the creation of portable applications

Good day.
I am a student from Russia. I was advised, as your forum to find information for my graduation project.
and the topic is precisely this: the creation of portable applications.
To be honest, in practice, I did not come across them, is this. I would like to see the entire structure of a database application. as they are, work, and so on.
in my work I need to rassmotert three stiuatsii to create applications, namely to create a portable application in three different development environments and to compare between them.
I would like a novice in this field would like to know which of the most popular development environments and for which there are a lot of literature?
izvenyayus for my English.
Thanks in advance to all who can help. Unfortunately in Russia do not have such a site: (