Chapter 16. Building a navigation application
This chapter covers:
- The purpose of navigation applications
- Building a navigation application
- Page functions
- Finally, a definition for lactucarium
It’s one of those strange ironies that, as web browser application developers are doing their best to provide more Windows-like functionality to their applications, Windows application developers are trying to make their apps more “webby.” This has led to Windows applications that have back and forward buttons, that never pop up child windows, and that are often quite difficult to use.
The fact is that there are situations where browser concepts fit quite well into Windows applications, just as there are situations where Windows metaphors fit well into browser applications—it all comes down to the purpose of the application. Browsers were designed for navigating content—moving through documents. In such a context, the ability to move back and forward, for example, fits very well. On the other hand, when trying to build a data-entry application in a browser, moving back and forward is, at best, ambiguous, and, at worst, a good way of annoying your customers as their data disappears into the ether.