A Rich Internet Application (RIA) is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered by way of a site-specific browser, a browser plug-in, an independent sandbox, extensive use of JavaScript, or a virtual machine. Adobe Flash, JavaFX, and Microsoft Silverlight are currently the three most common platforms, with desktop browser penetration rates around 96%, 76%, and 66% respectively (as o...
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A Rich Internet Application (RIA) is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered by way of a site-specific browser, a browser plug-in, an independent sandbox, extensive use of JavaScript, or a virtual machine. Adobe Flash, JavaFX, and Microsoft Silverlight are currently the three most common platforms, with desktop browser penetration rates around 96%, 76%, and 66% respectively (as of August 2011). Mobile phone penetration of these plugins, however, has remained low even as internet traffic from these devices has grown. Although new Web standards have emerged, they still use the principles behind RIAs.
Users generally need to install a software framework using the computer's operating system before launching the application, which typically downloads, updates, verifies and executes the RIA. This is the main differentiator from JavaScript-based alternatives like Ajax that use built-in browser functionality to implement...
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