Web Application Collaborative Framework for State Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional web applications suffer from poor user interactivity due to synchronous request processing, full page refreshes, and lack of application-independent solutions for persistence and sharing, requiring developers to reinvent collaborative features.
Innovation Solution
A server-client based framework that enables collaborative interaction by replicating the application state, persisting changes, and maintaining consistency across clients without requiring specific knowledge of the web application design, using client-side libraries and tuples to manage updates and ensure interactivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all user requests are processed by the server, then the server can maintain centralized control, but the response time increases due to round-trip time to the server
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the request processing by introducing a client-side library that handles local state management and change propagation asynchronously. The client-side library processes changes locally without waiting for server confirmation, dividing the processing workload between client and server to reduce response time while maintaining centralized persistence through the server.
2Reliability
If requests are made synchronously, then the server can process changes in order, but the user is blocked from performing further actions until the response is received
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables continuous user interaction by allowing the client-side library to process changes asynchronously without blocking the user interface. The client-side library continuously propagates changes to the server and updates the local state, maintaining useful action continuity while the server processes changes in order through its persistent storage mechanism.
3Reliability
If full page refresh is used for responses, then the server can ensure complete state update, but the interactivity and responsiveness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the state management functionality from the full page refresh mechanism and implements it through the client-side library that maintains local state and propagates changes asynchronously. This extraction allows state consistency to be maintained without requiring complete page refreshes, thereby preserving interactivity and responsiveness.
4Adaptability or versatility
If proprietary solutions are used for persistence and sharing, then specific application requirements can be met, but developers have to reinvent the wheel repeatedly
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides a universal client-side library that implements persistence and sharing capabilities through standardized interfaces and mechanisms. This universal library can be applied across different web applications without requiring proprietary solutions, reducing development complexity while maintaining the ability to meet application-specific requirements through configuration rather than reinvention.
Data Source
AI summary
A framework for facilitating collaborative interaction between users of a web application is presented. The framework provides persistence and sharing mechanisms for arbitrary application-defined objects. The sharing mechanism is coupled with a consistency mechanism that keeps client states consistent even when users perform conflicting operations. This framework is application-independent in that the persistence, sharing between clients and maintaining a consistent state among the clients is accomplished without the need for specific knowledge of the design of the web application. Thus, web developers can focus on the logic of the application and the UI, instead of spending time designing and implementing collaborative capabilities.