What is a Web Server and an Application Server? 7 Main Benefits of an App Server

A software development methodology is a set of principles, approaches, and tools used to organize and manage the software creation process. It defines how the team works, how members interact and divide responsibilities, how product quality is controlled, and more. A methodology aims to regulate the development process and ensure the project is delivered according to the requirements, timelines, and budget. Various software development methodologies exist, from the Waterfall model to Extreme Programming. One such methodology is DevOps. In this article, we’ll explore what DevOps is, why it’s needed in software delivery, what problems it solves, and the core concepts behind the methodology. We’ll also cover the role of the DevOps engineer and their responsibilities within a team and development process. What is DevOps? DevOps is a relatively new software development concept rapidly gaining popularity and gradually replacing traditional development methodologies. In 2020, the global DevOps market was valued at around $6 billion. By 2027, according to ResearchAndMarkets, it’s expected to grow to $25 billion. The definition of DevOps is broad and not easy to pin down, especially compared to other areas of IT. What is DevOps in simple terms? It’s a methodology where Development, Operations, and Testing intersect and merge. But such a definition raises several valid questions: Where do the boundaries of DevOps begin and end? Which parts of development, testing, and maintenance fall outside of DevOps? Why is it necessary to link these processes? We’ll try to answer those below. The Traditional Software Release Process Development, testing, and operations are the three main phases of the software release lifecycle. Let’s examine them more closely. Whenever we develop software, we aim to deliver a working product to end users. This goal is consistent across methodologies—whether it's Waterfall, Agile, or any other: the end goal is to create and deliver a product. Let’s consider the traditional Waterfall model for application development — from idea to deployment: A software idea is born. The idea turns into a list of business requirements for the product. Developers write code and build the application. Testers verify its functionality and return it for revisions if needed. Once ready, the application needs to be delivered to users. For a web app, this includes building, configuring the server and environment, and deploying. After deployment, users start using the app. Ongoing support ensures the app is user-friendly and performs well under load. After release comes the improvement phase — adding features, optimizing, and fixing bugs. This cycle repeats with each update. One of DevOps’ primary goals is to make this cycle faster and more reliable. Let’s look at the challenges it addresses and how. Problems with the Waterfall Model In the Waterfall model, teams may face several issues that slow down the process, require significant effort to overcome, or introduce errors. 1. Poor collaboration between developers, operations, and testers As mentioned earlier, the release cycle involves development, testing, and operations. Each has its own responsibilities. But without collaboration: Developers may write code that isn’t deployment-ready. Operations may lack insight into how the app works. Testers might face delays due to insufficient documentation. These gaps lead to increased Time to Market (TTM) and higher budgets. 2. Conflicting priorities Development and operations don’t work closely in the Waterfall model. Developers want to innovate, while operations want stability. Since operations aren’t part of the development phase, they need more time to assess changes, creating friction and slowing down releases. 3. Idle teams One of the key characteristics of the waterfall model is its sequential nature. First, developers write the code, then testers check it, and only after that does the operations team deploy and maintain the application. Because of this step-by-step structure, there can be idle periods for different teams. For example, while testers check the application, developers wait for feedback and issues to fix. At the deployment stage, testers might review the entire product rather than a small update, which takes significantly more time. As a result, some teams may find themselves without tasks to work on. All these issues lead to longer release cycles and inflated budgets. Next, we’ll look at how DevOps helps address these problems—and how it does so. How DevOps Solves Waterfall Problems DevOps aims to minimize the above issues through automation, collaboration, and process standardization, making it easier and faster to integrate improvements. DevOps combines approaches, practices, and tools to streamline and accelerate product delivery. Because the concept is broad, different companies implement DevOps differently. Over time, common toolsets and practices have emerged across the industry. One common practice is introducing a DevOps engineer, responsible for creating