Carl A. Gutwin
T. C. Nicholas Graham
ABSTRACT
Standard web browsers are becoming a common platform for delivering groupware applications, but until recently, the only way to support real-time collaboration was with browser plug-ins. New networking approaches have recently been introduced - based on re-purposed techniques for delivering web pages (Comet), or integration of real-time communication directly into the browser (HTML5 WebSockets). Little is currently known, however, about whether these new approaches can support real-time groupware. We carried out a study to assess the performance of the three different networking approaches, based on a framework of groupware requirements, in several network settings. We found that web-based networking performs well - better than plug-in approaches in some cases - and can support the communication requirements of many types of real-time groupware. We also developed two groupware applications using Comet and WebSockets, and showed that they provided fast and consistent performance on the real-world Internet. Our studies show that web-based networking can support real-time collaboration, and suggest that groupware developers should consider the browser as a legitimate vehicle for real-time multi-user systems.
- Bentley, R., Horstmann, T., and Trevor, J., The World Wide Web as Enabling Technology for CSCW: The Case of BSCW, CSCW, 6, 2--3, 1997, 111--134. Google Scholar
Digital Library
- Buszko, D., Lee, W., and Helal, A. Decentralized ad-hoc groupware API and framework for mobile collaboration. Proc. Group 2001, 5--14. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Chung, G., Dewan, P., and Rajaram, S. Generic and composable latecomer accommodation service for centralized shared systems. Proc. EHCI 1998, 129--148. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Crane, D. and McCarthy, P., Comet and Reverse Ajax: the Next-Generation Ajax 2.0. Apress, 2008. Google ScholarDigital Library
- de Alwis, B., Gutwin, C., and Greenberg, S., GT/SD: Performance and simplicity in a groupware toolkit, Proc. EICS 2009, 265--274. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Dyck, J., Gutwin, C., Subramanian, S., Fedak, C., High-performance telepointers. Proc. CSCW 2004, 172--181. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Dyck, J., Gutwin, C., Graham, T., and Pinelle, D., Beyond the LAN: techniques from network games for improving groupware performance. Proc. GROUP 2007, 291--300. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Google Inc., Laying the Foundation for a New Google Docs, googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/04/laying-foundation-for-new-google-docs.html (May 17, 2010).Google Scholar
- Google Inc., Google Web Toolkit Overview. code.google.com/webtoolkit/ (July 31, 2010).Google Scholar
- Hall, R., Mathur, A., Jahanian, F., Prakash, A., and Rassmussen, C. Corona: a communication service for scalable, reliable group collaboration systems. Proc. CSCW 1996, 140--149. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 1Ionescu, M., and I. Marsic. Latecomer and Crash Recovery Support in Fault Tolerant Groupware. IEEE Distributed Systems Online, 2, 7, 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Jobs, S., Thoughts on Flash, www.apple.com/hotnews/ thoughts-on-flash/ (May 17, 2010).Google Scholar
- Mills, E., Adobe Flash policy is risky, news.cnet.com/ 8301--27080_3--10396326--245.html (July 31, 2010).Google Scholar
- Morgan, S., and Wang, W., The Impact of Web 2.0 Developments on Real-Time Groupware, Proc. IEEE Conference on Social Computing 2010, 534--539. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Navarre, D., Palanque, P., Basnyat, S., Usability Service Continuation through Reconfiguration of Input and Output Devices in Safety Critical Interactive Systems, Proc. SAFECOMP 2008, LNCS 5219, 373--386. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Palmer, J., Web Site Usability, Design, and Performance Metrics, Information Systems Research, 13, 2, 151--167. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Roseman, M., and Greenberg, S., Building real-time groupware with GroupKit, a groupware toolkit. ToCHI, 3, 1, 1996, 66--106. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Russel, A., Comet: Low Latency Data for the Browser, alex.dojotoolkit.org/2006/03/comet-low-latency-data-for-the-browser/, retrieved July 31, 2010.Google Scholar
- Symantec Inc., Internet Security Threat Report: Volume XV: April 2010, www4.symantec.com/Vrt/wl?tu_id =SUKX1271711282503126202, (July 31, 2010).Google Scholar
- Tian, M., Voigt, T., Naumowicz,, T., Ritter, H., Schiller, J., Performance considerations for mobile web services, Comp. Comm., 27, 11, 2004, 1097--1105. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 2Titchkosky, L., Arlitt, M., and Williamson, C. A performance comparison of dynamic Web technologies. SIGMETRICS Perform. Eval. Rev. 31, 3, 2003, 2--11. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 2Wang, W. Powermeeting: gwt-based synchronous groupware. Proc. Hypertext 2008, 251--252. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wikipedia, Plug-In (computing), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ /Plug-in_%28computing%29 (July 15, 2010).Google Scholar
- Wikipedia, Bit Rate, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ /Bit_rate (Nov. 30, 2010.Google Scholar
- Wolfe, C., Graham, T.C.N., Phillips, W.G., and Roy, B., Fiia: User-Centered Development of Adaptive Groupware Systems, Proc. EICS 2009, 275--284. Google ScholarDigital Library
- World-Wide Web Consortium, The Web Sockets API, http://www.w3.org/TR/websockets/ (July 31, 2010).Google Scholar
- World-Wide Web Consortium, HTML Device, http://www.w3.org/TR/html-device/ (July 31, 2010)..Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Real-time groupware in the browser: testing the performance of web-based networking
Recommendations
Building real-time groupware with GroupKit, a groupware toolkit
This article presents an overview of GroupKit, a groupware toolkit that lets developers build applications for synchronous and distributed computer-based conferencing. GroupKit was constructed from our belief that programming groupware should be only ...
Comments