N-Tier Architecture

Short introduction to Multi-Tier Architecture

Multi-tier architecture (often referred to as n-tier architecture) or multilayered architecture is a client–server architecture in which presentation, application processing, and data management functions are physically separated. Using an N-tier architecture, web developers can create modular applications.

Common layers

In a multilayered architecture the most common used layers are:

• Presentation layer - the visual part of a web application
• Application layer - the server-side of a web application
• Database layer - the persistence layer where information is saved and updated

Presentation layer

This layer handles the user interaction. This part of the application is usually built-in HTML and Javascript in various technologies and frameworks:

• React - the popular Javascript framework built by Facebook
• Vue.js - The Progressive JavaScript Framework
• jQuery

Application layer

Represents the server-side of the application and can be developed in many programming languages:

• Php (the most popular server-side language ) using Laravel, CodeIgniter
• Python server-side apps can be developed using Django, Flask
• Ruby

Database layer

The majority of web apps requires a type of storage to save the relevant data:

• MySql - the popular open-source database engine
• SQLite - the lite version of MySql
• MongoDB - a document-based engine

Common Architectures

In web development the most used architectures are:

Single Tier architecture

The web application is served only once by the server, and runs entirely on the client-side

Two Tier architecture

Sometimes named Full-Stack architecture

Links & Resources

• Multitier Architecture - Wikipedia page
• N Tier Architecture - a comprehensive article (with samples)
• Techopedia One-Tier Architecture - blog article
• Techopedia Two-Tier Architecture - blog article
• Single-Tier vs. Multi-Tier Architecture - a comparison of concepts