” comes from the nature of
its HTTP request/response processes. Asynchronous calls
enable a client and server to talk to each other without
reloading pages.

AJAX is more widely known and used, especially after

Source: Macromedia - www.macromedia.com Google developed state-of-the-art AJAX applications such
as Gmail and Google Maps. One of the advantages of
analysts to build applications like LEGO™ bricks. This will AJAX is that applications can be developed without any
lower technical barriers (e.g. no programming knowledge additional tools, plug-ins or runtimes. Its commitment to
required) and reduce development time and cost. RIA’s standard web technologies and openness of source codes
beneficiaries are not only end users, but also developers also encourage many web developers to explore AJAX.
and businesses.
browser
AJAX engine javascript DOM XSLT
...

sync/async XML, DOM

http(s) request over http(s)

web/app server

Figure 1. AJAX Architecture (Source: UWEBC)

AJAX Tool Vendors

TIBCO General Interface - www.tibco.com
Midnightcoders - www.themidnightcoders.com
Various AJAX open source libraries

Macromedia Flash (Flex)

The term “Flash” is often associated with image banner
ads, animation or online video. However, one of the core
strengths of Macromedia Flash is for web application use.
Macromedia has been expanding Flash’s capability over
the past several years to enhance application functional-
ities with its release of “Macromedia Flex,” RIA Presenta-
tion Server.

From the beginning, Flash excelled at handling and opti-

mizing graphics, audio and video over the network. Flash-

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium 5

Rich Internet Applications November 16, 2005

based RIA can create the most sophisticated and media-

rich Internet applications among all platforms. However, java web start applet, browser
before the Macromedia Flex release, developers needed java java
to master Flash and Macromedia’s scripting language runtime runtime
called ActionScript. Flex eases this process by providing
an XML-based declarative UI development platform and http(s) http(s)
by supporting seamless middleware integrations such as RMI RMI
Web Services, .NET, J2EE and Cold Fusion. IIOP IIOP

web/app server
mobile browser
presentation server (e.g. Nexaweb, Canoo)
flash lite flash
player player
Figure 3. Typical Java-based RIA Architecture (Source: UWEBC)
XML compressed
over http(s) binary (.swf)
Java RIA Tool Vendors
over http(s)
Canoo - www.canoo.com
Nexaweb - www.nexaweb.com
web/app server
Clearnova (ThinkCAP) - www.clearnova.com
presentation server (e.g. Flex, Open Laszlo) InsiTech - www.insitechinc.com
Richmotion - www.richmotion.com

Figure 2. Typical Flash-based RIA Architecture (Source: UWEBC)

Flash RIA Tool Vendors

Macromedia (Flex) - www.macromedia.com
Laszlo Systems - www.laszlosystems.com Microsoft Avalon
Xamlon - www.xamlon.com In addition to the three major RIA platforms, Microsoft’s
movement cannot be ignored. In the Windows Vista
release, they will introduce “Windows Presentation
Foundation,” formerly code-named “Avalon.” It unifies
all presentation resources such as documents, images,
Java (Applet, Java Web Start)
audio/video, and applications under the Windows plat-
Java has been a pioneer in the web application environ-
form. With Avalon, developers can construct applica-
ment since the release of Java Applet. It is also one of the
tions by writing XML-based code called “XAML,” and
first technologies to support the mobile/PDA computing
environment. Java provides a platform independent rich applications can run on Windows as well as web brows-
UI library called “Swing” as well as server-side XML tag/ ers. Considering the fact that Microsoft dominates and
script-based language called Java Server Pages (JSP). controls virtually the entire client computing environ-
ment, this will become on of the major RIA platforms. At
However, Java has yet to come up with an XML-based rich the same time, Microsoft will continue to pursue RIA in
the .NET Framework.
UI construction mechanism which is the “de facto” stan-
dard in RIA development. The Java Community Process
(JCP) is pursuing the integration of AJAX into JSP. In the
meantime, several companies have developed Java-
based RIA platforms that enable Swing UI construction
from XML in a declarative manner.

