3 Popular Options for Web Development

With the increasingly rapid advancement of web capabilities, there are often multiple paths you can explore to accomplish any objective. While this enhanced flexibility is inherently good, it can be challenging to know which options are available and are most suitable for your situation. This is why we’ve broken out three popular options below.

Pure Web Development

Web development is the starting point for all web-based solutions. Heavily reliant on coding, web development is a multi-tiered endeavor involving not just web design, but content development and user experience/interface. Depending on the resources available to you, this can either be done in-house, or outsourced to a professional development company or individual.

There are pros and cons to developing your own web-based solution. Because web development entails you building your site/solution from the ground up, you have a higher degree of control over the flexibility and customization of your build. This a double-edged sword however, because whether or not you are developing in-or-out of house, the more you want customized, the more it is going to cost in development hours. For organizations with deeper pockets, this may be worth the trade-off, but many smaller businesses simply don’t have the luxury of making that choice.

Web Bolt-On

There is an alternative to developing your own customizable solutions. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you can take advantage of web bolt-on alternatives. Bolt-ons/Add-on's are exactly what they sound like, you take a preexisting solution, and “bolt it on” to your existing site or database. A common example is e-commerce solutions that add an online store to a website. Rather than taking the time to develop your own purchasing system, you can simply attach a separately built component to your site, integrating the two together.

Here at CoreSolutions, we have developed add-on's for client systems that integrate with their existing solutions. This could be a bolt-on to an existing CRM, or a simple addition to a company database. The main objective is to have the add-on communicate and seamlessly connect with the existing system. This results in a modular, incremental build—something that tends to be more appealing from a financial standpoint. We can build large scale customizable solutions from the ground-up, or alternatively, start simple, and make additions as needed. Picture it like a charm bracelet; you start with the band, adding the charms you want as you see fit.

Web Direct

WebDirect is a FileMaker solution that is available within the FileMaker Cloud and FileMaker Server. It allows users to seamlessly run FileMaker apps straight through a web-browser. The best part? No programming or additional software is required. As long as you have a compatible web browser, you can provide users with a desktop-like interaction with your FileMaker app on a variety of devices.

Using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and HTTP/HTTPS to WebDirect controls the structure, appearance, and interactions in your web-page. Functional in almost all standard browsers— from Safari to Microsoft Edge, WebDirect is a convenient way to make your custom-built apps web-compatible. Because it is functional on mobile browsers as well, it allows users to access data from wherever they require it; be it on the road, working from home, or in office.

If you want to make your FileMaker App accessible in a web browser, simply follow the steps outlined here.

Final Thoughts

You have no shortage of options to choose from when deciding how to approach your next web-based project. Ground up development, modular design, or platform specific solutions are just a few of the alternatives available to companies looking for web-compatibility in their systems. Developing your own system from scratch may be more expensive but provides you with greater flexibility and customization options. Bolt-on additions allow you to pick and choose which add-ons are important to you, and incrementally develop your solution as you see fit. Or, using FileMaker WebDirect, you could broadcast your existing FileMaker Solution to web browsers allowing accessibility across a variety of devices.

Let CoreSolutions develop your next website or web application. With our nearly 30 years-experience in software development, we can help take your project from concept to reality. Contact us today to learn more about how CoreSolutions can make your next web development project a dream come true!

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