Esri provides a variety of Web application architecture choices, ranging from a JavaScript API to .NET and Java application development frameworks to rich Internet applications based on Adobe's Flex or Microsoft's Silverlight.
Consider using Web applications if:
- Your application does not require the rich user interface and media support offered by a rich client application.
- Your application must be platform-independent.
- Your application must be available over the Internet.
- You want to minimize client-side dependencies and impact, such as disk or processor usage.