Website VS Web Application in Context of C# ASP.NET

3 min readJul 3, 2023

Web Application in a Nutshell

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A web application serves as a software solution accessible via web browsers like Chrome or Firefox. When users initiate an HTTP request for a specific URL associated with the web application, the request is intercepted and processed by the web application server. The server then constructs a dynamic HTML response, which is subsequently transmitted to the user’s browser. Distinguished from static websites, web applications generate varying responses upon each visit.

Unlike traditional websites that deliver pre-existing HTML pages without any processing, web applications exhibit dynamic behavior. For instance, consider the scenario of posting a question on Stack Overflow. Initially, upon visiting the URL, only the posed question is visible. However, subsequent visits to the same URL may reveal additional content, such as answers provided by other users.

A web application comprises distinct layers that work in tandem. The prevalent example is a three-tier architecture encompassing presentation, business, and data layers. In this structure, the browser serves as the presentation layer, facilitating communication with the application server. The application server, in turn, interacts with the database server to retrieve the requested data.

Distinction between a Web Application and a Website in the context of C# ASP.NET

Web Application: In C# ASP.NET, a web application refers to a dynamic and interactive software solution that incorporates server-side logic to process user requests and generate dynamic content. It typically follows a multi-tier architecture, involving separate layers for presentation, business logic, and data access. Web applications often have complex functionality, user authentication, database integration, and can provide services such as e-commerce, social networking, or productivity tools. They are built using frameworks like ASP.NET MVC or ASP.NET Core, and they often involve the use of server-side technologies such as C# for coding the logic.

Website: On the other hand, in C# ASP.NET, a website typically refers to a simpler and static collection of web pages that provide information or content to users. Websites are primarily focused on delivering static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files, with minimal or no server-side processing. They are suitable for presenting static content, company information, blogs, or other similar purposes. Websites in ASP.NET can be created using the Web Forms technology, where the server-side code is embedded within the HTML markup using special server controls.

Sample

Web Application

// Default.aspx.cs

using System;
using System.Web.UI;

namespace WebApplicationExample
{
    public partial class Default : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (!IsPostBack)
            {
                lblMessage.Text = "Welcome to the Web Application!";
            }
        }

        protected void btnSubmit_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            string name = txtName.Text;
            lblMessage.Text = "Hello, " + name + "! You clicked the Submit button.";
        }
    }
}

<!-- Default.aspx -->

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="WebApplicationExample.Default" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title>Web Application Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            <h1>Web Application Example</h1>
            <asp:Label ID="lblMessage" runat="server"></asp:Label>
            <br />
            <asp:TextBox ID="txtName" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <br />
            <asp:Button ID="btnSubmit" runat="server" Text="Submit" OnClick="btnSubmit_Click" />
        </div>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Here, you can see that we have a presenter form and also a button that will be doing something. We can make it dynamic this way. For example, we can implement a counter that will increase every time we actually click the button. We can also make it go to a DB and store some information on every click. This is what we mean, by saying that it is dynamic.

Website

// Default.aspx.cs

using System;
using System.Web.UI;

namespace WebsiteExample
{
    public partial class Default : System.Web.UI.Page
    {
        protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (!IsPostBack)
            {
                lblMessage.Text = "Welcome to the Website!";
            }
        }
    }
}

<!-- Default.aspx -->

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Default.aspx.cs" Inherits="WebsiteExample.Default" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title>Website Example</title>
</head>
<body>
    <div>
        <h1>Website Example</h1>
        <asp:Label ID="lblMessage" runat="server"></asp:Label>
        <br />
        <p>This is a simple website created using ASP.NET.</p>
        <p>It demonstrates the basic structure of a website.</p>
    </div>
</body>
</html>

And in the website, we are missing the dynamic part.

This is it, I hope you found it easy to understand and I will see you in the next article. Bye!