Websites are the foundation of online presence. A website is a collection of pages hosted on a server,
accessible by the users on the web at the given address.
A basic static website contains one or more pages with predefined content, such as text, images, tables,
links, videos, and a menu to navigate from one page to another.
All modern websites are responsive, which means that the pages are automatically optimized
based on the screen size. For example some elements are hidden, transformed or rearranged
on small screens like smartphones.
Static websites represent the cheapest option, perfect for small businesses that need an overall presentation of their products and services. Static websites require a manual update of their content when needed.
All modern online services are based on web applications.
The role of web application is to bring interactive functionality and dynamic content to the websites,
which means that the users can access specific features, interact with data, manage the content,
create and manage accounts, shop online, receive notifications and so on.
The same web application can be used to serve websites, or multiple desktop or mobile apps.
In this case the web application needs an API (Application Programming Interface),
which represents a set of predefined endpoints dedicated for different actions.
APIs provide a solid modular foundation for any future development and integration,
and are used by developers to create different apps and user interfaces.
The regular user doesn't usually interact directly with an API, but through a website, desktop or mobile app.
Web applications are perfect for businesses that are looking for interactive functionality and dynamic content, development of mobile apps, or integrations with other services and platforms.
Databases are used to store and manage large volume of data in the form of text, numbers or files, organized in multiple categories, in such a way that is easy accessible where it's needed, when it's needed and how it's needed.
The web application works together with the database to filter or search the data, validate user entries, give differentiated access based on user role and perform Create, Read, Update or Delete operations on the stored items.
Databases are required when data needs to be accessible, securely stored, created, visualized, modified or deleted by the user or admin in real time through a website, desktop or mobile app.
While databases are capable of storing data in different formats, including media files,
are not recommended for working with large files, due to high cost and reduced performances.
Therefore, if an application requires the use of large files like documents, images, videos, audios,
it is recommended to consider dedicated cloud file storage services. These can be used
in addition to standard databases and linked to regular entries.
File storage is a cheaper and optimal solution for storing multiple large files in any format.
File storage is required when working with multiple large files like documents, images, audios or videos. This can improve the performance and reduce the storage cost
Most of the time you need to use data from multiple sources and formats.
Data can be collected from different sources like files, spreadsheets, applications,
then cleaned, transformed in a different format, ordered, filtered, becoming accessible
through custom applications or interfaces.
Data transformation tools are required when data needs to be collected and combined from different sources, or is needed in a different format for further processing and analysis.
Many tasks can be automated in an application, for example sending notifications, processing payments, collecting and processing data from different sources, managing users, generating reports and so on.
Integrations are required in different situations, for example when an application requires
services provided by third parties for performing different extra tasks, or when needed
to combine features from different applications on a single platform.
There are numerous services provided by trusted companies for different situations such as
processing online payments, sending email and text notifications, or even embedding an AI assistant.
Automation and integrations between services are great for adding extra functionality, embedding services provided by third parties, performing different tasks, while maintaining a seamless user experience.