how to write a logical n-tier windows desktop application for both a physical 1-tier AND physical 3-tier deployment?

Question

Hi -

I'm working on a unique windows desktop application that requires both a standalone and distributed deployment mode. In standalone mode the entire program will run on a single desktop machine. In distributed mode there will be several thin clients running on desktop machines that will communicate with an app server (IIS) and database over a LAN.

I will write the program using a logical n-tier architecture to separate the GUI, business logic, and data access layer.

Ideally I want the code for the stand alone mode to be the same as the distributed mode but just deployed differently. Does it make sense then to use WCF (or some form of web services) in the stand alone mode so that it can then be deployed in distributed mode without needing major code changes? Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Visual Studio LightSwitch1 does a trick pretty similar to what you describe: develop once, deploy in single or three tiers. If you're app is mostly about data maintenance it may very well be your ticket.