

Ask HN: At what point does a 'website' become an 'application'? - aarongough

I'm struggling a little with this rather mundane question of terminology: even the simplest of my personal 'websites' are built in Rails. They interact with a database, they are stateful, they are tested. Are they just a 'website', or are they an application?<p>I ask this from the perspective of discussing the site/app with other people, which is not really something I had done much of before.<p>What are your thoughts? What terminology should I use to minimize confusion during discussions?
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Alleyfield
imho that's just semantics.

Make the terms clear at the start of the discussion - argument why you're
using a term application instead of a website.

Wouldn't that clear it up?

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aarongough
Probably, I'm just curious as the way you speak can radically alter the
impression people get of you, and your project.

In my mind referring to something as a 'site', rather than an 'application' or
'web-application' makes you seem less serious. Just a thought...

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Alleyfield
Do you consider facebook as a site which has applications or is it an
application?

If someone were to speak about the functionalities of the site called facebook
- then would using the term "site" make facebook sound less serious?

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aarongough
Good point!

Thanks for your thoughts, it's a small thing but it helps to know what other
people are thinking.

