The SEMPA prototype - using XAML and web services for rich interactive Peer-to-Peer applications

Currently one can see a surge of evolving technologies supporting the creation of Rich Internet Applications. All of these approaches however traditionally address the classic Client/Server scenario in which a dedicated Web Server acts as application provider for thin clients. This paper argues, that there are many scenarios in which a Peer-to-Peer approach enabling every application/process to export parts of its graphical user interface in a lightweight and interoperable way would be more desirable. This work-in-progress paper presents the lightweight middleware prototype SEMPA, proving that these scenarios can be supported by combining the readily available technologies eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML) and Web Services.