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Subject:RE: [great help example for a web-based app] From:Matthew Horn <mhorn -at- macromedia -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 22 Oct 2002 09:35:17 -0400
Yes, I agree that "web application" currently defies definition. It is many things to many people. Macromedia is also currently trying to define a Rich Internet Application (RIA), but the definition, there, too, is amorphous. I define a web app as any dynamic web site. The dynamic aspect can be the model (the data) or the view (the UI), or both.
Web apps can be interactive with teh client or totally server-based with the client seeing nothing but static pages.
That's pretty lame, too, but it allows you to drill down.... database-driven web application, Flash-based application, SOAP-based application, ColdFusion app, J2EE web/enterprise application, ASP.Net pages, Java applet, etc. They all have one thing in common: http communication with a server.
So the difference between a web site and a web app? A web site is just a location. It can host multiple web apps or multiple web sites with static pages.
-----Original Message-----
From: Darren Barefoot [mailto:darren -dot- barefoot -at- capeclear -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 9:05 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: [great help example for a web-based app]
Hi,
I disagree, and I refer you to my earlier message for a definition of
"Web application" and an example. The terms "Web site" and "Web
application" are both pretty indistinct. They're both such new terms
that (say, along with a word like "server") they've come to mean many
things. Personally, I tend to define a Web application as a Web client
that actually executes code that affects content (as opposed to
determining how content appears). That's a pretty lame definition, I
know. I'm open to better suggestions.
Some examples of Web applications (in addition to the one I already
cited) include:
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