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On 04/09/2007, at 05:18, Stanislav Malyshev wrote:
> Yes and no. Yes because it's not that there's new computer science
> being born or something :), no - because things are being done that
> weren't done before, because now it's easier for people to do them.
> As an example, let's look at one of the tons of google maps mashups
> - which *are* very useful if google maps covers the area you are
> interested in - too bad Israel isn't covered :( - and see how
> something like that was done in 80s. The answer is - it wasn't
> done. Such applications just didn't exist.
Map applications are an excellent example for this topic. First, they
may not have existed in the '80, but they certainly did exist in the
early '90s. Only then you couldn't do them without a serious client,
way over the capabilities of the PCs of the day. You needed a unix
workstation in order to present a photographic backdrop, and have
good capabilities for zoom and pan. Even screen resolution is PCs and
macintoshes of the day weren't good enough.
I know that, you see, because I did GIS (Geographical Information
Systems) in the military.
All the tricks you can do with maps - mash them with photos, overlay
them with gas stations and hotels, find all the gas stations that are
within 1 km of a particular road, find geographic location by
address, do the travelling salesman problem (not optimally, of
course), get travel directions and so on - have been solved problems
by 1992 or so. It was just a matter of being able to work the
interface in a user's environment (when the user didn't have $10,000
to spend on a workstation), and improve storage capabilities of
clients, and speed of communications with the client (which is
necessary for GPS devices, because the data in them is dynamic).
To the point of our discussion, though, there are basically three
elements in an application such as ynet maps (the best browser map
system currently in Israel, I believe, given that it actually works
on Firefox). You have a server side which contains all the air
photos, the roads, the addresses, and all the fine algorithms for
finding things. You have a client side which allows for zoom, pan,
view switches, etc. - a flash or java application - and you have the
web envelope around all of them - fields on the side where you enter
the address, and a button which then transfers it to the server. And
maybe on the web server side - a web application that interacts with
the GIS engine and returns results using HTTP.
Neither the server nor the flash client are done by web programmers.
They are left only with the integration - maybe have some HTML
buttons that interact with the flash. Maybe an Ajax that talks to the
server. All of the interesting stuff is done in the server. Some semi-
interesting things are done in the flash client (things HTML is
incapable of - zoom, pan, vector graphics, texts drawn in angles or
following a path...)
Herouth
--Apple-Mail-1-123579580
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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On 04/09/2007, at =
05:18, Stanislav Malyshev wrote:</DIV><BR =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><P =
style=3D"margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face=3D"Arial" size=3D"3" =
style=3D"font: 12.0px Arial">Yes and no. Yes because it's not that =
there's new computer science being born or something :), no - because =
things are being done that weren't done before, because now it's easier =
for people to do them. As an example, let's look at one of the tons of =
google maps mashups - which *are* very useful if google maps covers the =
area you are interested in - too bad Israel isn't covered :( - and see =
how something like that was done in 80s. The answer is - it wasn't done. =
Such applications just didn't exist.</FONT></P> =
</BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>Map applications are an excellent example =
for this topic. First, they may not have existed in the '80, but they =
certainly did exist in the early '90s. Only then you couldn't do them =
without a serious client, way over the capabilities of the PCs of the =
day. You needed a unix workstation in order to present a photographic =
backdrop, and have good capabilities for zoom and pan. Even screen =
resolution is PCs and macintoshes of the day weren't good =
enough.</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I =
know that, you see, because I did GIS (Geographical Information Systems) =
in the military.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>All the tricks you can do =
with maps - mash them with photos, overlay them with gas stations and =
hotels, find all the gas stations that are within 1 km of a particular =
road, find geographic location by address, do the travelling salesman =
problem (not optimally, of course), get travel directions and so on - =
have been solved problems by 1992 or so. It was just a matter of being =
able to work the interface in a user's environment (when the user didn't =
have $10,000 to spend on a workstation), and improve storage =
capabilities of clients, and speed of communications with the client =
(which is necessary for GPS devices, because the data in them is =
dynamic).</DIV><DIV><BR class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>To =
the point of our discussion, though, there are basically three elements =
in an application such as ynet maps (the best browser map system =
currently in Israel, I believe, given that it actually works on =
Firefox). You have a server side which contains all the air photos, the =
roads, the addresses, and all the fine algorithms for finding things. =
You have a client side which allows for zoom, pan, view switches, etc. - =
a flash or java application - and you have the web envelope around all =
of them - fields on the side where you enter the address, and a button =
which then transfers it to the server. And maybe on the web server side =
- a web application that interacts with the GIS engine and returns =
results using HTTP.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Neither the server nor the =
flash client are done by web programmers. They are left only with the =
integration - maybe have some HTML buttons that interact with the flash. =
Maybe an Ajax that talks to the server. All of the interesting stuff is =
done in the server. Some semi-interesting things are done in the flash =
client (things HTML is incapable of - zoom, pan, vector graphics, texts =
drawn in angles or following a path...)</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Herouth</DIV></BODY></HTML>=
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