Web Applications, Multimedia Concepts, and Architectures
A web application is an application that users access via a web server over the Internet or an intranet using a web browser.
Well-known examples include webmail applications, wikis, weblogs, and online shops.
Web interfaces may have limitations in the functionality offered to the user.
A significant advantage is that web applications generally work the same regardless of the operating system or version installed on the client machine.
Hypertext is a technology that organizes an information base into different blocks of content, connected through a series of links whose activation or selection triggers information retrieval.
Multimedia Development Areas
- Transmedia: The scope of consolidated media, with its own language and daily usage habits, where computers are intended for message production.
- Intermediate: The scope defined by using elements from different media to transmit a message. Before consolidation as such, these media were multimedia. This mixture might not involve computers.
- Multimedia: The scope of computer use in applications made for the end-user, mixing three or more of the five data types used in sensory transmission of formal knowledge: text, graphics, music, voice, and moving images.
Interaction
Interaction is an action exerted reciprocally between two or more subjects, objects, actors, forces, or functions.
Dynamic Nature
This refers to how any user action or request generates a change or modification to the information presented on the page.
Presentation
Presentation is a process where the content of a subject is exposed to an audience or other setting. Presentations generally aim to convey an idea or inform individuals about a specific topic.
Personalization
Personalization involves adapting a product, service, or content to an individual user based on their characteristics, personal preferences, or previously provided information.
Operation
Personalization requires three basic procedures:
- User identification
- User preferences
- Descriptive information about the content
User Identification
To adapt content to user needs, it is crucial to identify and distinguish them from others, showing information they desire or find interesting.
A user can be identified directly or indirectly.
Direct Identification
This occurs when the user identifies themselves personally and directly, for example, by entering a username and password (if necessary), allowing the system to recognize them unequivocally. It also includes selecting an available profile, such as in a computer system with multiple user sessions.
Indirect Identification
This occurs transparently to the user. While the user does not perform an explicit identification action, a parallel procedure identifies them.
Two-Tier Architecture
The traditional client/server architecture, also known as two-tier architecture, requires a user interface installed and running on a client (PC or workstation) that sends requests to a server for complex operations.
Three-Tier Architecture
This is a more recent design introducing an intermediate layer. Each layer is a separate, well-defined process, often running on separate platforms.