2503ICT: Summary introduction to the course

The purpose of the course is to introduce you to some standard Web technologies and teach you to build nontrivial, database-backed, interactive, Web applications.

Web applications

Design of Web applications

• Understand and respect your users
• Allow users to communicate with each other and with you, and to provide content
• Database design is essential
• Interaction design is essential
• User interface design is important

Implementation of Web applications

Technologies

TCP/IP (Internet), HTTP (communication protocol), HTML/XHTML (Web page content), CSS (Web page presentation), JavaScript (Web page behaviour), Apache (Web server), PHP (application logic), Smarty template language (application presentation), SQL (database query language), MySQL (database mangement system), XML (data representation).

Methodologies

Database design, application design, programming, software engineering.

The course

Mode of delivery

This is an on-campus course with a supporting Web site: http://www.ict.griffith.edu.au/teaching/2503ICT/

Goals

• Learning relevant standards
• Learning relevant technologies
• Learning relevant methodologies
• Learning relevant design techniques
• Learning relevant implementation techniques
  • Programming
  • Testing
  • Debugging
• Learning relevant software engineering techniques

Studying

• Attend lectures
• Attend laboratory classes
• Engage in private study
• Ten (10) hours per week, from week 1
• Learn to study independently

Assessment

• Weekly laboratory exercises, worth 20% in total.
• Two individual practical assignments, worth 25% each.
• Final examination, worth 30%.
• Must pass the laboratory exercises and assignments (overall) and the examination to pass the course.

Summary

We try to make this an interesting and practical course.

But designing and implementing Web applications is difficult.

It is thus necessary to work hard throughout the semester.