Web Application

Short introduction to web application development

Web Application Development

Web application development can be anything from classic server-side applications that render dynamic HTML pages, to real-time audio/video applications. What is common for all of them though, Fedora is here to offer all needed components and great development environment.

Technologies used for web development

Except HTML, which is almost always improved by CSS, most developers add dynamic items to the web pages via JavaScript. For both, CSS and JavaScript, libraries exist to make developers’ tasks easier:

  • JQuery, a fast, small, and feature-rich JavaScript library
  • React, a JavaScript library for building user interfaces
  • Angular, one framework for mobile and desktop
  • PatternFly to build better experiences with repeatable, scalable design

A client application is most often a browser like Firefox or Chromium, which talks to the server via HTTP protocol. It does not need to be that case always, a client application might be also substituted by a GUI or terminal application.

Languages often used for back-end development

Webservers for static pages or processing HTTP requests

Databases for more complex web applications

Certificates

For web applications, the trafic between client and server machine goes over the Internet in many cases. To not reveal any sensitive information, many sites have utilized an SSL-secured connection over HTTP, shortly HTTPS.

To make it work properly, the server needs to have a valid certificate, which either is obtained and signed by one of the authorities, or can be generated using service Let’s Encrypt. Such certificates require management though, so read about how to secure your webserver with improved Certbot in the Fedora magazine.

Editing the source-code

The following IDE are popular even for web development:

  • PyCharm, a popular IDE for Python development, is available as a copr repository
  • Visual Studio Code: Microsoft’s famous Visual Studio, rewritten to a modern web-based platform based on open-source technologies, read here how you can install it on your Fedora

More information

For learning more about web technologies, visit for example web w3schools.com.


Authors: Adam Samalik, Honza Horak, Jarek Prokop, Pavel Valena, Sushil Kumar S H