The Development Process of Web Sites

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Background Research
Technology
Running a Website
Web Hosting and Web Servers
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The development process of web pages and websites is a process, which originally requires firm technical knowledge and a professional approach for selecting the necessary technical background. Web site development generally requires a thorough analysis of the numerous factors, which may influence the development process and the further implementation procedures, which are generally applied in the web development practices. The aim of this paper is to analyze the process of web development with the assistance of Dreamweaver software, as well as analyze the technical characteristics of the equipment, which will be used for the processes of development, hosting and technical maintenance of the web page. The development environment, as one of the most important factors will be analyzed from various perspectives, including software, browser compatibility and technical specifications of the equipment.

Background Research

First, there is a strong necessity to mention that the themes, objects and directions of the development process depend on the aims and missions, which are pursued. The fact is that, different principles are applied for different web pages. And, the key factors, which are generally estimated are the following: accessibility, usability, interactions issues, how the web is used as a delivery platform. Accessibility is the simplicity of the access, while usability is the intuitively simple interface of the website and the usefulness of the functions and services, offered on this site. Interaction issues are closely associated with the matters of usability, as the interactive functions are the indicators of usefulness and comfort of visiting the website. The other examples of the influencing factors are the size of the web page,

amount of the text and graphic information, page navigation and feedback possibility. Nevertheless, independently on the factors, the classification is the same: accessibility and usability.

Thus, some web pages will require functional minimalism in design and opportunities, the others will have to be technically advanced and aesthetically attractive. Everything depends on the resources such as:

Time
Money
Human resources
Technical capabilities of the equipment
Knowledge and experience (Aoyama, 2008)

The fact is that, these issues are the key factors for defining the timetabling of the project development. In the light of this fact, it should be stated that the dependence is evident – the more resources are available, the narrower are the time frames, which will be suitable for the accomplishment of the project.

Originally, the development of the web sites is the process, which entails the broad range of factors. In accordance with Aoyama (2008, p. 391), the following statement should be emphasized:

‘Web development is a broad term for any activity to developing a web site for the World Wide Web or an internet. This can include e-commerce business development, web design, web content development, client-side / server-side scripting, and web server configuration. However, among web professionals, “web development” usually refers only to the non-design aspects of building web sites, e.g. writing markup and coding. Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services’

In the light of his fact, it should be stated that the good practice for developing web sites is considered to be closely linked with the issues of compatibility of the technical background, and the functionality of the web page. Originally, these are the matters, which are defined by the developer. Nevertheless, there is strong necessity to find the optimal variant within the factors of compatibility, usability accessibility and, surely the matters of visual and technical design.

Technology

The software, which was used for the web development project is Dreamweaver by Macromedia company (now, Adobe Systems). The fact is that, this software tool is often regarded as one of the most comfortable and convenient tools for web developing, as it is based on the WYSIWYG principle. Moreover, it is accessible on such platforms as Microsoft and MacOS, nevertheless, they are also working stably on nix-based platforms due to various emulators. As for the technical and developing capacities, it should be stated that this software tool is suitable for the technical tasks of the widest range, and due to the widest system of tutorials may be used by the widest range of developers, independently on the experience and knowledge. As Keith (2005) emphasizes, Dreamweaver is featured with the highest ever extension opportunities, as numerous service and extension packs are available for it. These packs and patches may be developed by any developer, and be used by the others with the aim of extending the initial capabilities and automatizing some functions.

