Web Applications Term Usage

[noirfan]

I'm wondering how/when I can use the term "web application" when I tell a prospective employer what I've worked on.

 

Is it the same as using "dynamic website" or "dynamic, database-driven website"?

 

Does it include static websites?

 

Thanks.

[Jonathon]

I wouldn't say that a static website is an application really. I suppose in a way it comes down to a persons own interpretation of what a "web application" is. I would say that an application is something that is fairly interactive with the user that takes various inputs and can adapt its responses. In short PHP can cover an absolute multitude of things. So it depends what your making I guess.

 

I wouldn't say that a "dynamic site" is the same as a "web application". Dynamic basically isn't static, you could have a page written soley in PHP that outputs HTML but it has 1 dynamic feature in that it echoes the day of the week out. So its dynamic (albeit, minutely) but it's not an application (in my eyes).

[HartleySan]

I think a lot of people would say that a Web 2.0 (Ajax) page is dynamic enough to be called a Web application. In general though, Web applications usually refer more to things made using Java/Flex, I think.

 

Well, let's put it this way, Gmail and Google Maps are both a whole lot of Ajax, and I'd certainly call them Web applications, so I suppose it depends on the complexity. For an interview, I think you could stretch the meaning of the term, in order to help you get a job. Most likely, the manager you're interviewing with wouldn't have much of a clue about Web technology anyway...at least in my experience.

[noirfan]

Like you guys, I have a stricter definition of "web application."

 

But I see various uses of the term, and even Zend describes their framework like this "Zend Framework is an open source, object oriented web application framework for PHP 5." I could use the framework to develop a "dynamic, database-driven website" in the strict sense, but here Zend seems to be using "web application" to describe that as well.

[Jonathon]

The Zend framework (like many others) are very big projects with massive capabilities, so I think that's a fair enough statement.

[HartleySan]

Well, like most things, I think the designers and engineers that really understand the technology would be strict ("correct") about their definition, while more marketing types will say whatever they need to in order to sell something.