CMS (Content Manager System) or own crud manager system for a web app

Question

This may be a strange question. I already asked this on Stack Overflow, but it seems not be the place to ask this kind of questions.

Now, I am lost.

I know what's a CMS, I know there are multiples solutions (mainly on PHP and JS).

So, I have been building some SpringBoot web apps using Angular or Thymeleaf doesn't matter for this question.

When I was developing my Springboot app obviously the admin user can access to a specific view (or CMS or Admin view) where this admin (or owner of the app) can manage their contents, users, publishing posts, etc. Is this a CMS? What's the difference between this Admin View and already built CMS.

It's not the admin view (as I called here), the proper CMS?

If not, what's the benefits to use an external CMS framework, or an already built CMS. For example, on my apps I implement the BBDD, the REST-API service layer on Springboot and then the front with Angular, where it fits an external CMS as Strapi.

I do not know if I am explaining my self. If you have some question, or you think I mistake on the questions, please tell me.

To resume: It is a CMS, the way they call the admin system manager on the app? If I decided to use an external CMS, where it fits? Just develop a front-end, and then use Strapi (for example) as a backend?

I have tried to search information about it. But I only found explanations of What is a CMS? Or How to implement a CMS on Springboot? But no one have thought about this question.

Answer 1

Definitions

1. Content Management System (CMS) is (now) a general term to hold some content that might be destined for the Web (and rendered using HTML), or in a mobile App, or could be content that's delivered into an eCommerce shop, or articles for a newspaper. It even be a traditional filing cabinet!
2. Web Content Management System (WCMS) is a specialised CMS that targets its managed content for the Web, i.e. very likely emitting HTML. Typically these have an admin view where the author needs no HTML skills and can see the content as if they were the eventual viewer: WYSIWYG. In a regular website, you'd typically have Templates which have an implied data model, e.g. an Article Template, a Press Release Template, a Recipe Template. They often come with tools to manage images (upload, and then crop images, resize, generate thumbnails).
3. Headless Content Management System, are found in often in WCMS territory but intentionally have no idea about the rendition of the content. So they contain just the content and no markup (e.g. HTML). This pure approach means the content can be rendered in to a native Mobile Application, or a C++ desktop application, but also in a web browser if a different application wraps that content in HTML.
4. eCommerce Shops. These are highly specialised CMS. There have well defined structured data, so that authors are guided into entering data about TVs, or fruits, or domestic appliances.

If you have a Spring Boot app that is rendering your application's pages using Thymelead, then that you are in control of the rendition of the application output ... the HTML. If you have a need to contain in those pages, let's say, paragraphs of instructional copy, then having a Headless CMS may help you. This would allow a content author to alter this content outside your application, and your Spring application could pull in the raw content and place inside your existing Thymelead/HTML pages at runtime.