14.1. Web Applications¶
In this chapter, you will learn how to create web applications in Python. There are two kinds of web applications – “client side” web applications and “server side” web applications. You’ve probably used both kinds in your travels on the World-Wide Web.
Client-side web applications are programs that are downloaded to a web browser and executed on the user’s local machine. Client-side applications are typically written in JavaScript and embedded in web pages.
Server-side web applications are programs that run on web server computers, rather than on the user’s local machine. Typically, a server-side web application displays a form with text boxes and other data collection mechanisms. The user fills out the form, clicks a submit button, and the browser sends the form to the web application on the server, which processes the request, and responds with another web page. If you’ve ever shopped online, you’ve used a server-side web application.
In this chapter, you will learn to build server-side web applications, which I will refer to simply as “web applications.”