Single-Page Applications vs Multi-Page Applications: The Battle of the Web Apps

Single-page web apps have existed for almost twenty years already, but their popularity is relatively new. The reason for that is technological development: current technology allows developers to turn what used to be major drawbacks into workable solutions or even benefits. In this article, we’ll talk about the differences between single page applications and multi-page applications and which to choose for your business.

The single page application (SPA) vs multi page application (MPA) battle is more complex than it seems. Let’s take a close look at all the pros and cons of each type of web application.

What’s an SPA?

In layman’s terms, a single-page application is a web application in which content is loaded dynamically without needing to reload the page. For example, as you check your feed on Facebook or Twitter or your email in the Gmail web app, you don’t see an aggravating page loading screen. You scroll and switch between tabs and content is loaded instantly.

In a single-page web app, all HTML and CSS is loaded once, when you open the page. After that, as you move around the site, only the new data is loaded; the page itself doesn’t reload. This makes the user experience smoother — there’s little to no waiting time, for one thing, and pages appear to load instantly. In a world where a 100-millisecond lag can bring over $1.6 million in lost sales, that’s an issue business owners can’t afford to ignore.

How are SPAs built?

Single-page applications are built with JavaScript frameworks, and developers choose the framework depending on a number of factors, including personal preferences.

Want more about SPA and MPA? You can check all the information on this topic here: Single-Page Applications vs Multi-Page Applications: The Battle of the Web Apps