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Subhasree Nag, 1 day ago
Web applications are now in the spotlight in today’s digital era, assisting with almost all online tasks, from organizing your dream trip to browsing through social media every day.
Yet, behind the polished user interfaces and basic functionalities lies a complex system of components that are skillfully managed by a framework called web application architecture.
The architecture of a web application generally has a large impact on any social media platform. So, in a way, it might affect the user experience of the same as well. How does it do so?
Let’s find out more about it.
Importance of a Web Application Architecture
The architecture of a web application, like Facebook or Instagram, works like a guide as you are creating a program or online platform. It’s all about laying a foundation for offering a successful and efficient digital experience. Here’s why it’s important –
1: Better User Experience
Inefficient architecture causes delays in loading, non-responsive interfaces, and malfunctioning features, greatly affecting user happiness. However, a solid architecture guarantees seamless user engagement, quick performance, and easy navigation, encouraging visitors to return.
2: Maintainability and Scalability
If an application was built with a rigid architecture, it might struggle to manage increased traffic or adopt various new features. Nevertheless, a well-designed architecture can always enable you to add new stuff to your application, making the user experience even better.
3: Reliability and Security
In today’s world, almost no app is safe. Even if you have a small issue with your creation, it can be exploited and taken over by someone else. Nonetheless, when you are using a proper web app architecture, the risk of the app being problematic will be close to zero.
So your creation will be safe and secure.
4: Cost-Effectiveness
Being built on a poor infrastructure can permanently damage an application. This, in turn, might increase the product’s cost even more and affect your budget in the long run. On the other hand, a well-planned structure enhances resource distribution, reduces infrastructure congestion, and encourages code reuse, leading to cost savings in the future.
How Does Web App Architecture Impact Social Media Platforms?
Social media platforms play an important role in our everyday lives during the age of technology, impacting communication, business, and entertainment.
The architecture of their web apps is crucial for the success of these platforms. An effective web application structure not only guarantees high performance and scalability but also significantly influences user experience (UX).
Let’s learn more about it.
1: Performance and Speed
The speed at which pages and content load is one of the most significant influences of web application architecture on UX. Social media users anticipate the immediate availability of their feeds, profiles, and messages.
A system that focuses on effective data retrieval and low latency guarantees fast loading speeds, decreasing user annoyance and enhancing interaction. Social media platforms need to manage numerous users at the same time and large volumes of data.
An extremely flexible infrastructure, frequently constructed with cloud-based systems and microservices, can adjust resource allocation to match varying demands. This guarantees steady performance even in times of high usage, like viral events or major updates.
2: Interactivity and Responsiveness
The instantaneous updates required by social media’s real-time nature necessitate an architecture that can support WebSockets or comparable technologies. Users anticipate quick interactions and responses through features like live commenting, message alerts, and real-time feeds, enabled by a strong, real-time capable framework.
A crucial factor for keeping users is a navigation experience that is easy to use and understand. A properly organized SPA design, commonly utilizing React or Angular frameworks, guarantees a seamless and continuous navigation experience on the platform, eliminating the frequent requirement of reloading the entire page.
3: Privacy and Security
Social networking sites manage user data that is sensitive, ranging from personal information to private chats. It is crucial to have a secure structure that incorporates encryption, secure data storage, and adherence to privacy regulations (such as GDPR).
Users must have confidence in the safety of their data, and the inclusion of strong security measures in the design helps to build this confidence.
Ensuring secure and efficient user authentication (such as OAuth and JWT) and authorization methods is important for granting users access to their data securely and preventing unauthorized access. This improves the user experience by offering a safe setting with minimal obstacles.
4: User Interface and Personalization
An adaptable structure that enables the use of sophisticated algorithms for recommending content and personalizing user experience can greatly improve UX.
Through examining user actions and likes, the system provides a customized feed that maintains user interest and contentment.
Responsive design is essential due to the diverse range of devices and screen sizes utilized for social media access. An effectively designed application utilizing responsive design principles provides a uniform and efficient user experience on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
5: Reliability and Maintenance
Users expect social media platforms to be accessible.
Implementing redundancy, failover mechanisms, and robust disaster recovery plans in architecture guarantees reliability and high availability. This reduces the amount of time without operation and guarantees a smooth user experience.
Consistent enhancements and updates are essential for staying competitive in the ever-changing social media industry.
A structured and sustainable design, commonly utilizing microservices, enables seamless upgrades and the incorporation of fresh characteristics without disturbing the user interaction.
Types of Web App Architecture
Web application architectures outline how software components are structured and organized in an application. Various web application architectures are designed for different requirements, scalability needs, and development preferences.
Below are some typical web application structures:
1: SPA or Single Page Architecture
The architecture of single-page applications aims to provide a smoother user experience by loading one HTML page and continuously updating its content as the user interacts with the application.
SPAs employ AJAX and APIs for fetching data and refreshing the user interface without needing to reload the entire page. It is ideal for web applications that are responsive and interactive, delivering a quicker and more seamless user experience. So, yes, if you’re looking for a winner in spa vs mpa, the former usually wins in most cases.
2: Microservices Architecture
Microservices architecture involves breaking down a complicated application into smaller, standalone services that can be created, released and expanded separately.
Every microservice is accountable for a designated business function and interacts with other microservices via APIs. This design encourages adaptability, expandability, and easy upkeep.
It is especially advantageous in extensive and growing applications, enabling improved team independence and diversity in the technology stack.
3: Serverless Architecture
Serverless design, commonly linked with Function as a Service (FaaS), enables developers to concentrate on coding without handling the underlying infrastructure.
In a serverless architecture, functions or snippets of code are run in reaction to events. This method provides scalability, decreases operational burdens, and cuts costs by charging users according to their actual usage. Nevertheless, servers are still part of the process even though they are hidden from the developer.
The Bottom Line
The architecture of a web application is like the spine of a human body. If it isn’t healthy or built properly, your application will slowly encounter issues and problems. So, if you are creating a new social media platform, be sure to work on the architecture!
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Subhasree Nag
A self-proclaimed Swiftian, Instagram-holic, and blogger, Subhasree eats, breathes, and sleeps pop culture. When she is not imagining dates with Iron Man on Stark Tower (yes, she has the biggest crush on RDJ, which she won’t admit), she can be seen tweeting about the latest trends. Always the first one to break viral news, Subhasree is addicted to social media, and leaves out no opportunity of blogging about the same. She is our go-to source for the latest algorithm updates and our resident editor.
