pclarke7
asked on
C# - Questions about developing a client/server application
Hello,
I have developed a barcoding application in c# as a means of learning c# and .NET. Whilst the application utilises a SQL database on a remote server - it is not a client server application and as such requires a lot of needless setup on each individual PC which would not be required if it had been developed as a client/server system. I am now looking at re-developing this as a client/server application. All of the background processing will be done on the server and the screen inputs will be processed by the client. That being said - I know little or nothing about client server. I have some basic questions, such as:
- Which side should push/pull and how should communications between client/server work
- Should the client & Server be developed as two seperate projects
I obviously need to get the foundations right , so If someone can point me in the right direction and also point me to where I can find some non complex examples of client/server structure - I'd realy appreciate it.
regards
Pat
I have developed a barcoding application in c# as a means of learning c# and .NET. Whilst the application utilises a SQL database on a remote server - it is not a client server application and as such requires a lot of needless setup on each individual PC which would not be required if it had been developed as a client/server system. I am now looking at re-developing this as a client/server application. All of the background processing will be done on the server and the screen inputs will be processed by the client. That being said - I know little or nothing about client server. I have some basic questions, such as:
- Which side should push/pull and how should communications between client/server work
- Should the client & Server be developed as two seperate projects
I obviously need to get the foundations right , so If someone can point me in the right direction and also point me to where I can find some non complex examples of client/server structure - I'd realy appreciate it.
regards
Pat
ASKER
Thanks MajorBigDeal,
just before I accept and close this can I ask if I develop the server part of my client/server application as a service - how difficult would it be to convert this to a web based service down the line. Would it be a complete re-write or a simple conversion ?
regards
Pat
just before I accept and close this can I ask if I develop the server part of my client/server application as a service - how difficult would it be to convert this to a web based service down the line. Would it be a complete re-write or a simple conversion ?
regards
Pat
That's a great question. I'm a little swamped right now, if you don't mind waiting I'd like to try to answer your question next week. I've only written a few web services but I've written many servers (both services and daemons) so I'm not a super-expert but I do feel entitled to an opinion.
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ASKER
Thanks MajorBigDeal,
for the effort that you went to , to answer my question. Excellent advice which I will try to adhere to.
regards
Pat
for the effort that you went to , to answer my question. Excellent advice which I will try to adhere to.
regards
Pat
So there is a service running on the server that is available at all times. The user interface on the client sends a request and the server responds. That is it! Each time the client wants to query or update, it sends a request and the server responds.
Here is an example of writing a simple .net service:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bclteam/archive/2005/03/15/396428.aspx