Web Application VS Windows Application
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@Dashrender said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I agree that web apps never seem as fast as native apps. But Outlook is now a Web app, it just happens to be running on a web server inside your computer, not on the other side of your internet connection. It can have as much local control as you want to allow it to have. I'm willing to bet that someone could get a version of Greenshot to work in that type of environment, but it still would be tied to Windows machines, so probably isn't worth the effort.
I've seen tons of software move to this model. Why put in the effort making and maintaining two apps when you get do it all with one?
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
What do you mean by "web apps" then? Cause I'm just referring to websites, essentially.
Well, even so. Things written in Electron or that use a local web server are still websites, just ones that run on your own desktop.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I don't really buy it that you have the opposite experience with web interfaces, that they are MORE solid than native desktop. How can that be?
Easy, code quality. Most people writing native, non-cross platform apps are not the top programmers, it's normally the cheapest people that can be found. Code qualities tends to suffer.
This same conversation was had years ago with C++ and Java. How can Java be faster, people asked, because it has so many layers. Yet normally it was (is). Why? Because tons and tons of research has gone into optimization and it makes it easier for normal people to write better software. Just because native "can" do well, doesn't mean that people are going to use it that way.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Look at Steve Gibson, the dude still programs in freaking assembly.
Um... yeah.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Removing all that fluff can have its advantages. Especially for little utility apps with simple purposes.
Outside of specifically maintaining an OS, which is a unique thing as it's neither business software (it's IT) nor does it have the possibility of being cross platform, what kind of apps do you see taking advantage of this?
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@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Removing all that fluff can have its advantages. Especially for little utility apps with simple purposes.
Outside of specifically maintaining an OS, which is a unique thing as it's neither business software (it's IT) nor does it have the possibility of being cross platform, what kind of apps do you see taking advantage of this?
I think it's just the principle of the thing.
Less fluff means smaller, faster, easier to distribute, fewer dependencies to test/update or that can potentially introduce security leaks or be hacked or become outdated.
To me this is one of those questions like, why not just get the vehicle with the big frame and all the horsepower and lights and hydrolics? If gas is cheap and they can afford it, why not?
On the other hand, if all you need is to get from A to Z, the expensive gas gets annoying, possibly a liability.I'm old school. I still have "768 megs of RAM yeah!" mindset, where everything should be highly optimized and using as few resources as possible.
People nowadays don't care for that, it's just "I got lotsa RAM, bring on the fluff! Who cares!"To each his own. There always seems to be sacrifice between convenience and optimization.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I think it's just the principle of the thing.
Less fluff means smaller, faster, easier to distribute, fewer dependencies to test/update or that can potentially introduce security leaks or be hacked or become outdated.
I'm thinking that it is more like virtualization.... standard abstraction layers add "more stuff" but in standard ways that make development, stability and security easier.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I'm old school. I still have "768 megs of RAM yeah!" mindset, where everything should be highly optimized and using as few resources as possible.
People nowadays don't care for that, it's just "I got lotsa RAM, bring on the fluff! Who cares!"To each his own. There always seems to be sacrifice between convenience and optimization.
The thing is, for 99% of business apps, that stuff bring huge limitations and risk. Things that businesses "just expect" these days. Like being able to expose to the outside without needing to send company laptops home, not needing a VPN for app access, linking to common tools, not needing Windows in order to run a business tool, not needing CALs to something unrelated to run a business app, not needing to pay for Windows Server to deploy their own software, not needing to pay for desktop management, etc.
Desktop / native apps create a lot of cost and risk. They might seem small and tight, but that's not the factor that matters 99% of the time. It's just not important. The risks, the limitations that those apps bring can be crippling.
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@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I think it's just the principle of the thing.
Less fluff means smaller, faster, easier to distribute, fewer dependencies to test/update or that can potentially introduce security leaks or be hacked or become outdated.
I'm thinking that it is more like virtualization.... standard abstraction layers add "more stuff" but in standard ways that make development, stability and security easier.
In theory.
I don't think tools like Electron are this "standard" yet. Could be wrong. I've had plenty of "websites in a box" apps crash on me and do stupid things, screwy UIs and other bugs.
I'm sure they will improve. I'm looking forward to trying Electron myself. I just don't have a project yet!
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I think it's just the principle of the thing.
Less fluff means smaller, faster, easier to distribute, fewer dependencies to test/update or that can potentially introduce security leaks or be hacked or become outdated.
