What is a Software Application?
Desktop Applications
A software application (software app) is any tool that functions and is operated by means of a computer, with the purpose of providing specific functionality that improves the software user's effeciency and (generally speaking) makes the user's task(s) easier. In other words, it is a subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. This should be contrasted with system software (e.g. operating system) which is involved in integrating a computer's various capabilities, but typically does not directly apply them in the performance of tasks that benefit the user. In this context, the term "application" refers to the application software, its development and implementation.
Web Applications
In software engineering, a web application (web app, for short) is an application that is accessed via web browser over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. It is also a computer software application, however a web app is coded in a browser-supported language (such as HTML, JavaScript, Java, etc.) and reliant on a web browser to render the application. The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for their popularity. Common web applications include webmail, online retail sales, online auctions, wikis, massively multiplayer online role-playing games and many other functions.
Some of the applications that I have helped to develop are shown below.
Desktop Applications
VantagePoint™ 1.0
VantagePoint™ is a high performance, feature-rich geospatial imaging and analysis designed for the Microsoft Windows® platform. With VantagePoint, GIS analysts can connect to local and remote databases: query, view, extract and modify data at their discretion. VantagePoint allows easy-access to a diverse array of file formats as well as many spatial data types—all from within one powerful interface. The software program also offers a robust suite of tools for image creation and cartography.
My Role
UX (User Experience) Design; Usability Best-Practices; GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design; creation of all graphic assets used in the program
(e.g. icons, buttons, splash screens); SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) design and creation of vector assets used in the VP symbol library.
Design, development and maintenance of web sites and web services associated with the application.
More Information
For more information about VantagePoint, please visit: www.sirran.com
Viewport™ 1.0
Viewport™ was designed as a imagery viewing and editing tool aimed at providing fast and easy access to large, distributed spatial datasets. The powerful user interface and connectivity tools provided GIS analysts a sophisticated way to query, extract and view satellite imagery, spatial data and related metadata. Viewport is used to access and combine vector, raster and elevation imagery data from local and remote network resources to create mosaics and detailed maps.
My Role
UX (User Experience) Design; Usability Best-Practices; GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design; creation of all graphic assets used in the program
(e.g. icons, buttons, splash screens); Design and development of the web site and web services used in conjunction with the software.
More Information
The Viewport 1.0 application evolved into VantagePoint 1.0 (see above).
Web Applications
EarthWhere™ 4.0
EarthWhere™ is a web-based, spatial data management and provisioning application. It represents a paradigm shift in the ability to acquire, process and provision satellite imagery and other "mission-critical" geospatial assets.
The latest version of the application sports an innovative user interface and a powerful provisioning architecture that allows end-users to interact with their data in a flexible and robust framework. The application is employed in civilian, military, and scientific capacities.
My Role
Application Prototyping, front-end design and development (e.g. XML, XHTML, CSS, Javascript); Usability Best-Practices; GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design;
creation of all graphic elements used in the program (e.g. layout, branding, panes, buttons, icons).
More Information
For more information about EarthWhere, please visit: www.earthwhere.com
EarthWhere™ 2.0
EarthWhere was designed to solve a number of problems related to storing, cataloging and accessing satellite imagery and related "geospatial" assets.
My Role
Front-end design and development (e.g. HTML, Javascript); Usability Best-Practices; GUI (Graphical User Interface) Design; creation of all graphic elements
used in the program (e.g. layout, icons, buttons, fly-outs).
More Information
EarthWhere has since been updated adding new features and functionality; for more, please see: EarthWhere 4.0 (above).
See also: Websites