Modeling Web application architectures with UML
Jim Conallen · Communications of the ACM · 1999
When put to the test, the term Web application has slightly different meanings to different people.Some believe a Web application is anything that uses Java, others consider a Web application anything that uses a Web server.The general consensus is somewhere in between.In this article, a Web application will be loosely defined as a Web system (Web server, network, HTTP, browser) in which user input (navigation and data input) effects the state of the business.This definition attempts to establish that a Web application is a software system with business state, and that its front end is in large part delivered via a Web system.The general architecture of a Web application isA new term has entered the IT vocabulary in the past few years: Web application.It seems like everyone involved with business software systems has plans for building Web applications, with many nonbusiness software efforts as well.For many early adopters of this architecture the term Web application, like the systems themselves, have evolved from small successful Web site add-ons to robust n-tiered applications.It's not uncommon for aWeb application to service tens of thousands of simultaneous users, distributed all over the world.Designing Web applications is serious business.