7357 - Web Application Development I
UMC Course Description
Learn to develop Web applications to support online learning and collaboration using ASP.Net, PHP, or Java. In this course students will learn fundamental web programming principles and develop basic web applications. Specific concepts taught in this course include: reading and writing files to a server, interacting with users through web forms, storing and retrieving data in relational databases (MS SQL, MySQL, or Oracle), Objected-oriented programming, and web application security.
Personal Reflection
Web Application development incorporates the basic web development skills to put together a page and adds a server side component to expand the power of the web authoring skills. This course required greater understanding of the server-client interactions and the different terminology that accompanies these interactions. It also incorporated input and data collection using database structures such as MS SQL and MySQL. I wanted to take this course to challenge myself to more complicated coding projects and advance my understanding of server integration.
Web Application I began with a development of terminology and understanding of server accessibility. The role of the server is more important in web applications since it takes the code and interprets each page differently depending on the specific inputs it receives. This is a contrast with static html documents that include a request from a client, a return sent from the server the same way every time, and an interpretation by the browser on the client. Web applications incorporate those communications and consist of extra levels that enable the server to receive and transmit customized pages based on the particular clients that are interacting with the pages. This can be accomplished by code that requests specific information from the clients such as IP addresses or by gathering user inputs and returning results based on those inputs.
The initial project was in no other terms brutal. On the surface, it was a simple financial calculator that was supposed to retrieve some basic inputs and return a value. The integration of the new terminology and the new language and programming required for ASP.NET had me stumped to the point that I could not even formulate logical questions to get started. However, it did not remain so gloomy and as the course progressed my skills did as well.
The second significant project involved the development of a simple quiz that received users answers and returned a score. It also incorporated ways to use ASP.NET for formatting, links, and ad rotators. It was during this assignment that the brain in my head began to catch up to what the computer required. Suddenly, the variable attributes, button properties, page load properties, else if statements and more began to make sense. Since ASP.NET is a strong typed language, it requires the code to be precise in how it uses each variable unlike a weak type language that will try to interpret the variable for you. A lot of this clarity came from the challenges of the first assignment and the instructor/peer discussions.
Ultimately, the course terminated with a significant programming challenge to develop a web application that collected and stored user inputs in a database that could return useful information and be edited by the specific user. This project provided an opportunity to apply the previous experience and build more with some new programming constructs. The database process was challenging primarily because of the nature of working on a server rather than within a simple file. The programming demanded close attention to the way that different pieces of the application were related.
I foresee myself returning to complete more Web Application and server setup courses that delve into the security side of the programming. Unfortunately time and resources negated my ability to complete the courses successively, but I am continuing to develop using ASP and moving into PHP. The need to understand the security aspects of the server client relationship is critical. This course highlighted the way that information can be collected, stored and even obtained unwittingly with some fairly simple coding. Recently, I have included PHP coding into the Shead High School website to allow a rotating image on each load of the home page and a simple counter for the days until graduation.
Artifacts
*The following resources are static web pages saved from the preview option within ASP.NET. The site was removed from the SWORD server after the class ended, so the working site is not available. The actual pages were linked to a database that gathered and returned user information. The site will hopefully be able to be used at a later date on the Shead website if the server is able to be updated.
