The Best Guide To Knowing All About Web Application Architecture

What is Web Application Architecture?

To simplify the term, web application architecture is a blueprint of simultaneous interaction between components, middleware systems, databases, servers in an application and user interfaces. Also described as a layout that clearly and logically unfolds the connection between the server and client-side for a better web experience.

Why is Web App Architecture Important?

With the continuous change in the market trends, user choices and preferences evolve and that keeps your business growing, thriving, and improving. A successful web app always needs a strong foundation backed up with solid architecture. Efficient web app architecture can handle various loads and can be adaptive to changing business needs. It can also deliver fast results with regular improvements. You can also take on several development tasks at the same time by dividing the structure into several small modules, eventually reducing the development time as well. Furthermore, it becomes easier to integrate new functionalities without affecting the overall structure.

Also, if you are worried about security, you must know that web architecture divides the application into several blocks that are separately secured to avoid security threats like risk posed by malicious codes and much more. Apart from that, applications with a future-proof architecture provide the opportunity to add new features and maintain low latency, even when user count increases.

How does the Web App Architecture Work?

Basically, applications are developed with two primary components.

Client-side

They are popularly known as front-end development processes, where the code is written in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and stored within the browser. The user interaction takes place here.

Server-Side

They are also known as backend, and it controls the business logic and responds to HTTP requests. The server-side code is written in Java, Ruby, PHP, Python, etc.

Besides, there are additional components like database server sending the request data to the server side

Layers of Web App Architecture

A layered architecture contains business, persistence, presentation, and database layers. Small applications have three layers and in some cases, the business and persistence layers act a one layer, while the complex applications contain five to six layers.

1. Presentation layer, built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and its frameworks, enables the communication between the interface and browser to facilitate user interaction.
2.  The business layer defines the business logic and rules. It processes browser requests, executes the business logic associated with the requests, and then sends it to the presentation layer.
3. Persistence layer is responsible for data persistence and is also known as Data Access Layer. It’s closely connected to the business layer and has a database server that retrieves data from corresponding servers.
4. Database layer, also known as Data Service Layer, holds all the data and ensures data security by separating the business logic from the client-side.

Each of these layers works in isolation. That means each layer works independently. Components of one layer are closed and deal with the associated layer’s logic. For example, components residing in the presentation layer deal with presentation logic, while the components in the business layer deal with business logic. It also reduces the future burden while changes are required in the web application. Hence, changes can be made in one layer without affecting the components of other layers.

Web Application Components

The web application components are widely categorized into two parts

User Interface Components

They are a part of the visual interface of any web application. They have zero interaction with the architecture. Restricted to a web page’s display, they consist of activity logs, dashboards, config settings, widgets, notifications, and statistics and much more that is meant to enhance the user experience.

Structural Web Components

They consist of client and server components. Client components exist in the user’s browser and interact with the functionality of web applications. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are commonly used for building these components.

On the other side, server components are bifurcated into a web app server that handles business logic and a database server that stores data. PHP, JAVA, Python, Node.js, .NET, and Ruby on Rails are some frameworks used for creating server components.

Web Application Models

There are server models that are used to create the above-mentioned components. At Softqube, we believe to opt for the best model to serve your business purpose with excellent app performance. We are backed up with a team of excellent engineers who are skilled in structuring the best architecture model as per the type of web application you wish to build. Have a look at all the available options.

One web server, one database model

They might be a little outdated as it has only one server and database to handle all requests. This means if the server goes down so will your app. However, it is generally used for test practices and is a good option if you are a startup having budgetary constraints.

Multiple web servers, one database

This model reduces the risk of data failure as a backup server is always available if one server goes down. However, the chances of the website crash may still exist due to the availability of only one database.

Multiple web servers, multiple databases model

They reduce the app’s performance risk since there are two options for database storage. You can either store identical data on all the databases or distribute it evenly among all servers.

Types of Web Application Architecture

You can develop the best practice to select the suitable architecture keeping in mind various factors such as app logic, features, functionalities, business requirements, etc. The right architecture defines the purpose of your product as a whole.

