Web Application Design Handbook

CHAPTER 1

What Is a Web Application?

This chapter attempts to answer two questions:

• What is the difference between a web page and a web application?

• Is your program a web page or a web application?

What’s the Difference Between a Web Page and a Web Application?

Are any of these web sites “web applications”?

• Information-only web sites such as “Conference Presentation Judo” (Figure 1-1). (No, but it’s still very good.)

FIGURE 1-1 Is this an application?¹

• A fill-in form such as the one on ehealthinsurance.com (Figure 1-2). (Maybe.)

FIGURE 1-2 How about this?²

• A web applet such as the Morningstar stock comparison tool (Figure 1-3 ...