A web framework (WF) or web application framework (WAF) is a
software framework
In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software, providing generic functionality, can be selectively changed by additional user-written code, thus providing application-specific software. It provides a standard ...
that is designed to support the development of
web application
A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection.
History
In earlier computing models like client-serve ...
s including web services,
web resource
A web resource is any identifiable resource (digital, physical, or abstract) present on or connected to the World Wide Web.[< ...](_blank)
s, and web
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
s. Web frameworks provide a standard way to build and deploy web applications on the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
. Web frameworks aim to automate the overhead associated with common activities performed in
web development
Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications ...
. For example, many web frameworks provide
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
for
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
access,
templating frameworks, and
session management, and they often promote
code reuse
In software development (and computer programming in general), code reuse, also called software reuse, is the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software, following the reusability principles.
Code reuse may be achiev ...
. Although they often target development of
dynamic web sites, they are also applicable to
static websites.
History
As the design of the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
was not inherently dynamic, early
hypertext
Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typi ...
consisted of hand-coded
HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...
text files that were published on
web servers
A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initiates ...
. Any modifications to published pages needed to be performed by the pages' author. In 1993, the
Common Gateway Interface
In computing, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) is an interface specification that enables web servers to execute an external program, typically to process user requests.
Such programs are often written in a scripting language and are commonly ref ...
(CGI) standard was introduced for interfacing external applications with web servers, to provide a
dynamic web page
A server-side dynamic web page is a web page whose construction is controlled by an application server processing server-side scripts. In server-side scripting, parameters determine how the assembly of every new web page proceeds, and includin ...
that reflected user inputs.
Original implementations of the CGI interface typically had adverse effects on the server load however, because each request started a separate
process
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
*Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...
. More recent implementations utilize persistent processes amongst other techniques to reduce the footprint in the server's resources and offer a general performance boost.
In 1995, fully integrated server/language development environments first emerged and new web-specific languages were introduced, such as
ColdFusion
Adobe ColdFusion is a commercial rapid web-application development computing platform created by J. J. Allaire in 1995. (The programming language used with that platform is also commonly called ColdFusion, though is more accurately known as CF ...
,
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group ...
, and
Active Server Pages
Active Server Pages (ASP) is Microsoft's first server-side scripting language and engine for dynamic web pages.
It was first released in December 1996, before being superseded in January 2002 by ASP.NET.
History
Initially released as an add ...
.
Although the vast majority of languages for creating dynamic web pages have
libraries
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
to help with common tasks, web applications often require specific libraries for particular tasks, such as creating
HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...
(for example,
Jakarta Server Faces
Jakarta Faces, formerly Jakarta Server Faces and JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a Java specification for building component-based user interfaces for web applications and was formalized as a standard through the Java Community Process being part of t ...
).
In the late 1990s, mature, "full stack" frameworks began to appear, that often gathered multiple libraries useful for
web development
Web development is the work involved in developing a website for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). Web development can range from developing a simple single static page of plain text to complex web applications ...
into a single cohesive
software stack
In computing, a solution stack or software stack is a set of software subsystems or components needed to create a complete platform such that no additional software is needed to support applications. Applications are said to "run on" or "run on t ...
for web developers to use. Examples of this include
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name s ...
,
Java EE
Jakarta EE, formerly Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), is a set of specifications, extending Java SE with specifications for enterprise features such as distributed computing and web serv ...
,
WebObjects
WebObjects was a Java web application server and a server-based web application framework originally developed by NeXT Software, Inc.
WebObject's hallmark features are its object-orientation, database connectivity, and prototyping tools. Ap ...
,
web2py
Web2py is an open-source web application framework written in the Python programming language. Web2py allows web developers to program dynamic web content using Python. Web2py is designed to help reduce tedious web development tasks, such a ...
,
OpenACS
The ArsDigita Community System (ACS) was an open source toolkit for developing community web applications developed primarily by developers associated with ArsDigita Corporation. It was licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, and is one of the mos ...
,
Catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
,
Mojolicious
Mojolicious is a real-time web application framework, written by Sebastian Riedel, creator of the web application framework Catalyst. Licensed as free software under the Artistic License v 2.0, it is written in the Perl programming language, and is ...
,
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web p ...
,
Laravel
Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework, created by Taylor Otwell and intended for the development of web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern and based on Symfony. Some of the features ...
,
Grails,
Django,
Zend Framework
Laminas Project (formerly Zend Framework or ZF) is an open source, object-oriented web application framework implemented in PHP 7 and licensed under the New BSD License. The framework is basically a collection of professional PHP-based packa ...
,
Sails.js,
Yii
Yii is an open source, object-oriented, component-based MVC PHP web application framework. Yii is pronounced as "Yee" or i:and in Chinese it means "simple and evolutionary" and it can be an acronym for "Yes It Is!".
History
Yii started ...
,
CakePHP
CakePHP is an open-source web framework. It follows the model–view–controller (MVC) approach and is written in PHP, modeled after the concepts of Ruby on Rails, and distributed under the MIT License.
CakePHP uses well-known software engineeri ...
, and
Symfony.
Types of framework architectures
Most web frameworks are based on the
model–view–controller
Model–view–controller (MVC) is a software architectural pattern commonly used for developing user interfaces that divide the related program logic into three interconnected elements. This is done to separate internal representations of infor ...
(MVC)
pattern
A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...
.
Model–view–controller (MVC)
Many frameworks follow the MVC
architectural pattern to separate the
data model
A data model is an abstract model that organizes elements of data and standardizes how they relate to one another and to the properties of real-world entities. For instance, a data model may specify that the data element representing a car be co ...
into
business rule A business rule defines or constrains some aspect of business. It may be expressed to specify an action to be taken when certain conditions are true or may be phrased so it can only resolve to either true or false. Business rules are intended to ass ...
s (the "controller") and the
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
(the "view"). This is generally considered a good practice as it
modularizes code, promotes
code reuse
In software development (and computer programming in general), code reuse, also called software reuse, is the use of existing software, or software knowledge, to build new software, following the reusability principles.
Code reuse may be achiev ...
, and allows multiple interfaces to be applied. In web applications, this permits different views to be presented, for example serving different
web pages for mobile vs. desktop browsers, or providing machine-readable
web service interfaces.
Push-based vs. pull-based
Most MVC frameworks follow a push-based architecture also called "action-based". These frameworks use actions that do the required processing, and then "push" the data to the view layer to render the results.
Django,
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web p ...
,
Symfony,
Spring MVC,
Stripes
Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to:
Decorations
*Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface
*Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration
*Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military
Entertainment
...
,
Sails.js,
CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is an open-source software rapid development web framework, for use in building dynamic web sites with PHP.
Popularity
CodeIgniter is loosely based on the popular model–view–controller (MVC) development pattern. While controller c ...
are good examples of this architecture. An alternative to this is pull-based architecture, sometimes also called "component-based". These frameworks start with the view layer, which can then "pull" results from multiple controllers as needed. In this architecture, multiple controllers can be involved with a single view.
Lift
Lift or LIFT may refer to:
Physical devices
* Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods
** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop
** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...
,
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
,
JBoss Seam
WildFly, formerly known as JBoss AS, or simply JBoss, is an application server written by JBoss (company), JBoss, now developed by Red Hat. WildFly is written in Java (programming language), Java and implements the Java Platform, Enterprise Editi ...
,
Jakarta Server Faces
Jakarta Faces, formerly Jakarta Server Faces and JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a Java specification for building component-based user interfaces for web applications and was formalized as a standard through the Java Community Process being part of t ...
, and
Wicket
In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings:
* It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...
are examples of pull-based architectures.
Play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
,
Struts, RIFE, and
ZK have support for both push- and pull-based application controller calls.
Three-tier organization
In
three-tier organization, applications are structured around three physical tiers: client, application, and database. The database is normally an
RDBMS
A relational database is a (most commonly digital) database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A system used to maintain relational databases is a relational database management system (RDBMS). Many relation ...
. The application contains the business logic, running on a server and communicates with the client using
HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, ...
. The client on web applications is a web browser that runs HTML generated by the application layer. The term should not be confused with MVC, where, unlike in three-tier architecture, it is considered a good practice to keep business logic away from the controller, the "middle layer".
Framework applications
Frameworks are built to support the construction of internet applications based on a single programming language, ranging in focus from general purpose tools such as Zend Framework and Ruby on Rails, which augment the capabilities of a specific language, to native-language programmable packages built around a specific user application, such as
content management system
A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content (content management).''Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy''. Ann Rockley, Pamela Kostur, Steve Manning. New ...
s, some mobile development tools and some portal tools.
General-purpose website frameworks
Web frameworks must function according to the architectural rules of browsers and
protocols
Protocol may refer to:
Sociology and politics
* Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states
* Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state
* Etiquette, a code of personal behavior
Science and technology
...
such as
HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, ...
, which is
stateless. Webpages are served up by a
server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
and can then be modified by the browser using
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...
. Either approach has its advantages and disadvantages.
Server-side page changes typically require that the page be refreshed, but allow any language to be used and more computing power to be utilized. Client-side changes allow the page to be updated in small chunks which feels like a desktop application, but are limited to JavaScript and run in the user's browser, which may have limited computing power. Some mix of the two is typically used. Applications which make heavy use of JavaScript and only refresh parts of the page, are called
single-page application
A single-page application (SPA) is a web application or website that interacts with the user by dynamically rewriting the current web page with new data from the web server, instead of the default method of a web browser loading entire new pages. ...
s and typically make use of a client-side JavaScript web framework to organize the code.
Server-side
*
Apache Wicket
Apache Wicket, commonly referred to as Wicket, is a component-based web application framework for the Java programming language conceptually similar to JavaServer Faces and Tapestry. It was originally written by Jonathan Locke in April 2004. Ver ...
*
ASP.NET Core
*
CakePHP
CakePHP is an open-source web framework. It follows the model–view–controller (MVC) approach and is written in PHP, modeled after the concepts of Ruby on Rails, and distributed under the MIT License.
CakePHP uses well-known software engineeri ...
*
Catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
*
CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is an open-source software rapid development web framework, for use in building dynamic web sites with PHP.
Popularity
CodeIgniter is loosely based on the popular model–view–controller (MVC) development pattern. While controller c ...
*
CppCMS
CppCMS is an open-source web application framework for the C++ programming language developed by Artyom Beilis. The primary goal of CppCMS is building performance-demanding web applications. It may also be used for embedded web applications for ...
*
Django
*
Flask
Flask may refer to:
Container
* Hip flask, a small container used to carry a small amount of liquid
* Laboratory flask, laboratory glassware for holding larger volumes than simple test tubes
** Erlenmeyer flask, a common laboratory flask wit ...
*
Jam.py
*
Yii
Yii is an open source, object-oriented, component-based MVC PHP web application framework. Yii is pronounced as "Yee" or i:and in Chinese it means "simple and evolutionary" and it can be an acronym for "Yes It Is!".
History
Yii started ...
*
Laravel
Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework, created by Taylor Otwell and intended for the development of web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern and based on Symfony. Some of the features ...
*
Mojolicious
Mojolicious is a real-time web application framework, written by Sebastian Riedel, creator of the web application framework Catalyst. Licensed as free software under the Artistic License v 2.0, it is written in the Perl programming language, and is ...
*
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web p ...
*
Sails.js
*
Symfony
*
Spring MVC
*
Wt (web toolkit)
Wt (pronounced ''"witty"'') is an open-source widget-centric web framework for the C++ programming language. It has an API resembling that of Qt framework (although it was developed with Boost, and is incompatible when mixed with Qt), also usin ...
*
Zend Framework
Laminas Project (formerly Zend Framework or ZF) is an open source, object-oriented web application framework implemented in PHP 7 and licensed under the New BSD License. The framework is basically a collection of professional PHP-based packa ...
Client-side
Examples include
Backbone.js
Backbone.js is a JavaScript rich-client web app framework based on the model–view–controller design paradigm, intended to connect to an API over a RESTful JSON interface. Backbone is known for being lightweight, as its only hard dependency i ...
,
AngularJS
AngularJS is a discontinued free and open-source JavaScript-based web framework for developing single-page applications. It was maintained mainly by Google and a community of individuals and corporations. It aimed to simplify both the development ...
,
Angular,
EmberJS,
ReactJS
React (also known as React.js or ReactJS) is a free and open-source front-end JavaScript library for building user interfaces based on components. It is maintained by Meta (formerly Facebook) and a community of individual developers and compa ...
,
jQuery UI
jQuery UI is a collection of GUI widgets, animated visual effects, and themes implemented with jQuery (a JavaScript library), Cascading Style Sheets, and HTML. Using the Shodan search engine query term cpe:"cpe:/a:jquery/jquery_ui" we can dete ...
,
Svelte, and
Vue.js
Vue.js (commonly referred to as Vue; pronounced "view") is an open-source model–view–viewmodel front end JavaScript framework for building user interfaces and single-page applications. It was created by Evan You, and is maintained by him ...
.
Discussion forums, wikis and weblogs
*WikiBase/
WikiWikiWeb
The WikiWikiWeb is the first wiki, or user-editable website. It was launched on 25 March 1995 by programmer Ward Cunningham to accompany the Portland Pattern Repository website discussing software design patterns. The name ''WikiWikiWeb'' origi ...
Features
Frameworks typically set the
control flow
In computer science, control flow (or flow of control) is the order in which individual statements, instructions or function calls of an imperative program are executed or evaluated. The emphasis on explicit control flow distinguishes an ''imper ...
of a program and allow the user of the framework to "hook into" that flow by exposing various events.
This "
inversion of control
In software engineering, inversion of control (IoC) is a design pattern in which custom-written portions of a computer program receive the flow of control from a generic framework. A software architecture with this design inverts control as co ...
" design pattern is considered to be a defining principle of a framework, and benefits the code by enforcing a common flow for a team which everyone can customize in similar ways.
For example, some popular "microframeworks" such as Ruby's
Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
(which inspired
Express.js) allow for "middleware" hooks prior to and after HTTP requests. These middleware functions can be anything, and allow the user to define logging, authentication and session management, and redirecting.
Web template system
Caching
Web caching is the
caching of
web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
documents
A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', w ...
in order to reduce
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
usage,
server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
load
Load or LOAD may refer to:
Aeronautics and transportation
*Load factor (aeronautics), the ratio of the lift of an aircraft to its weight
*Passenger load factor, the ratio of revenue passenger miles to available seat miles of a particular transpo ...
, and perceived "
lag
Lag, or similar, may refer to:
Lag
* Łąg, Poland
* Lag (company), a French guitar maker
* Lag (cue sports), a brief pre-game competition to determine which player will go first
* Latency (engineering), a slower response time in computing, commu ...
". A web cache stores copies of documents passing through it; subsequent requests may be satisfied from the cache if certain conditions are met. Some application frameworks provide mechanisms for caching documents and bypassing various stages of the page's preparation, such as database access or template interpretation.
Security
Some web frameworks come with
authentication
Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicati ...
and
authorization
Authorization or authorisation (see spelling differences) is the function of specifying access rights/privileges to resources, which is related to general information security and computer security, and to access control in particular. More for ...
frameworks, that enable the
web server
A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initiate ...
to identify the users of the application, and restrict access to functions based on some defined criteria.
Drupal
Drupal () is a free and open-source web content management system (CMS) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Drupal provides an open-source back-end framework for at least 14% of the top 10,000 websites worldwide ...
is one example that provides role-based access to pages, and provides a web-based interface for creating users and assigning them roles.
Database access, mapping and configuration
Many web frameworks create a unified
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
to a database backend, enabling web applications to work with a variety of databases with no code changes, and allowing programmers to work with higher-level concepts. Additionally, some
object-oriented
Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of pro ...
frameworks contain mapping tools to provide
object-relational mapping, which maps
objects
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
to
tuple
In mathematics, a tuple is a finite ordered list (sequence) of elements. An -tuple is a sequence (or ordered list) of elements, where is a non-negative integer. There is only one 0-tuple, referred to as ''the empty tuple''. An -tuple is defi ...
s.
Some frameworks minimize web application configuration through the use of
introspection
Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's s ...
and/or following well-known conventions. For example, many Java frameworks use
Hibernate
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
as a persistence layer, which can generate a database schema at runtime capable of persisting the necessary information. This allows the application designer to design business objects without needing to explicitly define a database schema. Frameworks such as
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and web p ...
can also work in reverse, that is, define properties of model objects at runtime based on a database schema.
Other features web frameworks may provide include
transactional support and
database migration tools.
URL mapping
A framework's
URL mapping or routing facility is the mechanism by which the framework interprets URLs. Some frameworks, such as Drupal and Django, match the provided URL against pre-determined patterns using
regular expression
A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp; sometimes referred to as rational expression) is a sequence of characters that specifies a search pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" or ...
s, while some others use
rewriting
In mathematics, computer science, and logic, rewriting covers a wide range of methods of replacing subterms of a well-formed formula, formula with other terms. Such methods may be achieved by rewriting systems (also known as rewrite systems, rewr ...
techniques to translate the provided URL into one that the underlying engine will recognize. Another technique is that of
graph traversal
In computer science, graph traversal (also known as graph search) refers to the process of visiting (checking and/or updating) each vertex in a graph. Such traversals are classified by the order in which the vertices are visited. Tree traversal ...
such as used by
Zope
Zope is a family of free and open-source web application servers written in Python, and their associated online community. Zope stands for "Z Object Publishing Environment", and was the first system using the now common object publishing methodol ...
, where a URL is decomposed in steps that traverse an object graph (of models and views).
A URL mapping system that uses pattern matching or rewriting to route and handle requests allows for
shorter more "
friendly URLs" to be used, increasing the simplicity of the site and allowing for better indexing by search engines. For example, a URL that ends with "/page.cgi?cat=science&topic=physics" could be changed to simply "/page/science/physics". This makes the URL easier for people to remember, read and write, and provides search engines with better information about the structural layout of the site. A graph traversal approach also tends to result in the creation of friendly URLs. A shorter URL such as "/page/science" tends to exist by default as that is simply a shorter form of the longer traversal to "/page/science/physics".
AJAX
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
, shorthand for "''
Asynchronous
Asynchrony is the state of not being in synchronization.
Asynchrony or asynchronous may refer to:
Electronics and computing
* Asynchrony (computer programming), the occurrence of events independent of the main program flow, and ways to deal with ...
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...
and
XML
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...
''", is a web development technique for creating web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is intended to increase a web page's interactivity, speed, maintainability, and
usability
Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...
.
Due to the complexity of Ajax programming in JavaScript, there are numerous
Ajax framework
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
s that exclusively deal with Ajax support. Some Ajax frameworks are even embedded as a part of larger frameworks. For example, the
jQuery
jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation, as well as event handling, CSS animation, and Ajax. It is free, open-source software using the permissive MIT License. As of Aug 2022, jQuery is used ...
JavaScript library A JavaScript library is a library of pre-written JavaScript code that allows for easier development of JavaScript-based applications, especially for AJAX and other web-centric technologies.
Libraries
With the expanded demands for JavaScript, an ea ...
is included in Ruby on Rails.
With the increased interest in developing "
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
"
rich web applications, the complexity of programming directly in Ajax and JavaScript has become so apparent that compiler technology has stepped in, to allow developers to code in high-level languages such as Java, Python and Ruby. The first of these compilers was
Morfik
Morfik Technology Pty Ltd. is an Australian software company that was acquired by Altium in 2010.
The company is known for developing a set of visual designers, compilers and a Framework combined in an Integrated development environment (IDE ...
followed by
Google Web Toolkit
Google Web Toolkit (GWT ), or GWT Web Toolkit, is an open-source set of tools that allows web developers to create and maintain JavaScript front-end applications in Java. It is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
GWT emphasizes reusab ...
, with ports to Python and Ruby in the form of
Pyjs
Www.google.com (formerly Pyjamas before May 2012), is a rich web application framework for developing client-side web and desktop applications in Python (programming language), Python. The resulting applications can be run in a web browser or as ...
and RubyJS following some time after. These compilers and their associated widget set libraries make the development of rich media Ajax applications much more akin to that of developing desktop applications.
Web services
Some frameworks provide tools for creating and providing web services. These utilities may offer similar tools as the rest of the web application.
Web resources
A number of newer
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
REST
Rest or REST may refer to:
Relief from activity
* Sleep
** Bed rest
* Kneeling
* Lying (position)
* Sitting
* Squatting position
Structural support
* Structural support
** Rest (cue sports)
** Armrest
** Headrest
** Footrest
Arts and entert ...
ful frameworks are now providing
resource-oriented architecture In software engineering, a resource-oriented architecture (ROA) is a style of software architecture and programming paradigm for supportive designing and developing software in the form of Internetworking of System resource, resources with "Represen ...
(ROA) infrastructure for building collections of resources in a sort of
Semantic Web ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
, based on concepts from
Resource Description Framework The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard originally designed as a data model for metadata. It has come to be used as a general method for description and exchange of graph data. RDF provides a variety of ...
(RDF).
See also
*
Comparison of JavaScript-based web frameworks
This is a comparison of web frameworks for front-end web development that are heavily reliant on JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World ...
(client-side)
*
Comparison of server-side web frameworks
This is a comparison of notable web frameworks, software used to build and deploy web applications.
General
Basic information about each framework.
Systems listed on a light purple background are no longer in active development.
ASP.NET
C+ ...
*
Application server
An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol.
An application server framework is a service layer model. It includes software components available to a ...
*
Application framework
In computer programming, an application framework consists of a software framework used by software developers to implement the standard structure of application software.
Application frameworks became popular with the rise of graphical user int ...
*
Application security
Application security (short AppSec) includes all tasks that introduce a secure software development life cycle to development teams. Its final goal is to improve security practices and, through that, to find, fix and preferably prevent security i ...
*
Convention over configuration
Convention over configuration (also known as coding by convention) is a software design paradigm used by software frameworks that attempts to decrease the number of decisions that a developer using the framework is required to make without necessa ...
*
Don't repeat yourself
"Don't repeat yourself" (DRY) is a principle of software development aimed at reducing repetition of software patterns, replacing it with abstractions or using data normalization to avoid redundancy.
The DRY principle is stated as "Every piece o ...
(DRY)
*
List of web service frameworks A list of web service frameworks:
See also
* Comparison of web frameworks
* List of web service specifications
* List of web service protocols
* Web service
* Java view technologies and frameworks
* List of application servers
This list comp ...
*
Rich web application (obsolete)
**
List of rich web application frameworks : ''For a list of mobile only frameworks see Multiple phone web based application framework''.
Below is a list of rich web application frameworks:
{, class="wikitable sortable" style="width: auto; table-layout: fixed; text-align: center;"
, - s ...
*
Solution stack
In computing, a solution stack or software stack is a set of software subsystems or components needed to create a complete Computing platform, platform such that no additional software is needed to support applications. Applications are said to " ...
*
Mobile development framework
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Web Framework