I'm thinking that it is more like virtualization.... standard abstraction layers add "more stuff" but in standard ways that make development, stability and security easier.
In theory.
I don't think tools like Electron are this "standard" yet. Could be wrong. I've had plenty of "websites in a box" apps crash on me and do stupid things, screwy UIs and other bugs.
I'm sure they will improve. I'm looking forward to trying Electron myself. I just don't have a project yet!
It's not a panacea, you still need a good product. Native apps have these problems, too.
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@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
I think it's just the principle of the thing.
Less fluff means smaller, faster, easier to distribute, fewer dependencies to test/update or that can potentially introduce security leaks or be hacked or become outdated.
I'm thinking that it is more like virtualization.... standard abstraction layers add "more stuff" but in standard ways that make development, stability and security easier.
In theory.
I don't think tools like Electron are this "standard" yet. Could be wrong. I've had plenty of "websites in a box" apps crash on me and do stupid things, screwy UIs and other bugs.
I'm sure they will improve. I'm looking forward to trying Electron myself. I just don't have a project yet!
It's not a panacea, you still need a good product. Native apps have these problems, too.
There is something about a native app though. I feel like companies spend requisite time doing actual QA and releasing a stable product. Or maybe it's perhaps that when programming in C++ or C or whatever, the profiling and debug tools are that much better?
Companies that release websites-in-a-box products follow a different mindset, the "hustler" way of "release soon, release often", depending on their failing products to be debugged by their own users who will report their issues diligently and submit bugs to github.
End users should not be QA, no matter what tool or language. But if all you're doing is programming a "website" then updates are a cinch you don't have to worry about your product sucking after release.
Desktop apps crash, but rarely due to stupid UI, UX issues that would have only needed 10 minutes of real QA and testing to discover. Or more robust debugging and compile tools.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
There is something about a native app though. I feel like companies spend requisite time doing actual QA and releasing a stable product. Or maybe it's perhaps that when programming in C++ or C or whatever, the profiling and debug tools are that much better?
But only Linux products are using C to any degree. Windows is mostly C# and VB.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Companies that release websites-in-a-box products follow a different mindset, the "hustler" way of "release soon, release often",
Hardly hustler. It's the only reasonable way. Make it in the dark, throw it over the fence and walk away is so much worse.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
End users should not be QA, no matter what tool or language.
Unless you want to deliver something for end users and need to know what they want, like, need, etc.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Desktop apps crash, but rarely due to stupid UI, UX issues that would have only needed 10 minutes of real QA and testing to discover. Or more robust debugging and compile tools.
What do you feel that they mostly crash from?
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
But if all you're doing is programming a "website" then updates are a cinch you don't have to worry about your product sucking after release.
That's not true if you think about the fact that they might be deployed locally. No more true of one than the other type.
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@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
End users should not be QA, no matter what tool or language.
Unless you want to deliver something for end users and need to know what they want, like, need, etc.
"Features" are different from "bugs".
I sure as shooting "want, like, and need" the product to actually WORK before I start acting as free beta tester for an app. Especially if I've paid for it.
If the app is free, well there is always an out. -
@scottalanmiller said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
Desktop apps crash, but rarely due to stupid UI, UX issues that would have only needed 10 minutes of real QA and testing to discover. Or more robust debugging and compile tools.
What do you feel that they mostly crash from?
That is far beyond my knowledge. I imagine the roots dig deeper into dependencies and OS drivers and so on.
A website-app-in-a-box, well it might crash because Javascript is insufficient as a desktop language and was overwhelmed in some way? I've seen UI elements disappear behind other elements of the boundary of the app's border. I've seen font issues, graphics rendering issues, issues of "flashing" elements and other refresh issues. I've seen the apps freeze up when working too fast and it can't keep up.
I don't tend to see UI issues in a solid desktop app. They are typically built on standard UI libraries from the OS, where all the rendering and sizing and refreshing are pretty locked in.
Again, I use plenty of both types of apps, but here in 2016, I still prefer native, what can I say?
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
That is far beyond my knowledge. I imagine the roots dig deeper into dependencies and OS drivers and so on.
Native apps tend to be much more susceptible to those things. That's one of the specific advantages of more modern methodologies and the same as why virtualization makes for more stable environments.
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@guyinpv said in Web Application VS Windows Application:
A website-app-in-a-box, well it might crash because Javascript is insufficient as a desktop language and was overwhelmed in some way?
But that's silly. A native app could do the same because C# wasn't up to the task. Both carry the risk, in neither is it serious.
