AQA 7517 4.9.4.11: Thin- versus thick-client computing
The free BugBot lesson that teach this point, a robot to try it on, and the past-paper questions that test it.
What it covers
At GCSE (F10.1) client-server and peer-to-peer were two ways to organise a network. At A level they are the start of a bigger idea: how programs on different computers are designed to work together. This lesson looks at the request-response model behind the web, the websocket protocol that breaks out of it, how CRUD operations map onto HTTP and SQL in a RESTful API, how the data is formatted as JSON or XML, and how much work to leave on the client: thin or thick.
- Peer to peer and client server
- The client server model
- CRUD and REST
- JSON and XML
- Thin and thick clients
Or do it in the simulator, with tasks that mark themselves
Lessons that teach it
- A12.8 Client server, REST and thin clients Networks and the web
Peer to peer and client server, websockets, CRUD and REST with JSON, and thin versus thick clients.
Try it on a robot
The task from A12.8 Client server, REST and thin clients, running here. Change the program and press Run.
The specification is AQA's own document; this page says which of our lessons teach point 4.9.4.11 and is not endorsed by the board.