From Web to Desktop

[ChipRivers]

I am a bit of a web design enthusiast and am reasonabley compatent with basic web design using hmtl, javascript, php and mysql etc. I have been asked to work on a simple database system to run on a desktop allowing a search facility of entered records. I can do this using my current skills to run through a browser over a network of computers but would there be any advantage to learn a new language and programme it as a bit of software rather than a web application?

[Merve]

You don't have to learn a new language: PHP-GTK (http://gtk.php.net/). ;)

I'd say that you should go ahead and learn the new language if you think that you're going to need it in the future. If you're referring to C or C++, then I think that you should. That way, you'll be able to more than just web programming.

However, if you intend on sticking to web programming in the future and not expanding your horizons, then I would go the web browser way. This would also be the thing to do if you have limited time for the project.

But if you have time, I'd learn the new language. In the competitive job market that there is today, you can never know to many languages. (Learning Mandarin Chinese might help too. ;))

[Weedpacket]

Err...., what? I mean - a web application is software. If what you're writing will need access to the user's system beyond what a web browser would be allowed to give it on security grounds, then yes, you would need to learn something additional.

[ChipRivers]

Err...., what? I mean - a web application is software. If what you're writing will need access to the user's system beyond what a web browser would be allowed to give it on security grounds, then yes, you would need to learn something additional.

What I am looking to do is create the users system! What I write will run on the the users business premise network and hold a database of records. The application will offer various options to search and pull records from the database. I can write this to run as a web application and save it onto the newtork server, making it accessible through Internet Explorer on each of the machines but what I was wondering is if it would be as easy nad perhaps create a more professional finish if I could create a more windows based style application that would run on each of the machines and search a database held some where on the network?

Does that make sense?

[thorpe]

Does that make sense?
Yes. In my opinion, unless you specifically need the application to run over the web, it would look more professional built as more a desktop application.

As Merve pointed out, you dont really need to learn a different language to do this, you could use php-gtk. Though ive found the php-gtk implimentation to be a little flaky. Python or Ruby are two great languages with libraries available for this sort of thing. Its up too you though really. Stick with what you know.... or learn another language?

[dalecosp]

Sorry to chime in late here, but:

What about the rest of the world that says that "the Network is the system" (is that a Scott McNealy quote??)

Anyone wanna sound off on the "monolithic single-user app vs. web app" question?

Incidentally, what about writing a web app, then including a "skinned" version of an alternate browser to act as the client? Might look slick, and wouldn't require any (well, much) additional brainfoo...

[MarkR]

It's perfectly feasible to write a front-end that allows you to deploy something which is really a web app to the desktop and make it look like a conventional one.

Technology to do this certainly exists in the form of Microsoft's HTML Applications, and Mozilla's XUL, both of which allow you to create an application out of html-like markup, which can contain an embedded web browser if you like.

Mark