Web Application Development

Web application development refers to the creation of application software that is located on remote servers and is delivered to the user’s device over the Internet. As a result, a web application doesn’t need to be downloaded by the user but is instead accessed through a web browser.

A web application can be an internal business system delivered over the web and only accessible to its employees, or an online system available to members of the public like eBay (i.e., a customer facing interactive website that enables you to do business on the web).

Because web applications utilise customised interactive technologies, they can deliver a more sophisticated and interactive user experience than conventional websites. This customisation also means that web apps are normally written from scratch, rather than built on top of third-party e-commerce or CMS platforms. Furthermore, it means that it’s not possible to create web applications with just HTML; instead, they require additional ‘client-side’ technology including Java, JavaScript, AJAX, CSS, jQuery and HTML5.

In general, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and AJAX are used for the user-interface; HTML5 for an enhanced user experience; a web-programming language such as ASP.NET or PHP to deliver bespoke functionality; and a database to reliably store all sorts of information including usage statistics, user/customer data and application-specific requirements.

As you might expect, the customisation required typically makes web applications quite complex, so the testing process for web applications tends to be equally extensive.

Web application development can utilise a range of technologies, depending on the requirements of the application. These include: AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), ASP (Microsoft Web Server (IIS) Scripting language), ASP.NET (Microsoft’s Web Application Framework – successor of ASP), ActionScript, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), ColdFusion (Adobe’s Web Application Framework), CGI, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language), Java, JavaScript, JSP, Node.js, OSGI, Perl, PHP, PSGI, Python, Ruby – the list goes on.

Some of these are client-side scripting technologies (such as HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Ajax), others are server-side scripting technologies (such as ASP, ASP.NET, Python etc.).

If you’re not sure which technology stack to choose for a web application, don’t worry – there are program libraries and frameworks that can be used to make the job much easier as they allow developers to easily add or edit functionalities to a frameworked or modular type application.

Using a framework provides an efficient way to build modern apps quickly that work beautifully, without the need to outsource expensive developer muscle or additional experience.

Web Application Frameworks are sets of program libraries, components and tools organised in an architecture system to allow developers to build and maintain complex web application projects using a fast and efficient approach. They allow developers to create powerful and intuitive web applications quickly because much of the hard work is already done for them.

Such frameworks are designed to streamline programming and minimise the testing required, since reusable codes are used for common functions and classes, thereby reducing potential programming errors. A web application framework can therefore be thought of as a developer tool kit for building custom web applications.

At Blueberry, we use our own framework for building custom web applications for business customers to best practice standards in an accelerated timeframe – we call it Blueberry Web Template (BBWT). We consider BBWT to be the best full-stack web development framework for building custom web and cloud applications.

The framework includes a collection of pre-built modules, best programming practices and proven design styles which make it easier to create powerful and easy-to-use web applications based on Microsoft ASP.NET, C# and jQuery.

• BBWT uses powerful, well-supported, open-source core technologies: .NET Core, Angular 7 and a choice of SQL Server/Windows or MySQL/Linux.
• BBWT is designed to meet the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) protocols.
• BBWT supports the Aurora database on the Amazon Cloud and can also be hosted on Microsoft Azure, Google, IBM – or even on-premise.

The BBWT framework includes:

• Standard CSS stylesheets and flexible menu system
• Strong, secure user authentication (including 2FA options)
• A comprehensive user permission management system
• Built in language localisation
• Customer and supplier portals
• Dynamic field validation
• Data import and export
• Document management and PDF generation
• Email templates
• Alerts
• Built-in support for problem reporting during testing
• A comprehensive set of coding and design guidelines for developers

The application library includes:

• Email harvester and synchronisation
• SMS integration
• Dashboards
• To-Do lists and task management
• Calendars
• Sage and Xero accounts integration
• CRM functionality
• Audit logging
• Integration with Google, Bing, Amazon, eBay and many more APIs

If you’re a dev company, a web application framework allows rapid development because the building blocks of the project are already in place, so there’s no need to start from scratch. This means faster turnaround, ensuring budgets remain intact.

Resellers can add bespoke features or services to a framework-developed web or Cloud application and market it to the requirements of their individual customers.

User Developed Applications are applications that are developed by end users. If you’re an end user, then a web application framework like BBWT could be the perfect solution for building web and cloud applications, without the need for advice on the technical aspects. Even in this context, the BBWT framework will ensure you build secure bespoke web and cloud applications perfectly first time.

Give Blueberry a call if you’d like to discuss the potential of BBWT in web application development.