Java also provides a technology called “Java Web Start,”

which is a thin client that is downloadable and can be
standalone and/or a networked application. Currently,
Java Web Start seems the most preferable RIA platform in
the Java flavor.

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium 6

Rich Internet Applications November 16, 2005

PLATFORM COMPARISONS
Most RIA platforms share common goals: reduce application development time and cost while enriching user experiences.
In addition, the platforms share pursuit of the same technological trail: XML and scripting for UI construction. Currently,
there is no distinct winner among RIA platforms. The table below summarizes strengths and weaknesses of each platform.

Table 1. Platform Comparisons (Source: UWEBC) Good Average Poor

AJAX Macromedia Flash Java

Graphical Richness Average Very Rich Rich

(Same as HTML)

Container/Engine Very Light Light Heavy

Footprint (browser built-in)

Application Download Fast Slow Slow

Audio/Video Support Poor Excellent OK

(unless use ActiveX)

Consistency on Different Varies Very consistent Relatively consistent

Computing Environments

Server Requirements None or very minimal Yes Yes or No

(TIBCO General Inter- (Flex or Open Laszlo) (Nexaweb, Java Web
face) Start)

Plug-in/Runtime No Flash (Player) Java Runtime (JRE)

Requirement on Client

Development Challenge Very complex without Relatively easy with Relatively easy with
tools such as TIBCO, tools such as Flex or tools such as
and high skills re- Open Laszlo Nexaweb
quired
(XML, DOM, (XML, JavaScript,
(JavaScript, CSS, XML, JavaScript, Flash, Ac- Java)
XSLT, DOM, ActiveX...) tionScript)

Security Concerns JavaScript codes are Flash files Class/Jar compressed

open to public (compressed binary)
are created
Everybody can see
source codes if desire Flash Player becomes
a sandbox
binary files are cre-
ated
JVM (Java Runtime)
becomes a sandbox

Cost Custom Build - Free Open Laszlo - Free Java Web Start - Free
TIBCO - Unknown Flex - $15,000 per Nexaweb - Unknown
CPU

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium 7

Rich Internet Applications
HOW TO GET STARTED
Step 1. Research
The RIA market is still immature. Technologies are evolv-
ing day by day, and many vendors are competing in the
market. Within your company, let web developers do
some research on RIA. Vendor Web sites, technical arti-
cles, and blogs are good starting points. Here are some
useful RIA web resources:
• Wikipedia RIA Definition
Introduction to RIA. Many links are available from
here
• Java Web Start Technology
Technical information about Java Web Start
• Usability Heuristics for Rich Internet Applications
Good article to grasp RIA from usability perspective.
• Macromedia RIA Whitepapers
Limited perspectives, yet worth reading
• RIA Landscape
Nexaweb’s interpretation of the RIA landscape
• Macromedia Flex & Eclipse IDE
If you use both tools, this is an interesting integration
• SVG and AJAX
SVG may compensate AJAX’s weakness in graphics
• DART motif - RIA & Rich Media
Macromedia and DoubleClick’s efforts
• Windows Presentation Foundation
Microsoft’s answer to RIA (formerly known as
“Avalon”)
• AJAX and Security
An article regarding AJAX security
• AJAXSLT
XSLT in JavaScript developed by Google
• AJAX Technical Overview
Good blog explaining how AJAX works
• Rich Internet Application Blog
One of the oldest RIA blogs
• Apple User Experience
Learn how Apple comes up with good UI design
• Jakob Nielsen’s Web site
Principles of web usability
Step 2. Conceptualization
Once web developers become familiar with RIA, it’s easier
to come up with business ideas to leverage the technolo-
gies. Some ideas might include, reduce checkout steps,
enable drag & drop of products into a shopping cart, and
offer interactive product/service demos. Open discussions
among developers and web marketing staff should be
welcomed.
Step 3. Prototyping
Once you research RIA and conceptualize business ideas,
the next step is to develop some prototype RIA applica-
© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium
November 16, 2005
tions. The main objective here is to explore potentials and
limitations of RIA technologies. You may realize that some
platforms are better than others to achieve certain fea-
tures. The web technology flavor in your company (e.g.
J2EE vs .NET vs PHP…) may constrain your RIA choices as
well.
You can develop AJAX applications without any tools or
servers. The fastest way to learn AJAX is to read source
codes written by smart engineers. Flash RIA servers can be
downloaded free.
• Google Maps, Gmail, Google Personalized Home
See AJAX codes written by Google engineers
• A9
The AJAX pioneer. Plenty of good AJAX programming
techniques can be learned from their code
• Open Laszlo 3.1
Open source Flash based RIA presentation server
• Macromedia Flex
Flash based RIA presentation server. Developer ver-
sion is free
Step 4. Business Cases
Evaluate the prototypes and see if you can make business
cases for them. To build a solid business case, you will
need to consider three stakeholders: users (customers),
developers and businesses:
• What RIA applications are we developing?
• What benefits do our customers gain from them?
Users
Developers Businesses
Figure 4. Three RIA Stakeholders (Source: UWEBC)
• Which RIA technologies will we use?
• Who develops what? Outsourcing or in-house?
• How will this affect the current system (e.g. middle-
ware interface changes, platform changes…)?
• How long will it take to develop and release applica-
tions?
• How much will it cost (tools, contracts, developer re-
sources…)?
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Rich Internet Applications November 16, 2005

