Desktop Application Technologies

[gregulator]

Ok, I will admit, I am a long time Luddite doing lots of low level embedded stuff, with the occasional C# desktop program to interface with devices. Sometimes I might get so crazy as to make a php page to interact with a database!

Ok, I kid, but what I am really trying to say is that I am not well versed in all things React, Angular, Django etc. We had a custom database and interface created a while ago in Adobe Flex (actionscript), Java, and Postgres, and we are at a point where we need a rewrite. I would be fine doing this as a total C# application, but we may want it to be cross platform, and maybe accessible by mobile (definitely not a mobile app, but maybe at least viewable). We will likely keep it as a postgres database, and probably a java service layer for the UI to interact with the database, but what do I need to know about the latest web front ends? Should an application that could be a 10 year+ legacy be running on something like Angular/React? We probably won't have a dedicated programmer after initial development, and I am a little concerned about all these fancy new frameworks that will be built with tons of different libraries. Am I just an old fart and this is fine? It will be a mission critical enterprise application for us, and I don't want it to crap out as web browsers evolve etc.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

 

[Ken g6]

Am I just an old fart and this is fine?

If you are then so am I. I have a few ideas about this.

First, are you sure the application needs a rewrite at all? Flex does HTML5 now.

Otherwise, how complex does your front end need to be? More complex than just simple web forms in PHP? If so, the first thing that comes to mind when you say:

I would be fine doing this as a total C# application

is that C# + web = ASP.NET. (Or now ASP.NET Core, I guess.)

If you prefer Java, JSP on Apache Tomcat might be the direction to go. But I think MS ASP has more front-end features than the Tomcat platform.

 

[mxnerd]

Maybe Electron Desktop Apps? https://electron.atom.io/ seems no mobile support though

PostgresSQL Client written in Electron http://dbglass.web-pal.com/ could be a start

Convert Java to Javascript http://www.jsweet.org/

Note: I'm not a programmer, but very interested in this topic.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'd be concerned with the NPM philosophy of linking in 3,000 packages from an outside repository, like the fiasco when a developer pulled their 11-line code - https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/

But bootstrap / responsive JavaScript apps for the client side is a fairly mature field now. As long as every bit of scripting including fonts that you use is hosted on your own servers you're safe from that kind of stupidity.

Being able to write the UI once (with layout hints for 3 screen levels - phone, tablet, desktop) and run on almost any device with even a semi-modern browser seems like a win. People want to do more and more with their phones and tablets, and with this you just need a browser that runs HTML5. Nothing to install, no breaking changes to .NET libraries, etc.

 

[gregulator]

Thanks for the replies all!

The front end will definitely be more complex than simple web forms. We use some graphs and charting features in Flex to make nice visuals for the lab techs/analysts. Autocomplete and those niceties are also used.

Ken, as a C# application, I was thinking WPF since I use it all the time but haven't looked into ASP.NET. I have to say, I love WYSIWYG editors more than messing around with CSS and HTML, so would ASP.NET be my answer? I know nothing about ASP.NET so I guess I need to dig in to understand what it is.

Dave, YES! That was the exact case I was thinking about when I mentioned all the libraries. I worry more about browsers changing and breaking these frameworks than broken .NET, but that's only because I know I can bundle a specific .NET version, and will be less likely to be able to require a certain browser.

On one hand I do like sticking to what I know, on the other, the programming world is a changing place and maybe I should venture out into this newfangled javascript world.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Are there business reasons to pick one over the other? This might be something to write up the different options for the client and server pieces, along with the pros and cons.

Management might or might not want the device support enough to prefer the browser approach, and there might be business reasons for choosing between the back-end approaches.

 

[Ken g6]

We use some graphs and charting features in Flex to make nice visuals for the lab techs/analysts.

Are you still considering React? Because this just popped up in my news feed: https://css-tricks.com/react-dataviz/

 

[gregulator]

I am not sure, I think there was recently something about the wordpress guys not wanting to use react due to patent concerns.

Also, after a little research, I shouldn't be pitting ASP and C# against Angular, since you can use them together! Sounds like a beautiful mess.

Yeah, I think I am going to have to dig into a risk analysis type of evaluation for them, even though I don't have a great grasp on the fundamentals of the JS based front ends. It sounds like if I use some pretty render library, as long as we download and host a package it should be fine... so long as the browser doesn't break it!

 

[DaveSimmons]

so long as the browser doesn't break it!

I think that is very low-risk as long as you stay away from anything that only works using experimental or browser-specific extensions. The days of IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari all going their own way are mostly over except for some bleeding edge bits that are only partially standardized (touch gestures? video streaming?)

Bootstrap and jQuery for example are safe because they only depend on normal HTML5/CSS that is supported by all modern browsers. They will not stop working in the next 2 decades because the browsers will remain backwards compatible even if HTML6/CSS11 adds new stuff.