What is Web3 and How Does It Actually Change Software Architecture?

While "Web3" and "Web 3.0" are frequently used as interchangeable buzzwords, they represent two completely different backend paradigms. This post breaks down the architectural differences between Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web (Web 3.0) and Gavin Wood’s decentralized state execution model (Web3)—and why the distinction matters for software engineers building modern applications.