Blog 4
Part One: How to describe web application architecture of a simple website?
Web application architecture is an area of web design that can be hard to digest at first. From its technical terms to its synonyms, it can get confusing, not to mention how mind blowing it is to just type an address in a browser and get a response in matter of milli seconds. This blog, broken into two parts, aims to make web application architecture easy to understand. Part one will break down the process in very simple terms while part two see link will look at the area in greater detail.
So let’s start from the beginning. What exactly is a web application?
A web application is essentially a software program that operates on an internet browser. Unlike traditional websites that are a combination of static pages, a web application is considered more dynamic and interactive . Examples of web applications include shopping carts, email programs, video, photo editing, file conversion/scanning and much more.
What is web application architecture?
Web application architecture is the framework that allows multiple components of a web application to work together simultaneously, including its user interfaces, middleware systems, and databases. To understand the components of web application architecture, let’s look at how it operates performing the simple action of receiving and responding to a web request.
Let’s say you wish to visit The Happy Pear website via your desktop.
It is worth noting that the computer or smartphone or any other device that you use to search the web is called a client. The other side that processes your search is called a server because it serves you the data. The communication between the client and server is called a client-server model.
First Step - Web Browser (Client)
➜ You type The Happy Pear’s URL into your web browser and hit search
➜ The browser sends your request to the Domain Name Centre (DNS)
➜ Once The Happy Pear’s IP address is located the browser uses HTTPS protocol to request it
Second Step - Web Server (Server)
➜ The web server where The Happy Pear’s page is located processes the request and goes to storage to find its data
➜ Business Logic (BL) manages how this data is accessed and oversees the workflow for each application
This step is known as the back end of an application
Third Step - Web Display (Client Server Model)
➜ You receive your response to your request
➜ You are now able to interact with the The Happy Pear’s page
This step is known as the front end of an application
Image source www.altexsoft.com
Conclusion
I have explained the basic process of web application architecture but if you want to explore the subject further please see Part Two: How to describe web application architecture of an ecommerce website?
Sources
Unknown (2019), Web Application Architecture: How the Web Works. Available at: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/engineering/web-application-architecture-how-the-web-works/ (Accessed: 8 Mar 2021)
Wilson, C. (2020), How to Design a Web Application: Software Architecture 101. Available at: https://www.educative.io/blog/how-to-design-a-web-application-software-architecture-101 (Accessed: 8 Mar 2021)