3 ms·

In my book, "website" and "web application" are equivalent. How do you define those terms?

by TekMol 8y ago

devilshaircut 8y ago
Imo, not all websites are web apps. You can certainly still create a static website using just HTML. The term "app" to me implies functionality beyond the presentational.
k_ 8y ago
I don't define them precisely either. I'll borrow an answer from stack overflow [1]: This is totally personal and subjective, but I'd say that a website is defined by its content, while a web application is defined by its interaction with the user. That is, a website can plausibly consist of a static content repository that's dealt out to all visitors, while a web application depends on interaction and requires programmatic user input and data processing. For example, a news site would be a "website", but a spreadsheet or a collaborative calendar would be web "applications". The news site shows essentially the same information to all visitors, while the calendar processes individual data. Practically, most websites with quickly changing content will also rely on a sophisticated programmatic (and/or database) backend, but at least in principle they're only defined by their output. The web application on the other hand is essentially a program that runs remotely, and it depends fundamentally on a processing and a data storage backend. [1]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8694944/7510753 https://stackoverflow.com/a/8694944/7510753
- mattmanser 8y ago
  Most web applications don't need a JS framework either, so the distinction's actually worthless.
eropple 8y ago
Web applications have interactive functionality as their focus. Websites have the consumption of what a human, and not an HTML parser, would call a "document": video, text, and images. They may not be statically served, but their code exists to facilitate the serving of what are recognizably documents. Wordpress's backend is a web application. That web application exists to drive the website that is its frontend. Not really a controversial standpoint, I don't think, except amongst the hyper-literal who but-for about comment features (hence the use of "focus" above).
JamesBarney 8y ago
The guy who builds your website has never heard of big O.
- KyeRussell 8y ago
  I build content driven websites as part of my job (not my favourite part by any means). I’ve most certainly “heard of Big O” - something they teach you in the first year of any university-level computing course. Don’t be a dick.
  - JamesBarney 8y ago
    I wasn't being a dick, most designers and people who bill themselves out as website creators come from a creative background instead of a development background. For every 12 website creators I know with a photography/art/graphic design background, I only know one with a C.S. background.

In my book, "website" and "web application" are equivalent. How do you define those terms?

by TekMol 8y ago

In my book, "website" and "web application" are equivalent. How do you define those terms?

Imo, not all websites are web apps. You can certainly still create a static website using just HTML. The term "app" to me implies functionality beyond the presentational.

k_ 8y ago

I don't define them precisely either. I'll borrow an answer from stack overflow [1]: This is totally personal and subjective, but I'd say that a website is defined by its content, while a web application is defined by its interaction with the user. That is, a website can plausibly consist of a static content repository that's dealt out to all visitors, while a web application depends on interaction and requires programmatic user input and data processing. For example, a news site would be a "website", but a spreadsheet or a collaborative calendar would be web "applications". The news site shows essentially the same information to all visitors, while the calendar processes individual data. Practically, most websites with quickly changing content will also rely on a sophisticated programmatic (and/or database) backend, but at least in principle they're only defined by their output. The web application on the other hand is essentially a program that runs remotely, and it depends fundamentally on a processing and a data storage backend. [1]: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8694944/7510753 https://stackoverflow.com/a/8694944/7510753

mattmanser 8y ago
Most web applications don't need a JS framework either, so the distinction's actually worthless.

eropple 8y ago

Web applications have interactive functionality as their focus. Websites have the consumption of what a human, and not an HTML parser, would call a "document": video, text, and images. They may not be statically served, but their code exists to facilitate the serving of what are recognizably documents. Wordpress's backend is a web application. That web application exists to drive the website that is its frontend. Not really a controversial standpoint, I don't think, except amongst the hyper-literal who but-for about comment features (hence the use of "focus" above).

JamesBarney 8y ago

The guy who builds your website has never heard of big O.

KyeRussell 8y ago
I build content driven websites as part of my job (not my favourite part by any means). I’ve most certainly “heard of Big O” - something they teach you in the first year of any university-level computing course. Don’t be a dick.
- JamesBarney 8y ago
  I wasn't being a dick, most designers and people who bill themselves out as website creators come from a creative background instead of a development background. For every 12 website creators I know with a photography/art/graphic design background, I only know one with a C.S. background.