what is the difference between webservice and webapplication?

Question

can you please tell me what is the difference between webservice and webapplication.

Answer 1

A web service:

• Typically returns XML or JSON or something like that, something that is easily decoded by a program
• The results you get from a web service is typically not just shown to a person in its raw form (ie. since it isn't HTML, the results have to be reformatted, like placed into a form)
• The intended usage of a web service is that it is something an application can talk to

A web application

• Typically returns HTML or image data or similar
• The results you get from a web application is usually shown to a person, through a web browser

As for similarities:

• Both typically use HTTP(S) as the transport
• Both typically use HTTP authentication/authorization to secure data
• Both are typically hosted by a web server

So the main difference is who usually talks to them. A web service usually by another application, a web application usually by a web browser. Other than that they're pretty similar.