REFERENCES
Wikipedia. (2005, October). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_internet_application

Java Web Start Technology. (2005, October). http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/

McMullin, Jess and Skinner, Grant. (2003, July 15). Usability Heuristics for Rich Internet Applications. Boxes and Arrows.
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/usability_heuristics_for_rich_internet_applications.php

Macromedia. (2005, October). Rich Internet Application Whitepapers. http://www.macromedia.com/resources/business/

rich_internet_apps/whitepapers.html

Nexaweb. (2005, October). Rich Internet Applications: The Market Landscape. http://www.nexaweb.com/
ria_market_landscape.asp

Festa, Paul. (2005, June 8). Macromedia aligns with Eclipse. Builder.Au. http://www.builderau.com.au/program/
work/0,39024650,39192243,00.htm

Jackson, Dean and Lilley, Chris. (2004, October 29). About SVG. W3C. http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/About.html

DART motif. (2005, October). http://www.dartmotif.com/

Microsoft. (2005, October). Windows Presentation Foundation (Avalon). http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/

building/presentation/default.aspx

Josephes, Chris. (2005, August 15). Widget and AJAX development may lead to discovery of more security flaws.
ONLamp.com. http://www.onlamp.com/pub/wlg/7601

Google. (2005, October). Google AJAXSLT. http://goog-ajaxslt.sourceforge.net/

Garrett, Jesse J. (2005, February 18). Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications. Adaptive Path. http://
www.adaptivepath.com/publications/essays/archives/000385.php

Interaction Two. (2005, October). RIA Blog. http://www.richinternetapps.com/index.html

Apple Computer. (2005, October). User Experience. http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/

index.html

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium 9

Rich Internet Applications November 16, 2005

About the UW E-Business Institute

The UW E-Business Institute (UWEBI) serves as Wisconsin's leading center for multidis-
ciplinary research collaboration, technology innovation and industry outreach on e-
business. UWEBI expands upon the company-specific e-business peer group collabora-
tion and projects enjoyed by members of the UW E-Business Consortium.

About the UW E-Business Consortium

The University of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium (the industry membership base of the
UW E-Business Institute) is Wisconsin’s premier organization that helps companies gain a
competitive advantage through e-business. Our members - business executives and senior
managers from the Midwest’s leading companies - tap into world-class university re-
sources and the collective experiences of this B2B and B2C group to address and share
strategic e-business and information technology challenges, best practices and lessons
learned.

For more information, contact Assistant Director of Member Relations,

Christina Paschen (608) 265-0645 or clpaschen@wisc.edu

© 2005 UW E-Business Consortium 10