communication and alignment between teams, and ensuring smooth product releases. What Does a DevOps Engineer Do? A DevOps engineer aims to create and maintain an optimized application release pipeline. Here's how they do that: Automation and CI/CD DevOps's cornerstone is the development, testing, and deployment automation. This forms a CI/CD pipeline — Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. Key DevOps stages and tools: Code: Managed in a shared repository (e.g., GitLab), facilitating automation and collaboration. Testing: Code changes are automatically tested using predefined test suites. If successful, the code moves to the build stage. Build: Code is compiled into a deployable application using tools like npm (JavaScript), Maven or Gradle (Java). Containerization & Orchestration: Apps are containerized (commonly with Docker) for consistent environments.For small setups, use Docker Compose; for large-scale setups, use Kubernetes. Artifacts are stored in repositories like Nexus or Docker Hub. Deployment: Tools like Jenkins automate app deployment. The result is a process where code changes are continually tested, integrated, and delivered to users. Infrastructure Management Thanks to CI/CD, teams can automatically deploy apps and updates to servers. Cloud platforms are often preferred over physical servers, offering better automation, scaling, and environment management. Monitoring Real-time monitoring ensures application availability and performance. Tools like Prometheus and Nagios track system metrics and availability. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Instead of manually configuring infrastructure, DevOps uses IaC tools like Terraform to automate and standardize environments. Scripts Scripts automate adjacent processes like backups. Tools: OS-specific: Bash (Linux), PowerShell (Windows) Cross-platform: Python, Go, Ruby (Python is most popular) Version Control DevOps uses version control for application code and infrastructure (e.g., Terraform configs). Important: Terraform stores sensitive data (e.g., passwords) in state files; these must not be stored in public repositories. Cross-Team Collaboration A major DevOps goal is to improve collaboration between departments. Shared tools, standards, and processes enable better communication and coordination. For example, DevOps acts as a bridge between development and operations, unifying workflows and expectations. Why Businesses Should Implement DevOps Benefits of DevOps: Speed: Automated testing, building, and deployment enable faster release cycles without sacrificing quality. This improves agility and market responsiveness. Predictability & Quality: Frequent, automated releases mean more reliable delivery timelines and better budget control. Lower Maintenance Costs: Automated infrastructure management and monitoring reduce downtime and labor, improving SLA compliance. Challenges: Organizational Change: Implementing DevOps may require cultural and structural shifts, along with training and adaptation. Automation Risks: Poorly implemented automation can introduce new problems — misconfigured scripts, faulty pipelines — so thorough testing is essential. Investment Required: DevOps needs upfront investment in tools, technologies, and training. Conclusion DevOps enables an automated, collaborative environment for development, testing, and deployment. It helps teams release apps faster, with higher quality and reliability. If you’re considering integrating DevOps into your development process, Hostman offers services like cloud servers and Kubernetes, which can reduce your workload and streamline operations.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is an approach for automating infrastructure configuration. There are no universal or one-size-fits-all solutions, but various tools are available to help implement this methodology. Typically, IaC involves a Git repository written according to the rules and standards of a chosen tool. Why Use Infrastructure as Code? What are the benefits of using Infrastructure as Code? Let’s look at a simple example. Task: Deploy an Nginx reverse proxy server to route incoming external traffic to internal services. Whether you use a virtualization system like VMware, Proxmox, or cloud-based virtual machines doesn’t significantly affect the concept. Engineer’s steps: Create a virtual machine (allocate CPU, RAM, disk, network) Install an operating system Configure remote access Update packages Install and configure Nginx Install and configure diagnostic and monitoring tools Start the service Everything works fine. A year later, the team decided that this server was a single point of failure, and if something happened to it, the whole system could go down. So, they asked a new engineer to deploy and configure an identical server as a backup and set up load balancing. New engineer’s steps: Check the first server (gather info on resources, software, configuration) Create an identical virtual machine Install the operating system Set up remote access Update packages Install and configure Nginx Set up monitoring tools Launch the