A web application is an application that can be accessed using a variety of browsers (most browsers support modern web application functionality)
over an internal (intranet) or public network (internet). Web applications typically, but not always, use server side code
(VB, C#, JAVA, CFM, RUBY, PHP) to create browser compliant markup – usually HTML, XHTML and XML.
A web application should not be confused with a website, they are two different things. One web application can handle and create
web pages for multiple websites. What makes web applications so advantageous, is the fact the application code is deployed to a
central location which makes updating the application for all users an almost trivial process. It does not need to be redistributed to all users
and changes for the users are instant. Because of advances in technology, there is very little a web application can’t do that a desktop
application can.
The biggest concern with web applications is security. While security is a factor and concern in any application, securing a web
application is much more difficult and requires expert knowledge in web application security.