Differences between WEB and Windows desktop applications

[Daniela Roman]

Hello,
can someone tell me the main differences between the web and windows based
applications?
thank you

 

[Mark Rae]

can someone tell me the main differences between the web and windows based
applications?

Web applications run over the Intranet or an enclosed intranet and are
accessed through a browser.

Windows applications are installed on your computer.

 

[Josef Pfleger]

Hello,
can someone tell me the main differences between the web and windows based
applications?
thank you

If by the latter you're referring to "Windows Forms Applications" the
most significant differences are

* Webapplications run on webservers (usually IIS)
* Winforms Applications run on Clients

also,

* Webservices & Websites (ASP.NET) are typical web applications
* Winforms applications are programs with a GUI put together by controls
in the System.Windows.Forms namespace
* Winforms applications depend on the .Net Framework but not on the
"Windows" operating system so they could (hypothetically) run on other
platforms and .net-implementations (have a look at mono)

josef

 

[Michael Nemtsev]

Hello Daniela,

There were already several answers, but you probably asking to know not the
pure differences but select what to choose for your development, right?

Thus it's better to describe what are u going to do, and we can help u to
find out the right approach

DR> Hello,
DR> can someone tell me the main differences between the web and windows
DR> based
DR> applications?
DR> thank you
---
WBR,
Michael Nemtsev :: blog: http://spaces.live.com/laflour

"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not
cease to be insipid." (c) Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Daniela,

To do it from my point of view.

ASPNet applications are forever physical 3 tier application like as done on
Unix.
Client (the webbrowser), The middle Tier (the webapplication) The server
(the database).

Physical is a windowform application mostly a 2 tier, althoug in a good
design it has multi layers (what is by some called tiers).
Client (the window forms) The server (the database).

Error checking is therefore at webapplication (beside some javascript
checking) always full screen while it is with windowforms direct on the
entered or selected data.

For me are that the major differences, which need in fact a complete
different approach.

I hope this gives an idea,

Cor

 

[Steven Nagy]

In addition to everyone else's comments...

Windows applications depend on the following namespace:
System.Windows.Forms

Web apps use:
System.Web.UI

With windows applications, you are coding against events "as they
happen" where as with web applications, if someone performs an event
(such as a button click, drop down list selection,etc) then the
information first has to be posted back to the server where the code
will then run. So to summarise, with windows apps. the code is running
on the person's machine, but with web apps, its actually running on the
foreign server and the user just gets some HTML/Javascript that is
generated from that code.

Steven

 

[Daniela Roman]

Thank you for all the replies.
The differences that I saw were:

- windows applications (desktop) need to be installed on each client's PC,
together with .NET Framework; changes determine a new installation on all
stations
- web applications install only on the web server together with the
framework; the clients access the app from a single location; any change
doesn't need to be installed on each station.

- web applications have the authentication/authorization mechanism partially
built
- desktop applications (windows forms) need the entire mechanism built

- web apps have validation controls
- windows apps don't have validation controls, data needs to be validated
through code

please add more differences if you know

 

[Daniela Roman]

Cor,
cannot I have a windows desktop application in a 3-tier design?

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Daniela,

A *physical* 3 tier system or a multi layer system as probably all of us
have.

Cor

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Daniela,

Where did you read the conclusion you wrote in this thread, because non of
these points is true and even most are in contrary?.

- windows applications (desktop) need to be installed on each client's PC,
together with .NET Framework; changes determine a new installation on all
stations

As it is Net they both have to be installed once on a webserver using
Publish. If it is not a Net application than the Net is not needed to be
installed. At IE7 this last point is even gone ofcourse.

- web applications install only on the web server together with the
framework; the clients access the app from a single location; any change
doesn't need to be installed on each station.

Even this is not true, if you are using JavaApplets, javascript, activeX or
whatever, you have to be sure that the right version is in the users cache..

- web applications have the authentication/authorization mechanism
partially built
- desktop applications (windows forms) need the entire mechanism built

With a windows application you can easily use the Is In Role
authentication/authorization mechanisme as in any windows application.

- web apps have validation controls
- windows apps don't have validation controls, data needs to be validated
through code

The validation on Web is fair, you cannot simple check a date by instance if
that is not typed in the way it is given on the webpage. In a window forms
application a lot is done for you, just as the user is typing it.


Cor

 

[Daniela Roman]

I was referring to .NET environment exclusively and this was my
understanding reading different sources, it's not necessarily true, I just
wanted to confirm.
In a multi-user environment a web application doesn't need to be installed
on each client's computer like with desktop apps., where there is only one
installation on the web server
A change in the app will determine one single re-installation on the web
server but in the desktop case, it should be done on each individual PC
..NET Framework needs to be installed on either WEB server (for web apps) or
on each PC (for desktop) for .NET apps to run, which is a one-many relation

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Daniela,

Try either in a web or in a windowforms application using the C# 2005 IDE

Build
Publish

Cor

 

[Steven Nagy]

Yes Daniela you are right.
As an overall guidance, the process of updating those seperate
instances is as easy as each other, but the overall concept is correct.
If you are building web app, you only need to update the app on the web
server. If you want to update a deployed windows app, you need to
udpate the individual applications on each pc. There are easy ways to
do this and VS2005 has one click deployment methods, but the overall
result is still the same.

Naturally there are lots of other factors such as how much control you
have over the target windows apps, if they use a shared or standalone
database, etc.

I guess if you plan on doing lots of updates, web is the way to go. But
if you want the improved integration with the windows api, then use a
windows app.

<answer flame="false">

The amount of crap that runs client side now days pretty much makes the
concept of a "thin client" redundant anyway, in my opinion.

</answer>

 

[Cor Ligthert [MVP]]

Steven,

I think that you are beside the true situation and still are using facts
which seemed to be true in the previous century. The (in my opinion) most
important choice you have to make is if your supposed users will download
your application on their computer.

If that is not the fact, than a webapplication is the only way to go. In
other words, do the users belong to your domain or do they want to belong to
that.

Cor

 

[Steven Nagy]

I think that you are beside the true situation and still are using facts

which seemed to be true in the previous century.

Which facts do you think were true in the previous century?
Are you implying that those same facts are no longer valid in this
century?

 

[Geek]

Windows Applications are always executable(.exe) but web apps are
not(.dll).
Windows Apps dont have any implicit objects that belong to all web
apps(Session,Application..).
Windows Apps for decentralised server Apps but web apps are relying
fully