service During this, it's decided that running Nginx as a standalone service isn't ideal, and it's moved into Docker for easier updates and maintenance. Eventually, two servers will do the same task, but they will have different package versions and service launch methods. When a third server is needed, engineers must review the configurations of the first two, choose the most current version, and repeat all steps again. If the cloud provider changes, we must repeat the entire process. This simplified example highlights the core problem. Infrastructure as Code Advantages So, what do you gain by using Infrastructure as Code? Avoiding Repetition: No need to manually repeat the same steps on every server — automation reduces manual work and human error. Speed: Automated processes significantly speed up deployment compared to manual setup. Visibility and Control:  You don’t need to log in and inspect infrastructure manually. IaC allows you to: See all configurations in one place Track all infrastructure changes Ensure transparency Simplify modification and management Repeatability: No matter how many times the setup is run, the result will always be the same. This eliminates human error and omissions. Scalability and Security: Easier to scale infrastructure since all changes are documented. In case of incidents, configurations can be rolled back or restored. Versioning also simplifies migration to a different cloud provider or physical hardware. This approach is not limited to servers; we can apply it to any devices that support configuration via files Tools for IaC Let’s look at some key tools used for Infrastructure as Code. Ansible One of the most versatile and popular tools. Ansible gained widespread adoption thanks to Jinja2 templates, SSH support, conditions, and loops. It has an active user and developer community offering extensive documentation, modules, and plugins, ensuring solid support and ongoing development. Terraform Developed by HashiCorp, Terraform allows you to manage VMs, networks, security groups, and other infrastructure components via configuration files. Terraform uses a declarative approach to bring the infrastructure to the desired state by specifying system parameters. A standout feature is the Plan function, which compares the current and desired states before any action is taken and shows what will be created, deleted, or changed. Terraform is mainly used with cloud providers. Integration is done via a component called a Provider (which interacts with the provider’s API). A full list is available at registry.terraform.io. If the cloud vendor officially supports a provider, that's ideal. Sometimes community-developed providers are used, but if the provider's API changes, maintaining compatibility falls on the community or the developer. Pulumi A relatively new open-source tool. It allows infrastructure to be defined using general-purpose programming languages. You can use your favorite IDE with autocomplete, type checking, and documentation support. Supported languages include: TypeScript Python Go C# Java YAML Though not yet as popular, Pulumi's flexibility positions it as a strong contender. SaltStack, Puppet, Chef These tools are grouped separately because they rely on pre-installed agents on the hosts. Agents help maintain machine states and reduce the chance of errors. Choosing IaC Tools The choice of tool depends on the problems you're trying to solve. Combining tools is possible, though having a "zoo" of tools may be inefficient or hard to manage. Evolving IaC Practices Regardless of the tool, it’s essential to separate deployment from configuration management. With IaC, all configuration changes are made through code.  Even the best tool can't prevent problems if you start making manual infrastructure changes. As your codebase grows, you risk ending up with a complex and poorly maintainable system. Avoid that. Knowledge about infrastructure should not be limited to a single person. Changes must be made in the code (in Git repositories). You can use linters to catch accidental mistakes, enforce code reviews, run tests before deployment, and follow a consistent code style. IaC enables versioning and tracking of every infrastructure change. This ensures transparency and lets you quickly identify and fix issues that might cause downtime, security threats, or technical failures. IaC is a rapidly evolving field in infrastructure management. Each year brings new tools, technologies, and standards that make infrastructure more flexible and efficient. There are even dedicated roles for IaC engineers as a specialized discipline.

