How to go about creating a master/slave data collection/processing Java app?

Question

I'm making a Java desktop application for a client and they've requested an offline platform where by a 'master' version can distribute 'slave' applications to collect data and have the master process it afterwards.

The only part I'm not sure how to implement regarding the app is this master/slave system.

Do I have to program two different applications? One with less functionality? Do I have the same application, then have the master one output a file that the others read? Would they be the same application but when reading have less functionality?

I'm just not sure how to do this. Any tips?

Answer 1

Whether to bundle them to same app or not is NOT the most important part of the problem.

The logic will surely be different for the "master and slave", and it is most possibly that you will arrange the different pieces of code in different classes etc.

Put your effort in thinking of how you are going to do the distribution logic, instead of thinking of thinking of whether you are serving one or two applications. You can easily choose from them once you have the codes ready.

For the mechanism of doing the master-and-slave processing, what you have described is simply too vague for other people to give proper suggestion.