What Defines A RIA? | Andrew Powell's Flex, Java, ColdFusion, and AJAX Blog

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Aug 7What Defines A RIA?

The other day I heard someone define iTunes as a RIA. I started to correct them because, until then, I had only thought of RIAs as being built with AJAX, Flex, Silverlight, etc; with these new RIA technologies. That comment though, got me to thinking. What does really define a RIA? Is it the technology that is used to build the application or how it leverages the power of the Internet (via SOA, etc.)?

After a bit of consideration, I have to say that an RIA is any application that leverages the power of the Internet to enhance the application. An RIA is not simply an AIR application, a Flex application, an AJAX application, or a Silverlight application. Any application that uses the internet to leverage new user experiences is a RIA.

So, that being said, iTunes is probably one of the best examples of an RIA out there. It changed the game when it came to music applications, adding the ability to subscribe to podcasts, share your library, listen to Internet Radio broadcasts, and the iTunes store itself transformed iTunes into the most ubiquitous and indispensable RIA we've seen yet. All that and it wasn't even built in Flex, AJAX, OpenLazlo, Curl, or Silverlight. It was built in Objective-C.

In the coming months and years as we see RIAs and the influence of SOA proliferate through ordinary desktop applications, we're going to have to take a long hard look at how we, as a community, define a RIA. I think we're heading towards a point where we really do define a RIA as any application, regardless of the development language, that leverages the Internet to deliver new user experiences to the end user. In the end, it would seem, we are all RIA developers.

Posted by: Andrew Powell

Comments

Hi Andrew,

I'm glad to see you didn't fall into the trap set by Adobe and Microsoft of considering only Flex and Silverlight as RIA technologies :)

However you might have gone overly broad? I'd say one defining feature of a RIA is web-based, zero-install deployment.

Charles Kendrick
08/10/08 6:18 PM

Couple of things. Rich Internet or Interface Application? For "Internet", I agree with the desktop web integration point. "Interface" can mean whatever you want.

We know what "Internet" means. Define "application". Is a web page with a form submit an application? Any page search or an email signup. A dependant plugin? See Firefox. Something dynamic? Any page with a Google ad. Displays content? FDIC.gov is an application (all static content).

Now define "Rich". What makes an application “Rich”? For either “Internet” or “Interface” I bring in usability to the definition. And what is intuitive to you isn’t for me, regardless as to what an expert says. My most recent complaint? Yahoo’s Fantasy Football daft interface.

All in all, I don’t think there is only one definition of “RIA”.

MCG
08/17/08 11:03 AM

I think that one of the unspoken requirements of an RIA, is that it needs to be able to run on all platforms (cross-platform compatible). I could see some java apps falling into this, but iTunes doesn't feel right because there are separate releases depending on the OS.

Asa Williams
08/23/08 3:49 AM

I'll second Asa. An application is not an RIA unless it is cross-platform. therefore, it could be argued that iTunes does not qualify. It could certainly be classed as game-changing in that it's one of the first most visible "internet-accessible application," but not a "Rich" internet application IMO. I guess for me what makes an application "Rich" is not just look-and-feel -- most desktop apps could be "Rich" in that case. What categorizes "Rich" in RIA for me is that it's cross-platform.