Frameworks simplify development, eliminate chaos, and provide a clear structure when building an application. Each framework comes with a specific set of ready-made tools—battle-tested technical solutions that accelerate and simplify development. In this article, we’ll take a look at the 10 most popular backend frameworks for 2025—essential tools for nearly every modern application. Server Framework Tasks Typically, any server-side application performs a set of standard functions: Routing. Handling user requests via a REST API. Authentication. Managing user registration and login. Logic. Implementing the core server logic: generating page content, managing carts, handling messages, etc. Storage. Connecting to a (remote) database to write, read, and sort data. Payments. Processing payment transactions. Extensions. Supporting third-party software (libraries and frameworks) required for managing external devices: smartphones, personal computers, servers, etc. Microservices. Communicating with remote applications (such as microservices) via REST API. A good backend framework should satisfy all the above requirements, ensuring functionality, security, and performance in the final product. 1. ASP.NET Core ASP.NET Core is a cross-platform framework developed by Microsoft for building modern web applications and APIs. It works with the C# programming language and runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Importantly, ASP.NET Core is not the same as ASP.NET Framework. It is its evolutionary successor: a modern, modular, cross-platform solution. The framework uses the classic MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern to separate data and logic, dividing the application into three parts: Model, View, and Controller. Details Programming Language: C# Developer: Microsoft First Release: 2016 Features Cross-platform. Enables development and deployment on most popular operating systems: Windows, Linux, macOS. Performance. Optimized for high performance and scalability, allowing apps to handle large numbers of requests. Modularity. Uses only the necessary components, making the application lightweight and flexible. Support. Actively maintained and updated by Microsoft, ensuring access to new features, bug fixes, and security improvements. Tooling. Integrates with modern development tools like Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. Audience Thanks to its flexibility, ASP.NET Core is suitable not only for web development with its client-side services but also for mobile apps and games that require complex backend logic and fast database interactions. However, despite its cross-platform nature, ASP.NET Core remains more focused on Windows developers and users. The framework is especially beneficial for large enterprises and corporate developers who need to build scalable, high-performance, and fault-tolerant applications and microservices with a clear and strict architecture. Code Example of a basic routing setup in ASP.NET Core using the MVC template: Model: app.UseEndpoints(endpoints => { endpoints.MapControllerRoute( name: "default", pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}"); }); Controller: public class BooksController : Controller { public IActionResult Details(int id) { ViewBag.Id = id; return View(); } } View: @{ ViewData["Title"] = "Details"; int id = ViewBag.Id; } <h1>Details</h1> Book Id : @id 2. Django Django is a free, high-level framework written in Python that also follows the MVC design pattern. It’s a modular framework that heavily emphasizes the “Don’t Repeat Yourself” (DRY) principle, which helps reduce code redundancy and simplify maintenance. Each Django project consists of multiple apps that can be developed and tested independently. This allows for easy reuse across different projects. A key feature of the framework is its Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool, which allows developers to manage relational databases using only Python code—no SQL required. Details Programming Language: Python Developer: Django Software Foundation First Release: 2005 Features Reusability. The modular architecture makes it easy to reuse code and avoid duplication. Tools. Has a broad set of built-in features: authentication system, admin panel, router, database manager, etc. Support. Offers well-structured documentation and has a large developer community actively contributing and solving common issues. Audience Thanks to its built-in tools and modularity, Django is ideal for quickly creating and deploying MVPs (Minimum Viable Products). This makes it a great choice for startups and small businesses. At the same time, Django is also scalable enough to support enterprise-level solutions. Code A snippet of Django code for routing user requests: from rest_framework import routers from collaborativeAPP import views router = routers.DefaultRouter() router.register(r'get_one', views.OneViewSet) router.register(r'get_two', views.TwoViewSet) router.register(r'get_three', views.ThreeViewSet) urlpatterns = patterns( ... url(r'^service/', include(router.urls)) ) 3. Laravel Laravel is a popular PHP framework for building web applications that follows the MVC design pattern. It’s known for its clear syntax, the Blade templating engine, and the built-in task automation tool Artisan CLI. Laravel simplifies routine tasks, speeds up development, and delivers high application performance. It is supported by a large community and has extensive documentation, making it an accessible tool for modern web development. Details Programming Language: PHP Developer: Taylor Otwell + Community First Release: 