Mode
Theapplicationprocessingisdividedintotwoparts:theprocessingperformedbytheuser'sdesktopcomputerandtheprocessingmostsuitableforacentralizedserver.Atypicalthickclientcontainsoneormoreapplicationsrunningontheuser'sPC.Theusercanviewandmanipulatedata,processsomeorallbusinessrules-whileprovidingarichuserinterfacetorespond.Theserverisresponsibleformanagingaccesstodataandisresponsibleforexecutingsomeorallofthebusinessrules.Therearealsosome"variants"ofthismodel,whichmainlydealwithbusinessrulesandthephysicallocationofdata.Thepointisthatthethickclientapplicationrunsontheuser'scomputer.
Sincethelate1990s,Web-basedapplicationshavebeenwidelyused,mainlybecausetheycanbeeasilyusedbyendusers,whoonlyneedacomputerwithInternetaccess.However,forhighlyinteractiveprograminterfaces,Web-basedinterfacesaredifficulttomeettherequirements.Writingcomplexclient-sidescriptsthatexecuteintheenduser'sbrowserisnotafeasiblewaytoenhanceinteractivity.ThebusinesscommunityrecognizesthatsometimesdeployingaWeb-basedsolutiondoesnotmeetalluserneeds.Inaddition,web-basedapplicationscannotbeusedoffline.
Currentsituation
Fatclient,sometimescalledthickclient,isanetworkcomputerwithrichresourcesinstalledlocally,notlikeThethinclientdistributesresourcestothenetworklikeathinclient.Forexample,manyPCs(personalcomputers)arethickclientsbecausetheyhavetheirownharddrives,CD/DVDdrives,softwareapplications,andsoon.
Fatclientsareunanimouslywelcomedbynetworkusers,becausetheycanbecustomized,anduserscanchoosewhatkindofsoftwareandconfigurationtoinstallandwhatkindofspecialsystem.Ontheotherhand,thinclientsareeasytomanage,easiertoavoidsecurityrisks,anddonotrequireanymaintenanceandlicensingexpenses.
Thecurrentmodelisathickclient.Athickclientisaclientthatrunslightweightcomponents,andtheuserinterfaceisresponsiblefortheselightweightcomponents.Thisapplicationcomponentactsontheuser,requestsdatafromanexternalsource,andthenformatsthedataexpression.ThisiswhatwesawrunninganapplicationontheiPhone.Thatisthemodel.
Thismodeloftenpromptsdevelopmenttofocusonthefront-endpartofSOA.ItchangesthefocusofWS'sdevelopment,andallthedemandingproblemsaremoreRESTful.
Thenewgeneration
Alsocalled"smartclient".Ithasmadesomechangestothefatuserinterfaceinthetraditionalclient/serverstructuresincethemid-nineties.Inthetraditionalthickclient,byusingthestandardinterface-usingtypicalinterfacecomponents,suchasmenus,contextmenus,toolbars,hierarchicaldataviews,datatables,graphs,etc.,userscaneasilyandcollectorThedisplayeddataisinteractive,whichprovidesenduserswithhighusabilityandefficiency.Inaddition,thesmartclienthasaddedaWeb-basedconfiguration,addingsupportforautomaticversionupdates,online/offlineoperations,andmanagementofclientsecurityinacontrollableandsecuremanner.