Reportpage from the course DA377B VT20 Software Development for the Web

S01

Did you before know about the techniques Git, GitHub, Markdown and/or GitHub Pages?

I did know about Github since we have used it a little bit in the other courses.

It’s good to learn how to push/commit etc from the command since we have used Github

desktop most of the time. It has been easier since we haven’t got that much knowledge

about how to use real Git.

Have you ever created websites before?

We did some in the Software Engineering 2 but only the basic parts so it will be a

great learning experience to learn more about how to create one.

Briefly explain your experience and knowledge of web application development.

We have had some courses before but I feel like it was quite little so I would say

that I'm a total beginner and I’m looking forward to learn more about it.

What is your TIL for this course section?

To learn more about how to use Github from the command prompt. how to Visual Studio Code

S02

Have you any previous experience of HTML, CSS and/or JavaScript?

No, we have not had any courses that was teaching us how to code in this languages.

We have done some CSS within projects but only very little.

Explain the role of HTML, CSS and JavaScript in web development.

HTML is a markup language which is the skeleton of the information on a web page.

CSS is controlling the web pages appearance and JavaScript stands for the programming

functionalities. HTML, CSS and JavaScript is the essentials for building a website.

Give a brief explanation of how the browser, the HTTP protocol and the web server interacts.

A browser communicates with a web server through HTTP protocol.

A browser makes a request to a web server to return a specific resource such as an image,

video or webpage. Depending on the authenticity of the request, a server then returns the

requested resource.

What is your TIL for this course section?

I have learned more about CSS HTML and JavaScript and how to make them integrate with each other.

S03

Do you have any previous experience of client side JavaScript?

No, I have never worked with client side javascript before or with JavaScpipt but I think

it's a fun language to work with.

Can you compare and relate the JavaScript language to any other language you know?

I have only worked with Java but I think JavaScpipt is similar in some ways. I find it

fun to work with.

Describe how you worked with the coding exercise, what grade do you aim for and how did

your code turn out to be?

I did it with the help of youtube videos and google to find css etc. I aim for grade 3.

What is your TIL for this course section?

To get more into javascript code and css. I think it is fun to add styling and its good

that it's possible to try it before adding to the code by using devtools in my browser.

S04

Tell me about your previous experience on node/npm or any equal programming tools.

I have tried node a little bit. Programming tools that I have used before is git, github,

MySql, bootstrap, Visual studios.

How do you feel about working with JavaScript, Node and Express?

I think it is fun once you get more knowledge about how to use it and integrate with the

different programs.

Explain how you did take on the coding assignment, did you have a plan and did it work?

It worked after some research and tutorials. I found some information on StackOverflow and

tried in the devtools before adding it to the project.

What grade did you aim for and was it a difficult level?

I aimed for grade 3 since it was quite a lot new information.

What is your TIL for this course section?

Today I learned how to work with express and Node and how to use them as a server instead of XAMPP.

S05

How do you feel about PHP as a programming language?

I think it's quite straight forward

Can you compare PHP to other languages you know?

I have only worked with Java and JavaScpipt so it was a bit different with example $ dollar

sign before variables.

Describe how you took on the coding exercise, what grade did you aim for and are you satisfied

with the result?

I aimed for grade 3 and I did all the topics for grade 3. I think it was quite straight forward

but I had some difficulties with the MySql connection to the database but once I got that solved

the rest worked out quite well.

What is your TIL for this course section?

I learned how to do some PHP coding and how to integrate php, JavaScpipt and Mysql into one

project.

S06

What is your own opinion on popularity of programming languages and what are your thoughts

of future popularity among programming languages?

Since I have not been programming before my education I have only got the feeling that Java

and C# seems to be a common programming language around workplaces. I think Java gives the

programmer more help and suggestions than what C# does. It’s important to find information

in how to solve an error if needed and I feel like Java is easier to find such information

and the program itself gives good ideas in how to solve the issue.

What will be your own choice for selecting future programming languages?

I would choose Java at first but that is only because it’s the language that I feel most comfortable

and since we have been using it a lot in school. Many websites and social platforms seems to be

developed in JavaScript and the more I get to code in it the more I like it.

Do your own investigation on https://trends.google.com to customize your own comparison

on programming languages (or frameworks) and elaborate on the results.

Due to the result in what people in Sweden are searching mostly for Java or JavaScript it is quite

close but JavaScript has always the leading position between those two. Based on the statistics northern

part of sweden and southern search more on JavaScript than the middle part.

If you were to recommend a language/framework/technology to your potential employer and your next

large project, what would it be and how would you “sell it”?

I would choose JavaScript since it seems easy to use and to integrate with other programming languages.

I would sell it by informing in how many big platforms that is using it today and that it is quite

easy to find information if one doesn’t know how to program in it.

What is your TIL for this course section?

To get more into what programming languages is the most popular ones around the globe and what type

of language developers are using it certain matters.

S07

Try to explain the platform .NET (C#, ASP.NET) to a skilled programmer, but newbie to this

Microsoft technology.

ASP.NET is a web application framework. It is developed by Microsoft and it makes developers allowed

to build dynamic websites with full features to integrate with languages like C# or VB.NET.

