Eric Farrar

Up until recently, Web applications were "connected-only" applications. Users could only use the application by connecting to the central server and all data access was done in a single place. For many years, people accepted that was the limitation of Web applications. But it isn't a limitation any longer. Over the past year a number of technologies have come along such as Adobe AIR and Google Gears that allow offline access to the data and the application. This is a huge boon to Web developers who, up until now, were hampered by the offline problem of Web applications. Both of these solutions employ a local, lightweight database to serve and store the data while the application is offline. Migrating your "connected-only" application to an "occasionally connected" appli... (more)

The Pitfalls of Creating Data in an Occasionally Connected Application

Up until recently, Web applications were "connected-only" applications. Users could only use the application by connecting to the central server and all data access was done in a single place. For many years, people accepted that was the limitation of Web applications. But it isn't a limitation any longer. Over the past year a number of technologies have come along such as Adobe AIR and G... (more)