2011 Features Syntax. Known for its high-level abstractions and clean, expressive syntax that simplifies writing and reading code, even for beginners. Templating. Has a built-in templating system that allows developers to create dynamic pages using powerful yet simple syntax. Community. Backed by a large and active developer community creating additional packages for the framework. Audience Laravel’s concise syntax is especially useful for beginner PHP developers and freelancers looking to enhance their projects with more functionality. Its simplicity and expressiveness also make it a popular choice in educational programs for teaching web development. Startup developers can also quickly test ideas and hypotheses using Laravel. Code A basic example of routing syntax in Laravel: Route::match(array('GET', 'POST'), '/', function() { return 'Main Page'; }); Route::post('foo/bar', function() { return 'Foo and Bar'; }); Route::get('user/{id}', function($id) { return 'User '.$id; }); 4. Ruby on Rails Ruby on Rails (or simply Rails) is a popular web development framework written in Ruby that provides a ready-made structure for writing code.  Its main feature is the “Convention over Configuration” principle, which radically changes the way web apps are developed by making it more intuitive and productive.  Instead of requiring developers to write extensive config files, Rails assumes sensible defaults, significantly reducing the amount of code needed. Details Programming Language: Ruby Developer: David Heinemeier Hansson First Release: 2004 Features Speed. With standardized conventions, developers can quickly start building functionality without extensive setup. Standardization. In addition to speeding up development, defaults make code easier to read and maintain, especially in teams Security. Includes built-in security features like protection against SQL injection, XSS, CSRF attacks, and more. Audience The main draw of Ruby on Rails is development speed. It’s perfect for those who need to rapidly prototype and validate new features. Sometimes, using an off-the-shelf CMS can either overcomplicate or limit your project’s flexibility. In such cases, Rails lets you easily build a custom engine for your web app with minimal effort. Code A simple example of a Rails controller for displaying articles: class ArticlesController < ApplicationController def index @articles = Article.recent end def show @article = Article.find(params[:id]) fresh_when etag: @article end def create article = Article.create!(article_params) redirect_to article end private def article_params params.require(:article).permit(:title, :content) end end 5. Express.js Express.js is the most popular (and possibly the best overall backend framework) minimalist web framework on the Node.js platform, used to create flexible HTTP servers using RESTful APIs. It's a powerful tool that suits a wide range of developers due to its simplicity and vast ecosystem. Details Programming language: JavaScript Developer: StrongLoop and IBM First release: 2010 Features Conciseness: Simple and clear syntax in JavaScript. Flexibility: The framework does not enforce a strict project structure, allowing developers to design their own application architecture. Isomorphism: With Express.js, it’s possible to use JavaScript both on the client (browser) and server side (Node.js), unifying the stack. Libraries: Being built on Node.js, Express.js gives access to tens of thousands of useful server-side packages for tasks like data serialization, math operations, database writing, network connection handling, etc. All written in JavaScript. Proven reliability: Despite many modern alternatives, Express.js has years of support and is considered a classic, well-polished option. Audience Beginner Node.js developers should absolutely get familiar with Express.js as it's used in 9 out of 10 web projects. Since it's written in JavaScript, it's an excellent gateway to backend development for frontend developers looking to build full-stack apps. For RESTful API developers, Express.js is a must-have. Due to its popularity and reliability, many consider it the only true JavaScript backend framework. Code The simplest Express.js app looks like this: const express = require('express') const app = express() const port = 3000 app.get('/', (req, res) => { res.send('Welcome!') }) app.listen(port, () => { console.log(`App is listening on port ${port}`) }) 6. CakePHP CakePHP is an open-source framework for PHP web development based on the MVC architecture. Originally designed as a PHP clone of Ruby on Rails, it adopted many of its ideas: Custom file structure Plugin-based extensibility Data abstraction tools Support for numerous databases Details Programming language: PHP Developer: Cake Software Foundation First release: 2005 Features Code generation: The Bake tool quickly creates model, controller, and view skeletons, speeding up development. Structure: The framework assumes a predefined file/class directory structure. If followed, it automatically loads needed files with no extra setup. Auto-routing: It automatically connects URLs to the