Is Client/Server Really Dead?

the-empty-string asks: "Technology fads come and go, but sometimes they do leave behind real systems supporting real business processes. There was a time when 'client/server' was all the rage, and today there are thousands of such systems still in use, happily serving HR departments, providing inventory management, or tracking complex production processes. These days, after 'reusable components', 'three-tier', 'J2EE', and other resume-enhancing keywords, the magic phrase is 'Web services'. Consequently, many companies think they must scrape their existing client/server applications, in order to "move them to the Web". While the advantages of exposing functionality to the outside world are beyond debate, does this mean perfectly good and working applications must be abandoned only because they are client/server, or do they still have a useful role to play? Also, what is the migration strategy you would recommend to your boss or your customer, when these systems have to be replaced no matter what?"

Comments

Uhh, No.

[smoondog]

Last time I checked /. was a server....

You need a vacation in a log cabin...

[Hubert_Shrump]

You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
>_

Where are all the jerks on Slashdot today?

[WayTooOldForThis]

I don't get it. Having just read through the posts so far, I can't help noticing that:

They are mostly on-topic.

There is a relatively low occurrence of lame wisecracks

Most of the posters seem to have read the content of the article before posting. If this keeps up, it threatens the very existence of the /. culture!

You make me laugh

[sigwinch]

This reminds me of a comment on Kuro5hin:

Client Schmient

The whole client/server concept is so '01. We abandoned it in favor of something we call "(n-1) tier". No clients at all, just multiple levels of server. We don't even expose an interface, most of the time.