When Do You Need A Web Appliv?
There are a couple of reasons that usually motivate companies to choose web app development to expand
their business:
1
A company wishes to increase the productivity of its employees and departments, improve workflow
efficiency, automate routine procedures, easily manage sales and projects, etc.
2
A business decides to switch from rigid and outdated desktop software to a flexible, modern-day
web-based solution with broad-ranging functionality.
3
A business wants to grow a customer base and improve client communication by providing services
and products online.
4
A business wishes to create a web application, which will be innovative and technically advanced
to stand out among the competitors and get wide recognition.
Web apps are practically dynamic websites that use the client-server model and offer a wide
functionality, including user interaction, back-end database connection and browser result
generation. Web applications can be used for different purposes - you can build an app for social
networking, online shopping, banking services, instant messaging, online reservations, auctions,
games, education, surveys, blogs, forums, accounting, content management and so on.
Web Architecture: How to Create a Web App?
There are two principal approaches to web app development:
-
Client-side scripting - client-scripting programs are a class of web applications
that are
executed by the user’s web browser, i.e. client-side. The source code of such apps is visible to
all users, who can access it by viewing the file that contains it.
-
Server-side scripting - applications built with server-side scripting techniques
are executed on
a web server. The code of server-side scripting apps is not visible to users.
Client-side Scripting Tools and Technologies
- Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML
- Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS
- JavaScript
- Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, or Ajax
-
jQuery, which is the most popular JavaScript library designed to facilitate the client-side
scripting
- My Object-Oriented Tools, or MooTools, which is an object-oriented JavaScript framework
-
Dojo Toolkit, which is an open source JavaScript library used in cross-platform, JavaScript,
Ajax and web development.
Modern Techniques and Tools for Server-Side
-
Hypertext Preprocessor, or PHP - a general purpose language widely used in
server-side scripting, which can be combined with various database servers, like MySQL,
Microsoft SQL Server and more.
- ASP.NET - an open-source web app framework by Microsoft.
- Active Server Pages, or ASP - ASP.NET’s predecessor, Microsoft server-side script engine.
- Zend Framework, or ZF - an object-oriented web application framework for PHP.
- Adobe ColdFusion - a rapid web application development platform.
Other languages, widely used in the web application development:
-
Perl - a free general-purpose dynamic language, which lost its popularity with the
introduction of PHP.
- Ruby on Rails - a free web application framework written in Ruby.
-
Python - high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language distributed for
free.
Our Achievements:
322 App Development Projects
413 Mobile Applications
75 Enterprise Software Solutions
Software Libraries
In computing, libraries are collections of resources like configuration data, subordinates, functions,
message templates and more, which are commonly used by programmers to easily build functionality into
different types of apps. In other words, it is routine operations for programs stored in one place in
object format. In the Windows environment libraries traditionally have a .DLL extension.
Coding Standards and Conventions
Coding conventions are a set of guidelines that lay down the rules for programming various aspects of a
web application. These rules and standards encompass programming style, principles, folder structure,
programming practices, indentation, formatting, classes, architecture and much more. These guidelines
also ensure that the comment and the documentation are uninformed in order to improve the readability of
the code and make it uniform throughout various apps and their constituents.
Why Use Coding Conventions?
-
If you follow coding conventions, you make life much easier for the other developers working on
the same project.
- Coding standards make the program easier to maintain and update.
-
Other programmers can easily understand the code that has been written in accordance with the
conventions.
Approaches to Web Application Development
Web app development is a complex process that involves the participation of many experts, specialising
in different areas of IT and working in groups. However, there are as many web application development
processes as there are development companies because each mobile and web development agency has their
own established procedures and strategies for app creation.
Some web firms apply traditional methods of the systems development life cycle, or SDLC like the
waterfall model or a more innovative Agile development approach.
SDLC Models
-
The waterfall model is a classical approach to software design, in which the development process
is completed in successive stages - app discovery, specification of requirements, analytical
research, architectural design, concepts and mockups, programming, testing, code examination,
bug fixing, implementation, deployment, and maintenance.
