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3.4 Stand Alone Web Applications (MicroServer)

What are they?

Stand Alone Web Applications are very similar to Online Web Applications. Both types of projects use a web browser for interacting with the application. Both contain compiled web pages that use HTML to present the application to the user.

However, Online Web Applications require an external web server (such as Apache or Microsoft IIS) and run on a dedicated server in a central location, which is accessed by potentially hundreds or thousands of users over a network.

Stand Alone Web Applications, or MicroServer Applications, are compiled web applications that include an embedded web server. This small web server runs as a stand alone program and its only job is to serve pages from the one web application it was compiled with.

To the end user, the application appears to be a fully functioning web application, but the site is served from their local computer. No external web server or network connectivity is needed.

The end user runs the MicroServer application as they would any other program on their system. In Windows, for example, this means double clicking on the icon. The MicroServer server is started, and a web browser is automatically launched for the user to start interacting with the program.

When should I use them?

Build a Stand Alone Web Application when you want to:

  1. Compile an Online Web Application for offline, stand alone use
  2. Create a stand alone application that uses HTML and a web browser to interact with the user

How are the project files organized?

Project files are organized exactly like Online Web Applications. This is convenient because it allows for easy compilation to both online and offline applications.

As with Online Web Applications, static files such as images are not compiled into binary. They should exist in the application directory tree and be distributed with the compiled application.