What is Web Application Architecture: Let’s Explore the Details

Web application architecture is about the interactions between applications, databases, and middleware systems on the web. It ensures that multiple applications work simultaneously.

However, the app development cost is not much higher, but its benefits are because a study says that peoples use 90% of their mobile time is spent on apps. So, Let’s understand with a simple example of opening a web page.

When a user types a URL into the address bar of a web browser and clicks the Go button, that particular web address is requested. In response to requests made, the server sends files to the browser. The browser then executes these files to display the requested page.

Therefore, the web application architecture must include all subcomponents and external application exchanges for the entire software application (website in the above case). A web application architecture is essential in the modern world as much of the global network traffic, and mostly mobile app development and devices use web-based communication. Web app development architecture must address not only efficiency but also reliability, scalability, security, and robustness.

How Does That Work?

In a typical native app development, two different pieces of code (subprograms) run in parallel; these are;

• Client-side code – code that resides in the browser and responds to user input
• Server-side code – code that resides on the server and responds to HTTP requests

The web developers (team) who develop web applications decide what the code on the server does to the code in the browser. Use C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby, etc., to write server-side code. The code that respond to HTTP requests can run on the server. The server-side code is for creating the pages requested by the user and storing various types of data, including the user’s profile and user input. Not visible to end users.

A combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is used to write client-side code. This code is analyzed by web browsers. Unlike server-side code, client-side code can be viewed and modified by the user. Respond to user input. Client-side code communicates only through HTTP requests and cannot read files directly from the server.

Web Application Component

When we talk about web application components, we mean the following things.

• UI/UX web application components – This includes activity logs, dashboards, notifications, settings, statistics, etc. These components have nothing to do with running a web app development architecture. Instead, they are part of the web app’s interface layout plan.
• Structural Components – The two most important structural components of a web application are the client side and the server side.
• Client Components – Client components are developed in CSS, HTML and JS. It resides within the user’s web browser, requiring no OS or device-related customizations. A client component represents the functionality of a web application that an end user interacts with.
• Server Components – Server components can be built using one or a combination of multiple programming languages ​​and frameworks, including Java, .Net, NodeJS, PHP, Python, and Ruby on Rails. A server component consists of at least two parts. App logic and database. The former is the web application’s main control center; the latter is where all persistent data is stored.

Web Application Component Model

The total number of databases and servers used for the web application determines the model of the web application. It can be one of three things:

Web Server: Database

This is the simplest and least reliable web app component model. Such a model uses a single server and a single database. A web app built on top of such a model will fail as soon as the server goes down. Therefore not very reliable.

Web server, database Web application component model is not typically used for real web applications. It is primarily used for running test projects and learning and understanding the basics of web applications.

Multiple Web Servers, One Database (On One Machine, Not the Web Server)

The idea of ​​this type of web application component model is that the web server does not store any data. When a web server receives information from a client, it processes it and writes it to a database held outside the server. This is sometimes called stateless architecture. According to Statista, the database contains a wide range of statistics on mobile internet usage.

This web application component model requires at least two web servers. All this to avoid failure. If any server goes down, the other server will take responsibility.

All requests made will be automatically redirected to the new server, and your web app will continue to run. Therefore, it is more reliable than a single server with its own database model. However, when the database crashes, the web app does the same thing.

Multiple Web Servers, Multiple Databases

This is the most efficient component model for web applications because there is no single point of failure for either the database or the web server. There are two options for this type of model. Store comparable data in all databases you use, or distribute them evenly.

In the former case, no more than two databases are usually required, while in the latter case, some data may not be available in a database crash scenario. However, both scenarios use DBMS normalization.

Conclusion

Mobile app development and web application architectures are constantly evolving. A very basic model of web application architecture emerged during the Web 1.0 era. However, it only became what it is today with the advent of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

A web application’s robustness, responsiveness, security, etc., highly depends on the model and type of web application architecture chosen. So take the time to consider all requirements, goals, and opportunities before starting development. If you are looking for the best website design and mobile app development company in Texas at affordable prices, then it is time to get in touch with Logo Magicians.