Classification and modelling of web technologies

The World Wide Web is a constantly changing environment in which academia, industry and interest groups participate to innovate and design the next evolution of online user interaction. The ad-hoc nature in which new web-based systems and technologies have been developed has led to an increasingly diverse environment, with ill defined interactions and fuzzy classification systems. Recently, business pioneers in the industry have attempted to classify web applications into large groupings based on certain key characteristics. The high-level taxonomy presented in this paper provides a way to scientifically classify web applications. By classifying applications and studying the progression from one classification to the next, predictions can be made as to the direction of future web application development. After presenting a formal classification model this research discusses how this model can be used to compare existing web technologies and design the next generation of the World Wide Web.