A Dozen Client-Server Applications

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    Paul Bonnette
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Back in New York I took the skills learned on ImageFiler LE and produced about a dozen different commercial applications, including building really professional installation disks - complete with license keys. I also built and supported dozens of integrations. Here are a few that I can remember:

ImageFiler ID

  • Application to produce PVC ID Badges
  • Installation disks
  • License key

This was a popular software package.

ImageFiler K12

This was simply a copy of ImageFiler ID but with a few student-centric features.

Integrations included a Palm application which I developed in C. Students would show up in a hallway and with a scan of their ID the teacher knew exactly what room they belonged in.

EvidenceTrack

This spec isn't hard to figure out. It tracked evidence for law enforcement.

A Shift In The Development Paradigm

Client-server applications tended to bog down on server memory and resources until the eventual tech call would come in. We would re-boot the server and the process of adding users would inevitably start the whole process again.

About this time a new approach was being used - browser based PHP (LAMP) applications.

PHP(LAMP) to the Rescue

PHP applications were light weight. They only keep a small session file on each connection. PHP applications checked credentials, accessed the database, built the web page then quickly freed up all resources like nothing every happened - all in mere milliseconds. It could handle thousands of connections per second on a single server without breaking a sweat. It was amazing.

I fell in love. I built massive applications on massive servers with twelve threads pumping data at full steam on an optical fiber Internet connection serving thousands of connections per second. PHP eclipsed anything a tiny little client-server application ever dream of. It was glorious!