It’s somewhat shocking that even in 2021, people cannot differentiate between a website and a web application when we are surrounded by technology everywhere.
At some point you may be thinking, “what is this guy talking about ? 😕😕Both are the same. Both need a domain name, a server, internet, browser and show content in different forms”. If you are thinking the same, then this article is for you. I will try to explain (1) What is a Website (2) What is a Web application and (3) What’s the difference between them and lastly a short (4) Summary. Let’s get started.
Keywords:- web server, domain name, interaction, deployment, authentication, integration, SaaS.
What is a Website?
In simple words, a website is a collection of interlinked web pages. A website requires a web server to store data and a domain name where users can find the website. Example: Wikipedia. You can read about website in-depth here.
What is a Web Application?
A web application also known as the web app is application software that runs on a web server and displays content on a browser. It came to existence from Software as a Service (SaaS) movement. Example: YouTube. You can read about web applications in-depth here.
What’s the difference?
The difference lies in the interaction, deployment, authentication, and integration.
Interaction: A website mostly contains static content, which means that the user cannot change the elements. On the other hand, a web application is very interactive and shows dynamic content, which could be manipulated by the user.
Deployment: A website needs not to be compiled before deployment. Unlike a website, a web application must be compiled before deployment as it an application software.
Authentication: A website mostly doesn’t need authentication and a web application mostly needs authentication for tracking the requests and response for a particular user.
Integration: Integration in a website is simple as it follows the same structure in all web pages, but it’s very difficult in a web application because of its complex structure.
Summary
Now if you are wondering why developers and businesses are not shifting to web applications instead of a website, the reason is very simple. Both are needed as per requirement, if you want to portfolio site or blogging site, then you need a website, if you want to automate a task or solve a particular problem then you need a web application.
