Web Applications

Well, for starters; a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via web browser over a network.

Web applications are coded in a browser-supported language (such as HTML, JavaScript, Java, etc.), and reliant on a common web browser (e.g Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, .... ) to render them executable.

Web applications use common web browsers as a client, and are often powered by server-side scripting technologies (PHP, ASP.NET and CGI), and a database, hence ;

they can easily be setup on a local network (intranet) within an organization.

 

The Web Application Model

Web application model, like many software development models, is constructed upon 3 tiers: User Services, Business Services and Data Services.

The User Services Tier provides a basic interface which allows the end-user or consumer to interact with the application.

The Business Services teir incorprates a range of server-side functionality that allows the user to perform complex actions through a Web interface

Lastly, the Data Services tier involves the interaction with a database, to store, retrieve, add to, and update categorical information in a systematic and organized manner.

 

Salient Benefits of Web Applications

• Browser applications typically require little or no disk space on the client
  
  
• Integrate easily into other web procedures, such as email and searching
  
  
• Provide cross-platform compatibility (i.e., Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.) because they operate within a web browser window