Difference between Website and WebApplication?

Question

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.

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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).

Answer 3

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

Answer 4

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

Answer 5

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.