corresponding controllers/actions, simplifying route creation. Audience CakePHP is quite versatile—suitable for both startups and large enterprises. However, its wide range of tools might require beginners to spend time learning. Code Example controller from the official documentation: namespace App\Controller; class ArticlesController extends AppController { public function index() { $this->loadComponent('Paginator'); $articles = $this->Paginator->paginate($this->Articles->find()); $this->set(compact('articles')); } } 7. Flask Flask is an extremely lightweight Python backend framework perfect for building small to medium-sized web apps. Simplicity and minimalism are its trademarks—it offers just the essentials for web development, while remaining flexible and versatile. Details Programming language: Python Developer: Armin Ronacher First release: 2010 Features Compactness: Lightweight and fast, with no unnecessary components, making it very easy to learn. Flexibility: Does not impose a specific structure, allowing diverse architectural approaches. Audience Flask is ideal for small projects and feature-testing prototypes. It’s a great entry point into Python web development for beginners. Even as a hobby project grows into a complex commercial app, Flask’s flexibility and scalability can support the transition. Code Here’s a simple app with a router that renders content: from flask import Flask, render_template app = Flask(__name__) @app.route('/') def index(): return render_template('index.html') @app.route('/about') def about(): return render_template('about.html') 8. Spring Boot Spring Boot is a powerful Java backend framework built on top of the lower-level Spring framework. It is part of the Spring ecosystem and provides tools that streamline and accelerate development. While Spring itself requires complex manual configuration, Spring Boot simplifies this through auto-configuration and ready-made templates. Details Programming language: Java Developer: Rod Johnson, VMware First release: 2014 Features Auto-configuration: Automatically configures based on defined dependencies, reducing the need for extensive config files. Built-in servers: Includes embedded servers like Tomcat, Jetty, and Undertow, allowing apps to run directly from the IDE or CLI. Audience Ideal for beginners exploring the Spring ecosystem—it makes learning much easier. Great for building microservices due to fast deployment of individual app components. Also plays well with Docker and orchestration systems like Kubernetes. Code A basic Spring Boot app from the official docs: package com.example.springboot; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController; @RestController public class HelloController { @GetMapping("/") public String index() { return "Greetings from Spring Boot!"; } } 9. Koa Koa is a modern web framework for Node.js created by the same team behind Express.js. Naturally, it's written in JavaScript. Koa can be seen as a more expressive, minimalist, and flexible iteration of Express.js, removing many of its limitations and complexities. Details Programming language: JavaScript Developer: StrongLoop First release: 2017 Features Async-first: Designed for async/await from the ground up, making asynchronous code cleaner and more maintainable compared to traditional callbacks. Lightweight: Ships with no built-in middleware, so developers can pick and choose exactly what they need. Code A basic Koa app: 'use strict'; const Koa = require('koa'); const app = new Koa(); app.use(ctx => { ctx.body = 'Hello, Timeweb'; }); app.listen(3000); 10. Phoenix Phoenix is a modern web framework for the functional programming language Elixir. Programming language: Elixir Developer: Phoenix Framework First release: 2014 Features Performance: Uses Elixir and the Erlang VM, offering high performance and scalability via functional programming and concurrency. Clean code: Elixir's functional nature encourages clean, predictable, and maintainable code. Audience Best suited for developers who prefer functional programming, immutable data, and pure functions. It is also a great tool for Erlang developers who want to build web apps using familiar principles. Code A basic Phoenix router from the official docs: defmodule HelloWeb.Router do use HelloWeb, :router pipeline :browser do plug :accepts, ["html"] plug :fetch_session plug :fetch_live_flash plug :put_root_layout, html: {HelloWeb.Layouts, :root} plug :protect_from_forgery plug :put_secure_browser_headers end pipeline :api do plug :accepts, ["json"] end scope "/", HelloWeb do pipe_through :browser get "/", PageController, :home end end Conclusion We've looked at the most popular and well-established backend frameworks developers have relied on for years, and continue to rely on in 2025. Many of these frameworks are over 15 years old, which is a strong indicator of their maturity and suitability for various projects. They’ve all gone through numerous updates over time, adapting to technological changes and evolving developer needs. Their stability and robustness ensure they remain go-to tools for building modern applications.