The Web, initially conceived as a simple system for the telematic distribution of information, has become as a whole in the database more extensive and heterogeneous existing today. In addition, the Web has become an important platform for delivery of sophisticated electronic services in very different domains, such as commerce, education, public and private administration, health, leisure, etc.
The fundamental objective of this course is to explore the main techniques and mechanisms that underlie the development of Web applications, i.e. the software applications that provide services to users through a Web browser. It is not the aim of this course to delve into the technologies for building dynamic web pages (it is assumed here that the student has previous knowledge of these issues), but to analyse the techniques and acquire the skills necessary to, on the one hand, be able to locate and use the existing implicit "knowledge" on the web and, on the other hand, be able to design and develop services accordingly to the software distribution models that dominate the web.