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The long death of fat clients

Why JavaFX is a last gasp

By Andrew Oliver, InfoWorld, 06/28/12

Page 2 of 2

Developers will continue down the HTML/JavaScript/HTML5/jQuery path. The costs are dipping as WebKit becomes the browser monopoly that Microsoft tried for but couldn't maintain. Capabilities that were traditionally locked down in Flash or native code are being opened by standards and open source tools like jQuery. The standard has created a market, and that market is the new monopoly. Ironically, Apple may rue the day it promoted HTML5, as the cost of multiplatform support is lowered.

Whether or not you think this is the direction we should go, you have to admit the options are shrinking. JQuery is the killer framework for HTML, and it's a monster swallowing the world of fat client options. In the cloud era, why would a company want to install something native and pay the costs of traditional PC maintenance? Full-scale adoption of HTML5 will end this argument for good.

The fat client been a great ride, but I'm glad it's finally over. Client-side installs for corporate applications have always been fraught with problems and have required draconian IT policies to maintain securely. The new browser-based world is the joint dream of both IT managers and developers alike. Those holding out for more fat, rich, thick client development had better face the fact that the world is slimming down.

This article, "The long death of fat clients," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld on Twitter.

For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.