The word app is seen and heard almost daily nowadays in various media. Before, it was programs and applications that dominated, but now the buzzword is app. But is there a difference between an app and an application? And between an app and a program? I will try to sort out the concepts a bit in this blog post:
Program is a general term that includes all software that can be started on a desktop computer, a server, a tablet, a smartphone, etc. An app and an application are examples of programs, but there are also other types of programs.
Application is used to name heavier programs that run on desktops and have a user interface that interacts with a user. They can sometimes consist of a number of sub-programs that work together under a common interface. It is also common for them to use a large number of components that are installed with the product.
An app is a simple software that performs a specific task. The term app is often used to refer to the simpler applications that run on mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets etc. Nowadays, they can also be used to denote simpler programs that run on desktops, such as the apps that Windows now supports.
However, there is no sharp line between these concepts. It is common for desktops to alternately mix the various concepts with each other. Some even call the heavy applications that run in desktops apps sometimes, but it can feel wrong to many. For decades, such programs have been called just applications, and many associate apps with simpler programs.
And then there are web applications, programs
In addition to the above, there is also something called web applications. A web application or program is software that is placed on a web server and accessed via a web browser. The application can be run both on the server and in the browser, at the same time. Web applications have become increasingly popular in recent times, partly because most people now have the bandwidth required to run these applications quickly and smoothly and partly because no installations are needed. Just open the browser and run the application.
However, they are not quite as feature-rich as applications that run directly on desktops, but for many, the functionality offered by the web application is more than enough.