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When put to the test, the term Web application has slightly different meanings to different people. Some believe a Web application is anything that uses Java, others consider a Web application anything that uses a Web server. The general consensus is somewhere in between. In this article, a Web application will be loosely defined as a Web system (Web server, network, HTTP, browser) in which user input (navigation and data input) effects the state of the business. This definition attempts to establish that a Web application is a software system with business state, and that its front end is in large part delivered via a Web system.
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Jim Conallen (1999) studied this question.
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