>What is fat and thin client?
Basically when you look at thin and fat you have to take it in relative terms that refer to how much logic and hardware needs to run on the client as opposed to the logic running on a server.
A fully self contained application that runs it's own local database engine, does the user interface and reporting internally is on one end of the fat client spectrum. Basically a standalone VFP app is the epidemy of a FAT client application.
On the opposite thin client end is a dumb terminal. No code runs on the client the client only deals with display issues. Code typically runs on another machine or server - the server is typically considered a Fat server.
Then there's middle ground. Actually several levels. Today thin client is also considered for browsers running nothing but script code and DHTML. Although a browser is really a form of terminal (it simply renders content) the browser can also act as a smart client and run code via scripting languages, XML/XSL and so on.
The next step up is what I call medium client. This means the client adds some other tools that perform light business logic. This includes things like ActiveX controls and Java Applets running in a browser for example.
I would also extend medium client to desktop applications that primarily access data across the Web or the network - this can include VFP on the client
Fat client then extends to standalone applications, or client server applications that do all of their processing locally (ie. only use a SQL backend but otherwise all processing and business logic happens in the client appplication).
The bottom line is that you want to find the right medium between thin and fat client for your specific environment. It's a balance between client side flexibility and user interface capability vs. client side hardware and software requirements.
The argument for thin client is minimal maintainance on client machines. The arguments for fat client are flexible user interface (which can include local data access), rich offline capability and fast operation.
Thin client typically tends to be associated with Web browser apps these days. It's also considered for terminal services such as Citrix and Windows Terminal Server Edition.
Hope this helps,
