Web Application Classification: A Maintenance/Evolution Perspective

Many companies use the Web to communicate with the external world as well as within their organizations and to carry out their business processes more effectively. A survey on Web application development shows that 84% of development projects do not meet business needs, 56% do not have the required functionality, 79% are behind schedule, and 63% are over budget (Standish Group, 2002). García-Cabrera, Rodríguez-Fórtiz, and Parets-Llorca (2002) report that the development of a Web application is never finished, and the nature of Web applications is evolutionary. The architecture of Web applications has three layers: conceptual, presentation, and navigation. It also has two perspectives: designer and viewer. Software evolution is "the dynamic behavior of programming systems as they are maintained and enhanced over their life times" (Belady & Lehman, 1976). Web application evolution is of increasing importance as more Web systems are in production.