Web application
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection.[1]
History
In earlier computing models like client-server, the processing load for the application was shared between code on the server and code installed on each client locally. In other words, an application had its own pre-compiled client program which served as its
In 1995,
In 1999, the "web application" concept was introduced in the Java language in the Servlet Specification version 2.2. [2.1?].[3][non-primary source needed] At that time both JavaScript and XML had already been developed, but Ajax had still not yet been coined and the XMLHttpRequest object had only been recently introduced on Internet Explorer 5 as an ActiveX object.[citation needed]
Applications like Gmail started to make their client sides more and more interactive since early 2000s. A web page script is able to contact the server for storing/retrieving data without downloading an entire web page. The practice became known as Ajax in 2005.[4]
"Progressive web apps", the term coined by designer Frances Berriman and Google Chrome engineer Alex Russell in 2015,[5] refers to apps taking advantage of new features supported by modern browsers, which initially run inside a web browser tab but later can run completely offline and can be launched without entering app URL in the browser.
Structure
![]() | ) |
Traditional PC applications consist only of 1 tier, which resides on the client machine, but web applications lend themselves to a multi-tiered approach by nature.
For more complex applications, a 3-tier solution may fall short, and it may be beneficial to use an n-tiered approach, where the greatest benefit is breaking the business logic, which resides on the application tier, into a more fine-grained model.[6] Another benefit may be adding an integration tier that separates the data tier from the rest of tiers by providing an easy-to-use interface to access the data.[6] For example, the client data would be accessed by calling a "list_clients()" function instead of making an SQL query directly against the client table on the database. This allows the underlying database to be replaced without making any change to the other tiers.[6]
There are some who view a web application as a two-tier architecture. This can be a "smart" client that performs all the work and queries a "dumb" server, or a "dumb" client that relies on a "smart" server.[6] The client would handle the presentation tier, the server would have the database (storage tier), and the business logic (application tier) would be on one of them or on both.[6] While this increases the scalability of the applications and separates the display and the database, it still doesn't allow for true specialization of layers, so most applications will outgrow this model.[6]
Security
![]() | This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2018) ) |
Security breaches on these kinds of applications are a major concern because it can involve both enterprise information and private customer data. Protecting these assets is an important part of any web application and there are some key operational areas that must be included in the development process.[7] This includes processes for authentication, authorization, asset handling, input, and logging and auditing. Building security into the applications from the beginning can be more effective and less disruptive in the long run.
Development
Writing web applications is simplified with the use of
In addition, there is potential for the development of applications on
See also
- D3.js
- Software as a service (SaaS)
- Mobile development framework
- Web 2.0
- Web engineering
- Web GIS
- Web services
- Web sciences
- Web widget
References
- ^ "What Is A Web Application?". stackpath.com. Stack Path. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
A web application is a computer program that utilizes web browsers and web technology to perform tasks over the Internet.
- ZDNet.
- ^ Davidson, James Duncan; Coward, Danny (1999-12-17). Java Servlet Specification ("Specification") Version: 2.2 Final Release. Sun Microsystems. pp. 43–46. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ Jay Hoffmann (2019-03-04). "What Does AJAX Even Stand For?". Retrieved 2021-10-18.
- ^ Russell, Alex. "Progressive Web Apps: Escaping Tabs Without Losing Our Soul". Retrieved June 15, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Petersen, Jeremy (4 September 2008). "Benefits of using the n-tiered approach for web applications".
- ^ "Top Tips for Secure App Development". Dell.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2012-06-22.
- ^ Multiple (wiki). "Web application framework". Docforge. Archived from the original on 2020-06-20. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
External links
- HTML5 Draft recommendation, changes to HTML and related APIs to ease authoring of web-based applications.
- Web Applications at Curlie
- Web Applications Working Group at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
- PWAs on Web.dev by Google Developers.