Abstract

For this meeting we will join the SRG seminar.

Client-server system goals and technology have come a long way from their original purpose as an infrastructure for the sharing of networked resources. Driven by the demand for widely-available and rich user interaction, the prevalent client-server infrastructure has evolved to become the web application environment. We trace the evolution of software design and technology developments that have led us to this point. RPC , CORBA, REST and AJAX are salient points that will be visited along the way. Our quest is for an answer to the question: is the web application environment a satisfactory basis for the development of interactive applications?

George Coulouris is Emeritus Professor of Computer Systems at Queen Mary, University of London and a Senior Research Associate at the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory.