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I have searched a lot about the difference between Website and WebApplication but didn't get a clear cut answer.

Even I am more confused after reading about that.

Amit
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  • Reading about that - where? Can you add a link to the question? – Oded Mar 05 '10 at 21:12
  • Really need to know what technology you are referring to. Sharepoint and ASP.NET have different meanings. – Dustin Laine Mar 05 '10 at 21:13
  • @durilai Actually my question is a general question often asked in interviews without specifying any technology... but you can give your answer in context of Java as I work mostly on Java technology. – Amit Mar 05 '10 at 21:18
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    I understand but the answer has a significant difference. – Dustin Laine Mar 05 '10 at 21:21
  • There is not a clearcut answer, because it all depends on context. The answer will change depending on whether you are talking about a specific technology, in which case those words can have specific technical meaning. In the general sense, there is no strict line between the two. – Peter Recore Mar 05 '10 at 21:35
  • You might want to check this question too. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8694922/whats-the-difference-between-a-web-site-and-a-web-application?rq=1 – Berat Cevik Jan 27 '16 at 06:03

7 Answers7

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From Wikipedia:

  • WebApplication

    In software engineering, a web application is an application that is accessed via a web browser over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is hosted in a browser-controlled environment (e.g. a Java applet)[citation needed] or coded in a browser-supported language (such as JavaScript, combined with a browser-rendered markup language like HTML) and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.

  • Website

    A website (also spelled Web site[1]) is a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL), often consisting of only the domain name, or the IP address, and the root path ('/') in an Internet Protocol-based network. A web site is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network.

See here: Website // Web Application

aefxx
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Websites is more about content, web application more about functionality.

Rockcoder
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Website is a location where you can find "content". A Webapplication is a service that offers ways for users to interact with the server to get particular content.

Webapplications reside at some website. One website can host multiple webapplications, along with other (static) content.

Roland Bouman
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A web application will have some dynamic logic behind it (i.e. do something). Normally it would have a database and some server side programming language to power it.

A website can be completely static - for example just a bunch html pages linked together.

A website could also be a collection of web applications and static pages.

Update:

If you are talking about the difference between visual studio web application projects and web site projects, read this article and this one.

Web application projects have a project file and can be compiled to a single binary (plus .aspx pages and static content).

Oded
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If you are referring to Microsoft SharePoint, then the difference is that a Web application contains a collection of Sites, each site being a collection of webs.

Hence, a web application is, for instance, http://yourserver. Now you can define sites such as http://yourserver/ (root), then additional sites at http://yourserver/sites/<something> like http://yourserver/sites/team1, http://yourserver/sites/documentsite2 etc.

A web is something similar to a site, but it is located "under" a particular site. So, a web can be located at http://yourserver/sites/team1/meetingweb for instance.

naivists
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The best way to think about the difference between a web application and a website is to ask yourself what is it being used for; or what is it's purpose. If the sole purpose is to market or advertise a service or product, then we call those websites. If the purpose is utility in nature, designed to solve a problem or make your job/life easier, then it's probably an application. web application cab be a web site but web site cannot be a web application

zafar ul islam
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Both function and perform similarly, but still differ in following ways.

Web application:

a) We can't include c# and vb page in single web application. b) We can set up dependencies between multiple projects. c) Can not edit individual files after deployment without recompiling. d) Right choice for enterprise environments where multiple developers work unitedly for creating,testing and deployment.

Web site:

a) Can mix vb and c# page in single website. b) Can not establish dependencies. c) Edit individual files after deployment. d) Right choice when one developer will responsible for creating and managing entire website.

Syed Fahad Ali
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