They stress the importance of models in Web application development, and they compare well-known Web-specific development processes like WebML, WSDM and OOHDM to traditional software development approaches like the waterfall model and the spiral model.

Nowadays, Web applications are almost omnipresent. The Web has become a platform not only for information delivery, but also for eCommerce systems, social networks, mobile services, and distributed learning environments. Engineering Web applications involves many intrinsic challenges due to their distributed nature, content orientation, and the requirement to make them available to a wide spectrum of users who are unknown in advance. The authors discuss these challenges in the context of well-established engineering processes, covering the whole product lifecycle from requirements engineering through design and implementation to deployment and maintenance. They stress the importance of models in Web application development, and they compare well-known Web-specific development processes like WebML, WSDM and OOHDM to traditional software development approaches like the waterfall model and the spiral model. Important problem areas inherent to the Web, like localization, personalization, accessibility, and usage analysis, are dealt with in detail, and a final chapter provides both a description of and an outlook on recent Semantic Web and Web 2.0 developments. Overall, their book delivers a comprehensive presentation of the state-of-the-art in Web application development and thus forms an ideal basis for academic or industrial courses in this or related areas. It is equally suitable for self-study by researchers or advanced professionals who require an overview on how to use up-to-date Web technologies.

From the reviews: “This well-written book describes each step of the Web application development process. It covers abstractions, methods, tools, models, and concepts that will give readers a global perspective … . it is suitable for students as a complete overview of Web development, its figures, illustration, and language are quite complex, making it appropriate for an advanced academic audience. … In conclusion, this complete, nontechnical guidebook can be used by academics and advanced students as a generalized approach to Web application engineering.” (Athena Vakali, ACM Computing Reviews, December, 2009)

First comprehensive and product-independent presentation of Web applications engineering Covers the whole application lifecycle from requirements engineering to deployment and maintenance Relates Web-specific development processes to traditional software development approaches Ideal for classes on Web application development, Web engineering, or Web information systems Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras