Elements That Form a Web Development System

Full stack web application overview

A full stack web application connects all three components:

• Front end: handles user interaction
• Back end: processes requests, applies business logic, and interacts with database
• Database: stores and retrieves data efficiently

Client-side (front-end) web programming

Refers to the code that runs in the user's web browser, which enables interactive user experiences without needing constant communication with the server.

• Key technologies include HTML, CSS, JS and frameworks (React, Vue, Angular)
• Faster UX because there is no server load
• Can store temporary data using cookies, local storage and session storage

Server-side (back-end) web programming

Server-side programming involves writing code that runs on the server, and enables it to respond to requests from the client-side applications and generate dynamic content to be sent back to the client.

• Handles business logic, database interacts and user authentication

Functions of server side programming

• Processing user requests (form submissions, authentication, etc)
• Manage databases
• Generate dynamic content based on user input
• Implement security features

Comparison of client-side and server-side

• Location
  • Client: Runs in web browser and user's device
  • Server: Runs on the web server
• Languages
  • Client: HTML, CSS, JS
  • Server: Python, PHP, Ruby, Node.js
• Main purpose
  • Client: Interactivity, UI, form validation
  • Server: Data processing, database interaction and security
• Security
  • Client: Less secure (code visible to users)
  • Server: More secure (code is hidden)
• Speed
  • Client: Fast for small tasks - don't need to communicate
  • Server: Slower due to server client communication

Interfacing with databases that are based on Structured Query Language (SQL) or non-SQL

Databases store and manage user data, content and application settings. There are two main types of databases.

Relational databases (SQL)

• Organise data into structured tables, and can establish relationships based on keys
• Follows relational model
• SQL is typically used to interact with relational databases
• Example: SQLite, mySQL
• Have a schema
• Typically used when data relationships are complex, and enforcing strict schemas is important

NoSQL databases

• Databases that store and retrieve data in flexible formats (e.g. key-value pairs, documents)
• Horizontally scalable and handles large volumes of unstructured data
• Used for real-time analytics, content management, big data
• Example: mongodb
• Distributed data across multiple servers
• Can store JSON or BSON

Entities and relationships

Entities are real world objects or concepts that can be uniquely identified, and often have relationships with each other - which define how they interact and relate.

• Entities represented as tables - each row is an instance, each column is an attribute
• Relationships are represented by foreign keys or intermediate tables