2 replies to this topic

[rick_ca]

I would like to get the opinion of web programmers as well as programmers for desktop software (linux or windows), is there anything about developing an application to run on a linux or windows desktop that is easier and less time consuming than developing an application for the web? Also, would it be easier to develop a application to be more easily scalable for a desktop environment (such as running on an application server) than for a system set up as a web server?. I would be interested to hear responses to this.

[TcM]

I think that it depends, right now at work I'm developing a web application using PHP, I have to design databases etc... it's not hard to code but I've been working on it for like 20 hours in total, and I'm nowhere near ready, and this application can't be done via a desktop application. It's not a matter of time, it's a matter of what can you do if you develop a web application or a desktop application.

[WingedPanther]

My company has a family of products that includes a desktop app (windows) and a web frontend. The desktop app is MUCH easier to control the behavior of. Formatting is consistent regardless of the version of windows used, and things pretty much "just work". The web front-end is for our customers' customers. I develop in FireFox because of the available tools, and then have to rework things to behave in IE, when possible. In high security environments with IE7, things will just fail to work because of security settings, but the users won't know how to fix them. It's a real pain sometimes.