Web Applications

A web application is a piece of software that resides on a web server and typically performs some sort of business function by combining computer programs called “scripts” with databases. Web applications provide their users with a number of advantages over conventional software. They excel at allowing organizations to centralize their data, easing communications and preventing miscommunication. They also provide a software solution that is platform independent, and if desired, can be set up so they can be accessed from any web enabled workstation in the world.

PHP is a scripting language similar to Microsoft’s ASP or Macromedia’s Cold Fusion. It is arguably superior because of faster execution, and in comparison to ASP, better ease of coding. PHP runs under Apache and many other web servers and many ISPs provide it as and inexpensive hosting option. MySQL is a database that is particularly suitable for integration with the PHP language and is ideally suited for the databasing needs of small to medium sized businesses.

An app can:

* Run outside a normal browser

* Run whether the device is connected to the Internet or not

* Be launched in the same way a native device application is launched

At a minimum, an app is a website that can be “installed” on a mobile device or computer so that it looks to a user like a native application. You can distribute it

either on your own website or through an app store. Both can be built using open Web standards such as HTML5. You can control access to a Web app, so that only paid users can access it.

A site that is an app should be designed to work when the device is not on the Internet, or at least to fail gracefully. Building HTML5 Web runtime applications (as opposed to building sites that will always be visited from the Internet in a browser) requires some architectural additions to handle sites like “sometimes connected,” etc.

Of course, it depends on your goals. In both cases, you can deliver your site on multiple device platforms by using the standard “Web stack” of technologies (HTML/CSS/JavaScript). However, an advantage of a Web app is that it looks like a native application to users — they can launch it from their home screen or desktop, without having to find a bookmark or remember a URL. This means they are more likely to use it and keep returning to it than a website.