The New Web is Here

Now that JavaScript has become the de facto language for application development, we need to find new ways to deliver "line of business" application for our clients that span the range of desktop and mobile devices.

Native Applications

The distinction between native applications and web applications are becoming more blurred with the development of PWAs (progressive web applications).

We primarily use the iconic framework to deliver write once run anywhere systems.

The Ionic platform now allows us to build applications using React Hooks and Typescript.

HTML & JavaScript

The main advantage of HTML is that it is guaranteed to be rendered on almost every kind of device used within an organization. HTML Web pages are a good way of providing information to the user, primarily in the format of text and pictures, and with the introduction of HTML5 these documents can present video and vector graphics.

However, writing complex applications in JavaScript can be time consuming and difficult to maintain. To mitigate this limitation in the development process we advise using a framework to overcomes some of the problems of different implementations within the browser environment.

Solutions for RIA Applications

Here are some common frameworks we used to build rich Internet applications. Each stack has its own advantages and disadvantages. Choice of technology is dependent on the requirements of problem being solved.

	Angular Material	React	Ionic	Vue
Approach Used	JavaScript framework	JavaScript library	Mobile development	Up and coming
Main Advantages	Good looking user interface	Good structure for large teams	Cross platform development	Good separation of concerns

Isomorphic applications

In recent years we have tended to build our solutions as an isomorphic application, using technologies like Next, Nuxt and Nest.

This provides SEQ optimization and a fast first page as well as good user interactions once the site has loaded.

Which is best combination?

The quality of the development team is paramount, with the choice of technology stack taking second place. The stack choice has a major influence the time, and therefore the cost, needed to create a solution.

At Keldan Systems we prefer functional React and Node stack as our preferred tools for rapid development Line Of Business HTML applications.

A game changer for visualization is the D3 project, that allows the integration of data into complex documents or graphical visualizations

For 2020 the project to watch is Vue 3 with the Composition API, a new approach to building applications using the typescript language

As times change and new software becomes available, we evaluate its usefulness and only include it in our collection of tools if it suited to a particular situation.