These days, most Web Sites draw their information from databases. Virtually any popular web site that you may visit today is built this way. For example Facebook, Twitter & YouTube are based upon databases.
What is a database?
A database is a collection of data; information stored, typically in electronic format. the hallmark of a database is that small portions of this database content can be retrieved as required by the user. Think Google. You type in a search phrase and presto – you have a page of related results.
How are database driven Web Sites different than other sites. From the standpoint of the viewer, they aren’t that different. It is really impossible to tell the difference. However the difference in the two types of sites becomes quite apparent when you consider how the viewer interacts with the site. Simply put, database driven sites allow the viewers to interact py posting their own information, comments or reviews – usually through a form of some type. Once this information is entered by the user, it is usually instantly available to be shared with other viewers immediately. This does a lot to make your sites “sticky” such that they come back over and over. Think about Facebook, how interesting would that site be if you could only read the information?
How do users access the site information?
The information is pulled from a database by a Custom Web Application which is a small program which connects to the database, and tells the database what information is being requested. Then, once the database sends out the information, the application will format this information into a page which can be viewed in your Web Browser.
Web applications don’t have to be this complicated. An application could be as simple as a few lines of code that allow the date on your pages to change automatically.
Regardless of the level of complexity that an application has it still must be built by an experienced programmer that understands the process of developing applications that are to be web based.
Custom applications ma be unnecessary for your site, or may play an integral part of the site content. We will help you to assess exactly what you need, and we will design a custom solution to meet your needs.