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Web App vs Website: Architectural Differences Developers Should Understand

A website and a web application are both accessed via browser, but their architecture and purpose differ significantly.

Website architecture
Typical structure:

Client → HTTP request → server → HTML response

Stack:
• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• CMS (October CMS, WordPress)

Characteristics:
• mostly static content
• minimal business logic
• simple database usage
• low infrastructure complexity

Web application architecture
Typical flow:

Client → frontend app → API → business logic → database → response

Stack example:

Frontend:
React

Backend:
Node.js

Database:
PostgreSQL

Characteristics:
• authentication
• role-based access
• data processing
• API integrations
• asynchronous operations

When to build a web app
Use a web app when the system requires:
• user accounts
• workflows
• dashboards
• integrations
• data persistence
• automation logic

Typical use cases:
• SaaS platforms
• ERP systems
• CRM tools
• internal platforms

ZABU Operations is a web engineering company focused on custom software development and digital operations.

Original article:
https://zabu.es/blog/aplicaciones-web/diferencias-entre-aplicacion-web-y-sitio-web

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