Client/server and distributed technologies have made great strides since their emergence in the late 1980s to become very popular in the IT industry today. This book illustrates techniques not only for designing GUI client/server applications, but also for managing complex application environments containing both legacy and new applications. Topics covered in this book include - The what, when and how of the three tier client/server model - Coupling and dependency: key design factors in distributed systems - Distributed application design alternatives for the enterprise - The Federated application structure for integrating the applications of the enterprise - A real-life case study of a major financial institution - Systems Architects and senior technical staff Project Managers and Software Engineers involved with or interested in client/server computing, and final year undergraduate and postgraduate students will find this book useful.