Assignment - Purpose of this assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to enable learners to understand the concepts of web applications and apply the skills to develop and test web applications using server-side technologies.
Scenario
This assignment is designed to give you the opportunity to install, use and develop an application which uses server side scripts (PHP), to access and update MySQL databases. The tasks below guide you through the stages involved.
The application itself will authenticate users (students) and providee the basic functionality necessary to update their details and maintain a list of the modules they are taking. The user authentication and the users should be able to create an account themselves if they so wish. The web application should retrieve data from the database and present it in the Web form according to user requirements.
The business would like you to demonstrate the main features of web application development using HTML, CSS, your choice of language for server-side scripting (we will cover PHP in the lectures, but the final choice is yours) as well as current techniques for providing a better user experience with regards to the user interface design. MySQL database should be used as the database for the back-end functionality and operations should be as secure as possible.
Task 1: Understand the concepts of web application development
Discuss various features and advantages of web application development and how they relate to the business model of your choice. Explain the role of client and server-side scripting languages in developing a web application solution and what are the advantages of one over the other solution
Identify potential security issues and suggest ways they can be addressed
Task 2: Design a web application solution
Design a web application to meet the requirements an organisation.
Discuss the choice of client and server-side scripting languages
Design a database that can be used to support the requirements of the web application
Discuss alternative ways in which the requirements of the organisation can be met.
Task 3: Implement a web application solution
Use the design you prepared in the second task to implement your web solution with effective use of client and server-side scripting
Implement a web-enabled database to support the activities of your solution
Identify and implement ways for better error handling and reporting
Task 4: Testing your application
Review and test your web application as well as any relevant database operations
Analyse actual results of test cases against expected results to identify discrepancies
Evaluate independent feedback on your finished web application and make recommendations for improvements
Create documentation for your implemented solution