Since this new course is new, all course-related materials are subject to adjustment through the semester.

Today's Web-based applications often include these basic elements:

• Web forms, written in html format
• A scripting language, such as PHP, that runs on a Web server
• A server-based database that stores and retrieves information, using the standard query language SQL

This course explores each of these areas, considering both principles and practice. In addition, the course reviews elements of software development methodology, particularly emphasizing rapid prototyping and other methods of agile programming. Expanding somewhat on these general topics, the course will consider these topics:

• html format: tags, standards, validation, style sheets
• PHP scripting: program structure, syntax and semantics, variables and data types, associative arrays, operators, functions, control structures, iteration, regular expressions
• database design: relational databases, queries, design principles, normal forms, query optimization
• software development principles: extreme programming, rapid prototyping, pair programming, testing/test-first perspectives,
• human computer interaction principles: page design, principles, content and layout, color, usability
• client and server processing

Henry M. Walker

Office: Science 3811
Telephone: extension 4208
E-mail: walker@cs.grinnell.edu

Office hours are posted weekly on the bulletin board outside Science 3811, with additional hours possible by appointment. You may reserve a half hour meeting by signing up on the weekly schedule, but please sign up at least a day in advance.

Luke Welling and Laura Thomson, PHP and MySQL Web Development, Fourth Edition, (Developer's Library) Sams Publishing/Pearson, 2008.

The following book is placed on reserve in the Science Library. Reading assignments are planned for discussion on several days.

• Kent Beck, Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 2000.

The Web contains numerous references for the HyperText Mark-up Language HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the PHP scripting language, and the MySQL database. The following links identify a few starting points, but use of a Web-based search engine will locate many more.

• HTML
  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), HTML 4.0 Specification, revised 20 April 1998 (local copy from Mr. Rebelsky)
  • Dave Raggett and the W3C, Getting Started with HTML, 24 May 2005.
• XML
  • XML-HTML comparison
  • XML Tutorial
• CSS
  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 CSS2 Specification
  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), CSS Tutorial: Starting with HTML + CSS, 5 April 2004.
  • Hakon Wium Lie and Bert Bos, Cascading Style Sheets, designing for the Web, Chapter 2, Second Edition, Addison Wesley, 1999.
  • Dave Raggett and the W3C, Adding a touch of style, 8 April 2002.
  • HTML Code Tutorial, Style Sheets
• PHP
  • Getting Started
• MySQL 5.0 Reference Manual
• the Apache Server Log Files documentation
  • Examining Web Logs (description in course lab)

Many Web-based resources discuss the design and implementation of overall Web sites and individual Web pages. A Few starting places are:

• James R. Grunwald, Six Basic Principles of Web Page Design, 2004.
• Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton, Web Style Guide, 2nd Edition, 2002.
• Jakob Nielsen, Usability 101: Introduction to Usability , 2003.
• Jakob Nielsen, Top 10 mistakes in web design, 2008.
• Federal government's web usability guidelines, 2006.

Various sources discuss database design:

• Minimizing data duplication and logical errors
  • Mike Chapple, Database Normalization Basics, About.com, 2008.
  • Database Normalization, Wikipedia, 2008.
• Query optimization
  • Yannis Ioannidis, Query Optimization, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin, 1993 (approx.)
  • Query Optimizer, Wikipedia, 2008.

As an additional reference, CSE 190 M, Web Programming, at the University of Washington, uses an on-line textbook that is under development. Middle chapters cover JavaScript, Events, and Ajax — each topics that might be of interest to CSC 325 students.

• Marty Stepp and Jessica Miller, Web Programming, Spring 2008.

While the schedule for this course is expected to evolve, a Tentative Class Schedule is available in .dvi , pdf, and postscript formats.

Also, if you are logged into the departmental network and want a copy printed, click duerer to have a copy printed on the printer duerer .

This course will involve written assignments and tests.

1. Written Assignments: Exercises will be assigned regularly throughout the course.

2. Labs: About 14 labs will cover elements of html, style sheets, PHP scripting, the SQL query language, and databases.

3. Hour Tests: Following the Tentative Class Schedule (.dvi format / pdf / postscript), hour tests are scheduled for Monday, October 13, and Friday, November 21.

4. Exam: Following the published exam schedule, an exam is scheduled for 9:00 am on Thursday, December 18, during exam week.

5. Projects: A few Web-based applications have been identified for attention as potential projects for this course. At the end of the semester, it is hoped that at least a couple of these projects will be developed sufficiently for use within the department or campus community. Work on the projects will utilize teams, following elements of Extreme Programming and rapid prototyping.

Late Work will not be accepted, as it interferes with normal grading and with preparation for other parts of this course. As homework may be handwritten, exceptions will not be granted for computer system malfunctions.

Exception: Allowances may be made for students with special circumstances, subject to written verification by the Health Center or the Student Affairs Office.

Collaboration often will be allowed on problems from the textbook, but collaboration normally will NOT be allowed on supplemental problems and tests. To avoid confusion, the rules for collaboration on homework are included in the specification of each assignment.

This instructor's grading philosophy dictates that the final grade should ultimately be based upon each student's demonstration of her or his understanding of the material, not on the performance of the class as a whole nor on a strict percentile basis. The following scheme is proposed as a base for how the various assignments and tests will be counted in the final grade.

This document is available on the World Wide Web as

     http://www.walker.cs.grinnell.edu/courses/325.fa08/index.shtml

created 25 April 2008 last revised 17 September 2008
For more information, please contact Henry M. Walker at walker@cs.grinnell.edu.