1.3.2. Client-Side Interactivity

Client-Side interactivity is processed on the client-side as the name implies. But what is meant by this? We explain it using an example.

We have the following application that contains interactivity (Click on the text to create a new rectangle):

To process the interactivity of the example above, you do not need connection to the Internet nor to a server. The interactivity is processed on the computer of the client (your computer).

It is easy to proof (this exercise is optional): Do right click on the SVG example and choose "Save SVG as...". Save the file to your temp folder on your computer (with the ending .svg). Then open it in a browser. You will see that you are still able to process the interactivity. That is, because the scripts (here JavaScript) that control the interactivity lie in the file that you downloaded. Therefore, when you download the file you download the scripts as well and you are still able to perform the interactions without Internet access.

In this case, the interactivity or so called data processing is processed on the client-side.

If the data processing is on the client-side, we talk of a fat client as you already learned in the lesson Internet Techniques and Web Formats.

Typical client-side interactions are:

• Mouseover effects (e.g. showing information)
• Pan or zoom within a map