Here is a good description on Wikipedia .
Application server for mid-level processing and generation-level server, for example Ruby on Rails, Java EE, ASP.NET, PHP, ColdFusion platform.
A mid-tier three-tier application is often a web service.
I want to execute database transactions from a desktop application and a mobile application, can this be done through a web service?
This is exactly what the web service is for.
The web service allows you to create multiple front ends, if necessary, and serve your database data on all of these fronts. You can also open the API and allow third-party developers to access the web service and thereby access the data of your application in a controlled environment.
He looked at better practices for larger applications to access a web service or middle tier, rather than directly accessing a database.
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