Introduction to Web Application Development

Introduction to Web Application Development

Among all technologies, the Internet has been the fastest growing technology. Ever since its inception, the Internet has evolved exponentially. In the recent years, it has changed the way business is conducted. Prior to the evolution of the Internet, organizations could deliver only limited information to their prospective clients by using the existing communication media. However, with the inception of the Internet, organizations found a new medium to reach a larger range of people, irrespective of their geographical locations. Therefore, organizations increasingly became dependent on the Internet for sharing and accessing information. This resulted in changing the focus of application development from desktop applications to Web applications.

Defining Web Applications 

Web applications are programs that are executed on a Web server and accessed from a Web browser. These applications enable organizations to share and access information on the Internet and corporate intranets. This information can be accessed from anywhere, anytime. In addition, Web applications can support online commercial transactions, popularly known as e-

commerce. An online store accessed through a Web browser is an example of a Web application.

The Three Layers of a Web Application

All applications can be broken into three layers. Each layer has its own components and functionality.

an application has the following three layers:

Presentation layer: Consists of the interface through which the users interact with the application.
Business logic layer: Consists of the components of the application that control the flow of execution and communication between the presentation layer and the data layer.
Data layer: Consists of components that expose the application data stored in databases to the business logic layer.