The issues of web browser compatibility are associated with the type of project which is developed, Originally, when developing a web site, a developer should orient the most widely used browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer Chrome and some others. Originally, improper detection of a browser by a web site may create serious problems for the maintenance service, consequently, detection of the browsers should be the central issue, when compatibility problems are considered, while creating maintainable, cross browser web content

Originally, the compatibility problems are solved with the additional comments and lines in the code of web page. Welling and Thomson (2007) offer the following examples:

// WRONG APPROACH – do not use!
if (document.all)
{
// Internet Explorer 4+
document.write(”);
}
else if (document.layers)
{
// Navigator 4
document.write(”);
}

Etc. Nevertheless, there will be strong necessity to point out any browser, which is known. Or developers may resort to traditional way – writing scripts:

SCRIPT Languages

The on screen recorder, which will be used for the project is the software by Camtasia Studio developer. In spite of the fact that it is not free, it provides all the features and opportunities, which are required for this project.

The machine specifications, which are required for the proper web page development generally entail high requirements for video hardware, processor and RAM. The fact is that, the most crucial factors for programming or software development is RAM and processor speed. Consequently, the specifications will be inevitably high. As for the matters of hardware and requirements to it, it should be emphasized that the project is developed on the basis of home PC. The optimal configuration for the web development is the following:

Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.50 Ghz (E5200), Socket 775
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3LR, P43, Socket775
RAM 2048Mb PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 DIMM
HDD 500,0 Gb HDD Seagate (ST3500418AS) Barracuda 7200.12
Video 512Mb PCI-E Geforce 9500GT Gigabyte
Drive DVD±RW+CD/RW NEC Sony Optiarc AD-7203S, SATA

Server, which is suitable the most is based on the Apache CXF framework. In accordance with Harrington (2007) this framework ‘helps to develop a standards-based programming model and also provides a flexible deployment model for deploying web services. Developing SOAP and RESTful applications can be made easy by using Apache CXF framework. However, getting started with developing web services using the Apache CXF framework is not easy’

Running a Website

First, it should be emphasized that running and maintaining a web page requires properly arranged HCI (Human Computer Interaction), as the languages, which people and computers speak are different. Consequently, there is strong necessity to optimize this interaction by creating available and reliable functionality of the web page, for is could be surfed with a mouse pad only. The best principle for integrating the HCI tools is to consider that all the visitors are lazy, and web developer may count on a single mouse click. Nevertheless, everything depends on the aims of the page and goals of a surfer.

As for the security issues, there is no necessity to invent a bicycle, as Welling and Thomson (2007) give the following tips:

Do not trust user input
Validate user input on the server side
Do not use user input directly in your SQL queries
In your SQL queries don’t put integers in quotes
Always escape the output
When uploading files, validate the file mime type
If you are using 3rd party code libraries, be sure to keep them up to date
Give your database users just enough permissions
Do not allow hosts other than localhost to connect to your database
Your library file extensions should be PHP
Have register globals off or define your variables first
Keep PHP itself up to date
Read security books
Contribute to this list

Web Hosting and Web Servers

Considering the necessity to host the developed web site, it should be emphasized that the very principle of free hosting contradicts the principles of web page security and data safety. The fact is that, web developers should avoid free web hosting and free servers, nevertheless, some web projects give an opportunity of using these services. Originally, the list of free web hosting providers. Consequently, all the necessary information is not concealed. A brief research helped to reveal the fact that RosenHost will be the optimal variant for the developed web page, as the opportunities and security conditions are average in comparison with the other hosting services.

As for web servers, the developers prefer using the server bases in accordance with the aims and technical characteristics of the site. As for free servers with free hosting web space, there is no choice, as all free servers are working under the same platform.

Conclusion

Finally, it should be stated that the web page development is the process which requires thorough analysis of the technical data and required opportunities of the developed project. As for the matters of additional factors, these are closely associated with the aims and goals of the project, ad should be considered individually.

References

Aoyama, M. (2008) Web-Based Agile Software Development, IEEE Software.

Harrington, J. D. (2007) PHP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Creating Dynamic Web Sites. Sebastapol: O’Reilly.

Keith, J. (2005) DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model. Berkeley: Apress.

Welling, L., Thomson, L (2007) PHP and MySQL Web Development. 2nd Ed. Indianapolis: Developer’s Library.

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