New Web applications
are bringing us closer
to the Web as
operating system
that not only go beyond the capabilities of classic Web applications but
also exceed the features of desktop
applications.
In short, this next generation of
Web applications is bringing us
BY JIM RAPOZA much closer to a future of the Web
as an operating system. And now
As the web was born and grew in importance in the early is the time for businesses to get
ready for the latest change in Web
1990s, it immediately changed the way the world connected,
communicated and gained knowledge. And while the Web technology.
In this IT Planner, e Week looks
has had a major impact on all aspects of society, it has had an espe- at the five key attributes of these
cially big effect on businesses. cutting-edge Web technologies and
From the get-go, the Web has been a moving target when it comes offers some tips on ways that com-to a company’s ability to stay on top of changing technologies and panies can prepare for and even
dynamics. begin building and deploying some
of these innovative Web applica-At first, the Web was mainly a static place, consisting of basic tions.
HTML pages. But as the first-mover companies got up to speed, After all, when it comes to Web
it quickly changed into a place that used CGI (Common Gateway technology, standing still is not an
Interface)- and Perl-based applications, along with new security tech- option.
nologies, to enable a whole host of new capabilities—most notably, [CONTINUED ON PAGE 42]
e-commerce.
And again, just as companies were
getting comfortable, XML, SOAP
(Simple Object Access Protocol) and
other new technologies opened up
the world of SOA (service-oriented
architecture), completely changing
how applications, systems and businesses connected. This was followed
by the whole 2.0 phenomenon of
blogs, wikis and social networking.
Now, just as your company is
finally feeling at ease with 2.0 technologies, the Web is set to move on
again.
The next generation of the Web
is marked by dynamic, interactive,
open and highly flexible applications The Yahoo Mail beta is an example of a Web application updated with an AJAX interface.
