Abstract
As Web-based information systems and applications have been growing more and more complex, the concept of “Web engineering” begins to prevail. Generally, Web engineering refers to a field concerned about the employment of systematic and disciplined approaches to the development and management of Web sites and Web applications (Lowe, 1999; Murugesan, Deshpande, Hansen, & Ginige, 1999). It utilizes diverse principles from multiple disciplines including hypermedia, software engineering, human computer interaction, conceptual modeling, information retrieval, networking, etc.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Web Service: Standards based software components that provide information and functionality over the Web to other components and applications. Web services usually do not provide user interfaces.
Web Engineering: The application, and the study, of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approaches to the development, operation, and maintenance of Web information systems.
Software Engineering: The application and the study of systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approaches to the development, operation, and maintenance of software (IEEE Standard 610.12).
Hypermedia: An extension of the term hypertext, in which text, audio, video, and other media intertwine to create a non-linear presentation of information.
Web 2.0: This is a name referring to a set of new features of the latest Web applications. Commonly perceived features include massive user participation and collaboration, rich Web interface, service oriented architecture, dynamic content provision, and integration, etc.
Web (World Wide Web): The hypermedia infrastructure based on the Internet to deliver information and services to globally distributed users and systems.
Web Application: A specific functionality-oriented component that utilizes Web technologies to deliver information and services to users or other applications/information systems.
Web (Based) Information System: An information system that utilizes Web technologies to deliver information and services to users or other information systems/applications.