Although the term might be unfamiliar to many, Rich Internet Application (RIA) can be a useful tool, especially for customer-facing applications. RIAs are web applications with the features and functions of traditional desktop applications that transfer the processing necessary for the user interface to the web client while keeping most of the data on the application server.
Learn more about the benefits of RIA:
- read the definition [1] at Wikipedia
- or read a blog entry [2] from an RIA fan at FlexLive
Links:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Internet_application
[2] http://www.flexlive.net/?p=62