Re: [DotGNU]What .NET is this?

[Rhys Weatherley]

Sorry about the delay.  I've been at a conference and
am only now catching up on my e-mail.

Bill Lance wrote:

> So what advantage is gained by the .NET runtime?  Are
> you assuming that the app used (and presumably needed)
> RPC's to various Verizon data sites in orders to
> acomplish it's task?

I know absolutely nothing about why they thought .NET
was better.  I just expressed an opinion that they probably
had it lying around, is all.  It isn't uncommon for some
programmers to think that the tool they have is better
than the tool they don't have.  It was just an opinion.

> > The real test of .NET will be end-user apps on the
> > ground, not quick-fire solutions to one-off vertical
> > problems.  Anything can be used for one-offs.
> > That's
> > always been the case.
>
> I'm not sure about that.  The whole concept of
> middleware has always struck me as being far more
> relevant to internal system development where it's a
> variant of the ol' problem of making your network
> work.

Well, I come from a user interface background, so I do
tend to see things differently. :-)  But I agree with your
view where middleware is concerned.

> There's all kinds of interesting new tricks in this
> space.  Some time in the near future, even b2b uses
> may evolve.  However, I am having terrible trouble
> envisoning a significant use of this for the internet
> enduser.

Java promised to deliver applications to the end user
using applets.  That never took off, in part because Sun's
early implementations ran like a dog, and they persisted
in plugging them into the browser, where they didn't
belong.  This space may (or may not) get a kick-start
using .NET.

I certainly hope so, because I am heartily sick of seeing
company after company twist their applications to fit into
HTML, which was never designed for application delivery.
There are pocket calculators with a better UI than the
average "Web application".

As a user interface guy at heart, I'd like to see a real
application-to-client platform emerge.  But first we
must ditch the "everything is a Web page" virus that
has infected the industry.  Only then will innovation
restart.  IMNSHO, of course. :-)

Cheers,

Rhys.