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University of New Mexico

Web Application Development: Basic Concepts

University of New Mexico via Coursera

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Overview

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This is the first course in a Coursera Specialization track involving Web Application Architectures. This course will give you the basic background, terminology and fundamental concepts that you need to understand in order to build modern full stack web applications. A full stack web developer is familiar with each "layer" of the software technologies involved in a web application, including data modeling and database technologies, the web server environment and middleware components, network protocols, the user interface and basic visual design and user interaction concepts. In this course we will learn by doing. We will start by learning the major components of web application architectures, along with the fundamental design patterns and philosophies that are used to organize them. You will build and continually refine a fully functional full-stack web application as we progress through the modules in this course. Along the way you will be exposed to agile software development practices, numerous tools that software engineers are expected to know how to use, and a modern web application development framework. This course is also available in Spanish. To join the Spanish version, visit this page: https://www.coursera.org/learn/apliweb.

Syllabus

  • Welcome
  • Module #1 - Web Applications in Context
    • This module sets the context for what we will study in this specialization by first providing a historical perspective on computing and web applications. Next we provide an overview of how the Internet works, and then we discuss how web applications have evolved over the past few decades. After that we’ll discuss some of the elements of modern software practice, including the typical tools that software engineers now use and the agile development practices they follow. The notion of software design patterns will introduced, and the n-tier architecture design pattern, fundamental to modern web application design, is then presented. Will also discuss a few current topics related to web application development. Finally, we will show you how to set up the software development environment you will use throughout the remainder of the courses in this.
  • Module #2 - Web Applications Frameworks
    • In this module you will learn about web application frameworks. We will start by talking about the evolution of software and programming languages, and then talk about software application frameworks. The fundamental trade-off we will consider is programmer productivity versus program efficiency. Next you will learn about web application frameworks, as well as the model-view-controller design pattern that is the backbone for many of these frameworks. We will also consider how these frameworks support the agile programming principles associated with modern software practice. This will include a discussion of distributed version control systems and you will learn how to use the popular Git system. We will also demonstrate how to use Git with a Ruby on Rails application. We will use Git to submit all of the programming applications in this specialization.
  • Module #3 - Managing Data
    • A successful web application provides information t o users that is (1) useful, and also (2) easy to access and understand. This information is often collected from users, as well as from other information sources, and must be stored in a manner that allows it to be manipulated by the web application. The typical app roach is to store this data in a relational database. In this module you will learn some basic concepts associated with modeling the data in a web application, including h ow to specify the relationships between various data entities. We will also investigate ho w to hook a web application up to a back- end data store, along with good design techniques t hat will make it easier to use the data in your web applications by maintaining consistency th roughout the entire web stack.
  • Module #4 - Middleware
    • Middleware is an abstraction layer that hides details about hardware devices and other lower-level software services from an application. Middleware services implement common low-level functions, such as communication with the operating system, application servers, database servers, etc., so that application developers do not need to concern themselves with these details, and can instead focus on the application functionality they are trying to provide. In a web application, these services generally make use of the HTTP protocol, and in a web application framework, the MVC design pattern can be thought of as being implemented over the middleware.
  • Module #5 - The User Interface
    • In our final module we will discuss the User Interface. We will touch on CSS and JavaScript, and how these are used to add style to layout and design of HTML documents. We will also learn about Ajax and how it improves user requests.

Taught by

Greg Heileman

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Reviews

3.5 rating, based on 15 Class Central reviews

4.3 rating at Coursera based on 185 ratings

Start your review of Web Application Development: Basic Concepts

  • Anonymous
    This course is an introduction to the following: - Ruby and Rails Framework (a.k.a. Ruby on Rails) - Basic Architecture of Apps (MVC, Middleware, Database) - Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) - Git Version Control & Bitbucket Web-based Git reposit…
  • Hailey Martin
    2
    Was rather easy and more of an overview than teaching very much in depth about web development or Rails. The assignments involved copying the instructor's code and didn't help reinforce concepts very well.
  • Anonymous
    This course is like the intro chapter for ruby on rails.
  • Nitish Singh
    Very Good Informative class...introduces the fundamental of web architecture
  • Anonymous
    Highly theoretical course. Lessons learnt are not reinforced by programing assignments. The assignments in the course ask you to copy the exact code of the instructor, which obviously does not help much to learn Ruby on Rails.
  • Anonymous
    This course is an introduction to Ruby and it sounds more like a sales pitch than a course. For assignments you have to retype the code that instructor showed in slides. How's that learning?
    The course shows a bit of a big picture where different components fit the architecture. It shows only one without stating the pros and cons of that architecture. Good to learn a theoretical concepts, but not good for learning how to do things.
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