3 Tier Architecture, Research Paper Example

Software development practices have been standardizing since the advent of computer technology. Today, one of the most commonly accepted so-called best practiced is what is known as the 3 tier model. The practice is particularly helpful during web application development life cycle. The 3 tier model divvies the software development into 3 distinct realms.

The first (or bottom) realm is the data layer. The data layer is where, if necessary, an external database is modeled. The database itself may be constructed in a number of different database management systems such as Microsoft SQL Database or MySQL, for example. On the web, this is usually on a remote server and houses user account information.

The second (or middle) realm is known as the application layer. This is where the business logic resides. It is the actual programmatic code that gets the program to process information. The application layer may be written in any number of languages such as C#, Visual Basic, or PHP. On the web, there seems to be a trade off between ease-of-use and speed. For example, Visual C# is known to be very intuitive, but it takes much longer to compile the code than it would similar functions in PHP.

The final (or top) realm is the interface, or more specifically, the graphic user interface (GUI). The GUI is what the user sees while they are interacting with the software. On the web, this is what you typically see in the browser, links and all. So, this is where you watch movies on YouTube and play games on Facebook.

Three-tier software architecture helps developers break down development tasks into more manageable chunks. Novice programmers usually use a more ad hoc method where they beginning developing where ever they feel most comfortable and the tackle problems as they arise in the implementation. Although some automation is better than none, 3 tier architecture typically speeds development time.