-
Agile development methodology is an approach, in which web programming is made in small
iterations by self-organised teams of experts in collaboration with the client. It enables
developers to supply the customer with the fully operational software within the shortest
periods of time and allows them to effectively introduce changes to the product even at the
final stages of development.
Clients
The Process of Web App Creation:
Building An App From Scratch
Every software development company has its own app development process, which identifies the procedures
and strategies for the developer’s teams to follow when working on a project. Of course, there are
common web application development practices, which are indispensable for each and every app design
company, for example, the following documents, which ensure that all the nuances of the software
lifecycle are recorded:
Project outline, which identifies the purpose of the web app, project objectives and
strategies.
Audience research and analysis, formalised security documentation.
Team cooperation and project management documentation.
Market research and analysis, third-party services and platforms selection: merchant
account/payment gateway, colocation/dedicated server, SSL certificate, fulfillment house,
self-service checkout systems, website analytics tools, etc.
Functional specifications, technological requirements and interactive prototypes of the web
app.
App wireframe and architecture, development methodology, upgrade, optimisation and growth
plan,
hardware/software requirements.
App mockup, design layout, app prototype, interface, database design, web app development
paperwork.
Testing documents: quality assurance management, data security, cross-browser compatibility,
app
performance (load impact and stress tests), and usability.
Technical specifications and a summary of the features of the future application.
Web App Testing
Testing is an essential stage of web application development. Sometimes testing can even take more time
and resources than web design and programming. Here are some major aspects that you should always pay
attention to when testing your web application:
- Code examination and bug testing
- Cross-browser compatibility
- Performance - stress tests and load impact tests
- Application security control
- Quality assurance
- Usability checks.
Building Web App With Franeworks
Web frameworks, or web application frameworks incorporate software libraries, templating frameworks, and
other tools organised in architectural patterns to help developers program and support sophisticated web
applications in the most efficient and fast manner. Web app frameworks are aimed at facilitating
programming and engineering - many of them promote code reuse by providing examples of folder structure
and organisation, tutorials on database connection, architectural patterns, managing entities, etc.
What are the Major Opportunities of Web Frameworks?
Logical (program actions and views) and design parts (including HTML and CSS) are
separated from each other. It allows different departments involved in development, for
instance, designers who are not proficient in coding, to edit the interface and change
the web application design without assistance from programmers.
Web frameworks modularise code and provide tools and libraries that enable developers to
rapidly implement sophisticated features and functionality and easily share libraries.
The structural layout enables developers to write quality code, that keeps it up-to-date
with the standards, therefore allowing others to examine the code within the shortest
time possible.
Benefits For Business
Modern web applications have a broad functionality that provides businesses and consumers with multiple
advantages, such as:
-
Web applications developed by professional IT experts provide you with an opportunity to take
your business to the next level and leverage your competition by establishing a solid online
presence, a virtual dimension of your business as an extension of your physical business place.
- T
he world wide web is a new global business environment that has drastically changed the
traditional business practices.
-
Large and small organisations must always evolve and improve to keep in line with the latest
trends in order to compete in the fast-changing business environment.
-
Customers and businesses have so many opportunities and tools to research and look for the most
lucrative offers as never before - nowadays it is easy to compare prices and the selection of
goods in different shops via the internet.
-
The web is a limitless source of information, which is available to everyone who searches the
web.
-
Companies whose physical presence is still dominant, or businesses who offered services that are
no longer relevant due to the availability of the internet, have been gradually falling into
oblivion and must consider developing new business strategies to secure their online presence
and adjust to the new business reality
Do you feel that any of the above have an impact on your business? Then it is high time you made some
changes. If you have ideas on how to optimise your business to the modern online environment or want to
consult an expert in the latest IT business solutions, our software and web development team would be
glad to hear from you and answer any of your questions.