Web app development has progressed exponentially for a few decades. Days of using static pages are gone and dynamicity of web apps has impressed the users and increased user interactions. Have you ever wondered about how a web app can scale efficiently? Here, the web app architecture plays an important role in setting up the foundation of business app. It is important to understand the concept, characteristics and behavior of architecture to meet the business requirements and goals. So here we’ll discuss web application architecture, working, components, types, models, and best practices.
Web application architecture is a blueprint of simultaneous interactions between components, databases, middleware systems,user interfaces and servers in application. Because of such interactions applications work together. Web app architecture manages flow and communication of whole application and handles major aspects and components of product. Mainly web app architecture consists of components having logical description. It determines the future design of app, user experience, infrastructure and software modules. Hence, working on the architecture is important for product development.
Applications are made up of two main components i.e, client side and server side.
Besides this, there is one more component, i.e., database server, that send the requested data to server side. HTTP requests of the back-end use the data received by users in the form of text, images and files. Back-end can be easily developed by using Python, Java, JS, Rails and so on. Whenever the user visits a web page, web server fetches data and sends response to browser based on the user’s requests. As soon as the browser receives response, interaction starts. This whole process includes various components and models that we will explore further. Using web app architecture correctly- reducess bugs, avoids poor user experience and response time, increases the app’s efficiency.
Know the considerations to choose technology for web apps at- Effective considerations to choose the technology for web application
Components are a core part of web app architecture and it determines the functionalities of your application and the quality of user experience offered to the users. Web app architecture is categorized into-
It includes the interface elements, input controls, navigational components, dashboards, statics and analytical elements, design layouts, activity tracking, tools, admin panel and so on.
It includes database storage and server control. And focuses on the structural part of web app. In consists of web (client) browser, web app server, database server. It is necessary to figure out appropriate and suitable model while building components.
Model is selected according to architecture and databases. So while choosing the appropriate architecture model, you should know the following three types of models.
It might be a somewhat outdated model because it has only server and database to handle all requests. This model is generally used for test practices and is a good choice if you are a startup and having budget issues.
It has a backup server so reduces the risk of data failure if one server goes down. But because of the availability of only one database, the chances of website crash still exist.
There are two options for database storage, so it reduces the application’s performance risk. You can store identical data on all databases or distribute it equally among all servers.
It is better to choose the most appropriate architecture by considering various factors like logic, features, functionalities,business requirements and so on. There are four types of web apps.
Single Page Application Architecture-
Single Page Applications(SPA) are introduced to overcome the limitations to achieve smooth app performance, and interactive user experience. Rather than loading a new page, SPAs load single web page and reload the requested data on same page with dynamically updated content. Remaining web page remains untouched. They are developed on client-side by using Javascript frameworks as entire logic is always shifted to the frontend.
Server Side Rendered Apps (SSR)-
SSR is used to render the client-side Javascript framework to CSS and HTML on the server-side. Because of SSR, the delivery of important assets is carried out quickly and so renders the page very rapidly. On each request, server compiles the information and provides new HTML document to client-side. Once the CSS is received, the UI is designed accordingly without need to wait for JS to load.
Serverless Architecture-
It allows you to outsource some operations and services using cloud-based services. Architecture’s infrastructure is supported by third-party providers. Provider offers infrastructure management and outsourcing servers.
Microservice Architecture-
It is a best alternative to service-oriented architecture (SOA) and monolithic architecture. Services are loosely coupled to be developed, tested, maintained and deployed independently. Also, such services can communicate with other services via APIs to solve complex business problems. Because of the tightly coupled components, web app’s deployment using monolithic architecture is a heavy task. Microservices has resolved this issue by separating app into various individual service components. It eases the connectivity of service components and eliminates need for service orchestration.
Success of your web app depends on architectural patterns you choose so architecture designing is an important step. Copying the strategies of well known web apps can damage your business requirements. To avoid such issues, there are some best practices that you can follow. Just ensure that web app’s architecture has stability, high scalability, component reusability, security standards, system flexibility and efficiency and so on.