Rich client platform
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A rich client platform (RCP) is software consisting of the following components:
- A core (microkernel), lifecycle manager
- A standard bundling framework
- A portable widget toolkit
- File buffers, text handling, text editors
- A workbench (views, editors, perspectives, wizards)
- Data binding
- Update manager
With a RCP, programmers can build their own applications on existing platforms. Instead of having to write a complete application from scratch, they can benefit from proven and tested features of the framework provided by the platform. Building on a platform facilitates faster application development and integration, while the cross-platform burden is taken on by the platform developers.
Their creators claim that programs built with RCP platforms are portable to many operating systems while being as rich as client-server applications which use so called fat clients or traditional clients.
Open-source examples are the Eclipse, NetBeans and Spring Framework RCPs for Java.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Eclipse Rich Client Platform wiki
- Projecto Colibri RCP
- NetBeans Platform
- Enterprise Eclipse RCP Article by Peter Friese und Stefan Reichert (in German)
