Client-Server architecture

Client-Server architecture relies on a server computer to provide data content, and pipe the data to a client software for display or other purposes. In most cases, the client software would actively make requests to the server for data processing or data retrieval/storage purposes.

A Design Pattern that make use of broken information symmetry

Compared to a server, A client is often a computing devices that has less computing resources, but by definition of the word, clients are sources of applications. Therefore, clients should be adapted to the wide variety needs of localized usage patterns. Client-Server architecture as a software design pattern separates the two aspects of concerns and allowed for complex data-intensive system to have a consistent template to divide computational labor and system design efforts.

Example

Two notable examples of Client-Server architecture are Mathematica and the World Wide Web.