Web applications are broadly divided into four types, as listed below:

Single Page Application Architecture

SPA (Single Page Applications) surpasses the traditional limitations to obtain a smooth app performance, intuitive, and interactive user experience.

You can omit loading a new page and see how SPAs load a single web page and reload the requested data on the same page with dynamically updated content. The rest of the web page remains untouched and is developed on the client-side using JavaScript frameworks as the entire logic is always shifted to the frontend.

Microservice Architecture

Microservice architecture is the most preferable choice to Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and monolithic architecture. The services are meant to develop, test, maintain, and deploy independently. Such services interact with other services via APIs to solve complex business problems.

Deployment of web apps using monolithic architecture is a cumbersome task because of its tightly coupled components. Microservices has resolved this issue by separating the application into multiple individual service components. It further simplifies the connectivity between service components and eliminates the need for service orchestration. Some tech giants who are popular for using microservices are Amazon, Netflix, SoundCloud, Comcast, and eBay.

Serverless Architecture

Here, cloud service providers take care of the entire execution– and so there is no need to deploy them manually on your server. Serverless architecture is a design pattern where applications are built and run without any manual intervention on the servers that are managed by third-party cloud service providers like Amazon and Microsoft.

It lets you focus more on the quality of the product and complexity to make them highly scalable and reliable. Broadly, it is categorized into two types – Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Function-as-a-Service (FaaS).

BaaS lets developers focus on the frontend development tasks, eliminating the operations performed on the backend. AWS Amplify, for one, is a popular BaaS product. FaaS, on the other hand, is an event-driven model that allows developers to break the applications into small functions to focus on the code and event triggers. The rest will be handled by the FaaS service providers such as AWS Lambda and Microsoft Azure.

Progressive Web Applications

Google introduced Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) in 2015 to develop apps that offer rich and native functionality with enhanced capabilities, reliability, and easy installation.

PWAs are compatible apps with any browser and can run on any device. You can easily adjust an app’s function to a tablet and a desktop as well. These apps can easily be discovered and shared through URL instead of the app store. Installation of these apps is also effortless and can be quickly added to a device’s home screen. These apps work efficiently on poor internet connectivity and in offline mode as well.

Uber, Aliexpress, Alibaba, Pinterest, and Starbucks are few famous companies who are known for developing their products in the form of PWAs.

Web Application Architecture Best Practices & Tools

Architecture design is the very initial stage. However, the success of your web application completely depends upon the architectural patterns you choose. ‘You must take care of not replicating strategies of popular web apps as it will do more damage than good, for oftentimes they don’t complement your business requirements. To avoid such circumstances, there are few best practices you can follow. Ensure that your web app’s architecture has:

• System flexibility and efficiency
• Component reusability
• Well-thought structure of code
• High Scalability
• Stability and reliability
• Easy bug-detection through A/B testing
• Utilization of security standards
• Sections to collect user feedback

In addition to this, here’s a list of tools and options that can help deliver the best web app experience:

1. IDE tools: Webstorm, Github’s Atom, NetBeans, AWS Cloud9 are a few IDEs for productivity enhancement.
2. UX Builder tools: Invision, Figma, Sketch, etc., are commonly used today to design and improve user experience.
3. Integration tools: MuliSoft, Cleo, JitterBit, Automate.io deliver a seamless, engaging, and unified experience.
4. Frameworks & Libraries: React, Angular, Python, Veu, Express, Django, etc., are the most popular frameworks to deliver quality end-products.

Conclusion

Modern web applications become successful when they are closely connected to its architecture. You need to keep up the pace with the changing trends and needs. Yes it can be a challenging task and a minutest mistake can cost heavily on the product life.

You need qualified professionals and architects who have the knack of understanding the limitations and challenges that may come along the way. At Softqube, we have proficient and well-knowledgeable architects who can help you decide the best framework for your business and what architecture can get your business going.

If you are looking out for a suitable web architecture who can create a difference to your business application, we are here to guide you with your product needs and preferences. We are just a call away. Connect with us now!