The Missing Link: An Introduction to Web Development and Programming

303 Pages·3.952 MB·English

by  Michael Mendez

The Missing Link: An Introduction to Web Development and Programming
The Missing Link
An Introduction to
Web Development and
Programming
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Michael Mendez
SUNY Fredonia
i
The Missing Link
An Introduction to
Web Development and
Programming
by Michael Mendez
Open SUNY Textbooks
2014
©2014 Michael Mendez
ISBN: 978-0-9897226-5-0
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Published by Open SUNY Textbooks, Milne Library (IITG PI)
State University of New York at Geneseo,
Geneseo, NY 14454
Cover design by William Jones
To my family and friends, for supporting, encouraging,
and challenging me over the years.
About the Textbook
Web development is an evolving amalgamation of languages that work in concert to re-
ceive, modify, and deliver information between parties using the Internet as a mechanism
of delivery. While it is easy to describe conceptually, implementation is accompanied by an
overwhelming variety of languages, platforms, templates, frameworks, guidelines, and stan-
dards. Navigating a project from concept to completion often requires more than mastery
of one or two complementing languages, meaning today’s developers need both breadth,
and depth, of knowledge to be effective.
This text provides the developer with an understanding of the various elements of web
development by focusing on the concepts and fundamentals through the examples within,
providing a foundation that allows easier transition to other languages and a better un-
derstanding of how to approach their work. The reader will be introduced to topics in a
manner that follows most project development methods, from initial conceptualization and
design through front end development, back end development, and introducing additional
concepts like accessibility and security, while focusing on responsive design techniques.
Each section of the text includes opportunities to practice the material and assess increased
knowledge after examining the topics.
About the Author
Michael Mendez, M.S., is a professional web developer and professor with a master’s
degree received after studying computer science, business, and communications at the State
University of New York, University at Fredonia. Having worked in the information tech-
nology field for over 12 years, he has provided the small to medium business market and
public sector agencies with services in hardware and network installation and support, web
development, systems support and maintenance, and solutions design and implementation.
These experiences have involved academic, media, emergency management, non-profit,
business to business, and business to consumer organizations.
Reviewer’s Notes
It is always a challenge to teach a course in web design or web programming. Systems that
run on the World Wide Web must necessarily change with the emergence of any sort of
new computer technology, creating a rapidly evolving landscape. The students that enroll
in web development courses are a particularly diverse group; the subject attracts strong
programmers with weak aesthetic design skills as well as those who are more aesthetically
inclined with little knowledge of programming. Finally, the visibility and mission criticality
of web platforms makes the design and security of these systems paramount.
The Missing Link attempts to bridge the gap between these conflicting educational de-
mands. While most web development texts opt to delve deeply into one or two of the tools
in the belt of a web programmer, the author of this text takes a broad approach to teaching
web programming and development. The result is a single resource that integrates good
design practices, modern technologies, and all of the programming tools that one would
need to build a successful, dynamic web site.
Unlike many texts, this one begins by giving the readers a solid foundation in the tech-
nology that runs the Internet along with a sense of what technology is currently coming of
age. This is followed by both a process and pattern-oriented slant on web design that fo-
cuses on the Model-View-Controller structure which underlies the rest of the text. HTML
and CSS covered for the development of web interfaces. The PHP and JavaScript sections
enable readers to develop the controllers for those interfaces. Finally, a concise introduction
to databases and SQL allows for the development of robust data models.
In addition to the unique combination of content found in this book, the tone is also
one of practicality. The author doesn’t mince words and gets right to the point with ex-
