Internet Development- Websites & Web Applications

It's a well-known fact that the Internet has changed, and continues to change the way the world does business. More and more business software programs are being rewritten or converted to run as browser based Internet applications. Many new business applications are being designed and built with full Internet capabilities. Customers can now buy online, track their order status, obtain tracking information, etc. without ever speaking with a customer service agent. Executives can access vital information while on the road and workers can perform their duties from the comfort of their own home. In effect, the world has become one giant network providing businesses countless opportunities to improve efficiencies, reduce overhead, improve customer service, and increase profitability. The possibilities are endless and the rewards staggering, but how do you retool your business to take full advantage of all the Internet has to offer?

At Dreamkey we make distinction between a website and a web application. Although both types of projects will ultimately be run and used within a web browser and hosted on a web server, there is a significant difference in the development styles and the practices and procedures used.

Websites are more public in nature. More care is taken to develop them using widely adopted presentation standards. This is necessary because of the world-wide audience that has access to the site. Browser compatibility is a big concern when developing websites. It is difficult and often impossible to force visitors to use a specific browser (such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, or Mozilla's FireFox). The rule of thumb is to develop for the lowest (oldest) browser technology, which will support the functionality and design of the site. Another common issue is bandwidth and network latency. This affects the sizes and compression levels of images, the amount of data to be displayed, the time to refresh a page, and many other aspects of a sites design.

Web applications are generally more private. There is in most cases a login process and some kind of secured and controlled release and collection of data. Usually a browser type and level (such as Internet Explorer 6.0+) will be specified as a requirement. While other browsers may be usable, they will generally not be as thoroughly tested. Bandwidth is still a major concern, although users in most cases users are accessing the application over a LAN or WAN connection with delivers much quicker transfer rates.

At Dreamkey we employ the best technology for the job. This might mean that a site is developed using ASP.NET and .NET 3.0 or it might mean that the site is hand coded using HTML and JavaScript. We carefully plan and architect even the smallest website to anticipate the growth and future needs of the site.