Abstract: A computer system enables users to create applications (such as web-based applications) easily by writing textual configuration files, which are automatically processed by the computer system to create a specific web-based application based on the configuration files. In particular, the computer system creates a data store layer, an application layer, and a user interface (UI) layer based on the configuration files. Users who do not have programming experience may write the configuration files. As a result, embodiments of the present invention enable non-programmers to create web-based applications easily and semi-automatically.