amples meant to be referenced quickly and often. Although this directness may put off
some readers who prefer to read texts cover to cover, all software developers know that this
is how texts are used in the real world.
In the end, the broad approach that The Missing Link takes to web design and pro-
gramming combined with the text’s concise presentation of information makes this a web
programming text unlike any other.
Robert Olson, M.S.
Professor Robert Olson is a Visiting Instructor of Computer & Information Sciences at the
State University of New York at Fredonia where he teaches courses in computer programming,
computer security, mathematics, and artificial intelligence. He also teaches Microcomputer Ap-
plications at Jamestown Community College. Professor Olson received a Master of Science in
Management Information Systems from SUNY Fredonia on May 2007.
About Open SUNY Textbooks
Open SUNY Textbooks is an open access textbook publishing initiative established by
State University of New York libraries and supported by SUNY Innovative Instruction
Technology Grants. This initiative publishes high-quality, cost-effective course resources by
engaging faculty as authors and peer-reviewers, and libraries as publishing infrastructure.
The pilot launched in 2012, providing an editorial framework and service to authors,
students and faculty, and establishing a community of practice among libraries. The first
pilot is publishing 15 titles in 2013-2014, with a second pilot to follow that will add more
textbooks and participating libraries.
Participating libraries in the 2012-2013 pilot include SUNY Geneseo, College at Brock-
port, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Fredonia, Upstate Medical
University, and University at Buffalo, with support from other SUNY libraries and SUNY
Press.
For more information, please see http://opensuny.org.
Table of Contents
About the Textbook v
Preface xii
Section 1: Web Development 1
Chapter 1: Brief History of the Internet 2
Chapter 2: Current Trends 4
Chapter 3: Web Servers 13
Chapter 4: Network Basics 19
Chapter 5: Website Design 25
Chapter 6: Development 38
Section 1 Assessments 54
Section 2: Document Markup 60
Chapter 7: Markup Languages 61
Chapter 8: Creating HTML Files 66
Chapter 9: Page Layout 68
Chapter 10: Text Layout 73
Chapter 11: Navigation 81
Chapter 12: Graphics 84
Chapter 13: Tables 88
Chapter 14: Forms 91
Chapter 15: Canvas 94
Chapter 16: Media Support 104
Chapter 17: Mobile Device Support 107
Chapter 18: Tags to Avoid 108
Chapter 19: Rule Structure 109
Chapter 20: Layout Formatting 119
Chapter 21: Font and Text Decoration 132
Chapter 22: Responsive Styling 136
Section 2 Assessments 142
Section 3: Scripting Languages 148
Chapter 23: Server-Side and Client-Side Scripting 149
Chapter 24: Creating PHP Files 152
Chapter 25: PHP Errors 153
Chapter 26: PHP Output 156
Chapter 27: Data Storage 158
Chapter 28: Data Manipulation 167
Chapter 29: Email 173
Chapter 30: File Interaction 176
Chapter 31: Structures 179
Chapter 32: Functions 186
Chapter 33: Objects and Classes 191
Chapter 34: JavaScript Syntax 194
Chapter 35: JavaScript Examples 198
Chapter 36: jQuery 202
Section 3 Assessments 205
Section 4: Persistent Data Storage 210
Chapter 37: Database Types 211
Chapter 38: Data Relationships 216
Chapter 39: MySQL Data Types 218
Chapter 40: Normalization 221
Chapter 41: MySQL CRUD Actions 231
Chapter 42: Advanced Queries 240
Section 4 Assessments 244
Section 5: Tying it Together 248
Chapter 43: Security 249
Chapter 44: Integration Examples 257
Chapter 45: Finishing Touches 267
Chapter 46: Now What? 270
Glossary of Terms 271
Index 274
Table of Figures
Figure 1 UNIVAC Computer System 2
Figure 2 Cloud Computing Styles 4
Figure 3 Virtualization Styles 7
Figure 4 10 Years of Known Cyber Attacks 9
Figure 5 Botnets 11
Figure 6 Web Server Software Structure 13
Figure 7 Network Topology 19
Figure 8 OSI 7 Layer Model 20
Figure 9 IP 4 Packet 22
Figure 10 Typography 29
Figure 11 Site Map 31
Figure 12 Website Planning 32
Figure 13 Wireframe 35
Figure 14 Storyboarding 36
Figure 15 Scrum 40
Figure 16 Waterfall Diagram 41
Figure 17 Model View Controller 42
Figure 18 Code Formatting Examples 48
Figure 19 API Data Flow 53
Figure 20 Document Object Model 64
Figure 21 Table Structure 88
Figure 22 CSS Rule Structure 109
Figure 23 Document Markup 117
Figure 24 CSS Box Model 119
Table of Tables
Table 1 HTML Entities 78
Table 2 Anchor Targets 82
Table 3 Image Formats 85
Table 4 Border Styles 120
Table 5 Pointer Styles 131
Table 6 Media Types 141
Table 7 Java vs JavaScript 150
Table 8 PHP Errors 155
Table 9 PHP Variable Naming 158
Table 10 Character Escaping 161
Table 11 Comparison Operators 167
Table 12 Operator Precedence 168
Table 13 PHP File Methods 177
Table 14 MySQL Data Types 218