Web Servent
This design concept is incomplete.
Synopsis
A Web Servent is a combination of a web server and client.
Rationale
Web applications enjoy a large number of advantages over desktop applications, one of which being the fewer requirements of the client device. The device need only be a relatively thin client with the ability to render open standard formats. However, the Achilles heel of web services is the so called "offline problem". A web application is rendered unusable if network connectivity is lost or becomes intermittent. This is where a desktop application running on a thick client has a great advantage.
By keeping a cache of web resources to be served locally on the same device on which the user agent runs (where "resource" can be both data and logic), functionality can be maintained in the event of network failure. This is especially useful for mobile devices where network loss can be more frequent.
Advantages of keeping a local cache of resources include a performance increase on slower connections and the ability to sustain operation during a network failure. Disadvantages include possible greater hardware performance requirements and greater software dependencies.
Features
- Multimodal User Agent
- Resource cache
- Revision control
- HTTP Server
- REST API to User Agent
- Local execution of web applications