Characteristics of a Web Application




In this section, we will look at the overall architecture and deployment context of web based applications and see how this leads to their peculiar management challenges. Unlike conventional applications that can be monolithic, web applications are by their very nature amenable to layering. One cannot have a monolithic web application as the client and the rest of the application have to be of necessity separated. In principle, one could have a thick client application with a lot of intelligence embedded at the client end, but that would defeat the very purpose of delivering an application over the web. The idea is to have a client that is common to all users so that anybody can access the application without having to do anything special. This client is typically a browser of some sort that can render a HTML page on the user’s screen.
Most of the processing is done at the other end of the application, that is, at the server. Here again there can be separation between the application and the data storage in the database. These two layers can be on separate machines that are themselves separated over the network.
The layering approach can bring about much greater flexibility and simplicity in design, maintenance and usage. In a monolithic application, everything is coupled together and in a layered application, we can change one layer without affecting the behavior of others. For example, the business logic at the application layer can be changed without affecting the user interface or the database design. We can change the database management system from one vendor’s offering to another without changing the application code or the user interface.

There can be many kinds of web applications such as –

  • ·         Those with static text
  • ·          Content that is changed frequently
  • ·         Interactive websites that act on user input
  • ·         Portals that are merely gateways to different kinds of websites
  • ·         Commercial sites that allow transactions



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