Elaborate by comparing .NET technologies with the other technologies we learned during the

course.

Comparing asp.net, node.js, php: ASP.NET is an open-source server-side web application

framework which allows the programmer to build dynamic web applications and web services.

Asp.net is highly security priority. PHP is a server-side scripting language designed for

web development. PHP is more efficient when building e-commerce websites and for managing

dynamic content. Php is less built-in features for security.ASP.NET is better suited for large

and medium-sized organization whereas PHP is better equipped to server start-up and small

sized organizations. Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform which let the developers use

JavaScript to write command line tools and for server-side scripting to produce dynamic webpage

content before the page is sent to the user’s web browser. Node.js is as secure as almost any

programming languages but it is more up to the development team to check their code and modules

for vulnerabilities.

Describe how you took on the coding exercise, what grade did you aim for and are you satisfied

with the result?

I aimed for grade 3 and I’m satisfied with the result since I have never been programming in

.Net or C#

What is your TIL for this course section?

I learned how to use .NET platform and to use C#. I have never been coding in C# before but

I think it went quite well.

S08

Websites to analyse:

I choose to work with Google, Twitch and YouTube. I chose to work with these three since twitch and

YouTube are quite similar since both have livestreams and recorded videos but google is a search engine.

I found these three interesting to analyse.

Devtools network tab:

The data shows that Google is the fastest to load since it does not contain images or videos in the

front page and has only 80.0KB and DOM content load of 487ms. Twitch has the most content with

9.2MB although it only takes 773 ms to load and YouTube transferred 2.2MB in 2.93s which is slower

than twitch. These three websites is three of the most popular ones so there is not much to improve

within the websites or the performance.

PageSpeed

Twitch:

YouTube:

Google:

LightHouse

Twitch:

YouTube:

Google:

The test results shown as expected that youtube and twitch are more heavy programs for the computer

to work with. The recommendation for for a page load is under 3 seconds. To make performance better

it is required to move the website to a better host, use website caching, use less number of JavaScript

and CSS files.

Summarizing

Web performance is all about making websites fast or so that the user can interact with it quickly.

If there is an issue with loading the page the user should get feedback if the website takes time to

load and why. The website should be as smooth as possible so that the user is enjoying using it.

Web performance is about reducing overall load time which is caused by latency how big the files

are and how many files. The best strategy for reducing the load time is to make the files as small

as possible and reduce the number of HTTP requests if possible.

The website should be usable as soon as possible so that the user can use it really quick. The website

can continue to load any other assets in the background but the user should be able to get on with

primary tasks. It should be smooth in all aspects such as scrolling, clicking buttons and animations

should run smoothly.The website should be fast in loading for best possible user experience.

Performance measurements is involving measure the actual speed of the application, optimizing

where possible and then monitoring the performance. Many features impact the performance in

websites including latency, number of DOM nodes, application size, resource requests, JavaScript

performance, CPU load etc. It is important to minimize the loading and response time, and making

the experience as fast, available and interactive as possible so that the user has the best

experience possible.

What is your TIL for this course section?

I learned how to use Devtools network tab, PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse and how to find the

performance.

S09

1. Elaborate on a few (3-5) different security issues or concerns, from your own experience,

related to web application security and relate them to the OWASP top ten.

Sensitive Data Exposure

When creating a website it is important to think of all the security issues that can occur

when users are interacting with the website. Users information or personal data should

not be available for other users and should be well protected for potential hackers. This

is the concern of “Sensitive Data Exposure” in the OWASP.

Broken Access Control

Websites is also very vulnerable to access control system that controls the information

functionality such as authorization and perform tasks as they were privileged users such

as administrators. This is a big concern when building a website since attackers can get

access to the websites administrating section. This issue is referred to the “Broken

Access Control” in OWASP. Many services uses authorization tokens when users log

in to ensure that the user say who they are and in this way it is possible to save

credentials so that the user does not constantly have to login every time they enter

the website.

Logging and monitoring

Many websites are not taking enough steps in ensuring that there is no detect data

breaches. “Insufficient logging and monitoring” from OWASP is what gives the attackers

the opportunity to hack the website. Developers must be concerned when implementing

logging, monitoring and incident response plans to make sure that the website is aware

if an attack happen.

The essential guidelines to follow to create secure web applications.

To create a trustful and reliable website for both users and administrators the developers

must think of all the possible threats when creating the website. The developers must

prioritize vulnerabilities and minimize the risks of authorization gets in the wrong hands.

Users should feel protected in order to wanting to use the website so that their personal

information never leaks or a hacker gets access to it.

To avoid the two first concerns is it important that the developing team has built a website

that indicate if an incident occurs or a possible threat to the website.

What is your TIL for this course section?

I learn more about the concerns in security for web applications and all many possible

threats when creating a website. It is important as a developer to create a website as

secure as possible and have a “incident response plan” if an attack occurs.

S10

Write a general paragraph about how the project was implemented. Problems / solutions / simple /

How was it to work in a team?

Implementing techniques:

Webserver: Node.js express

View engine: ejs

Database: MySql MariaDB

Style: Bootstrap styling library

Icons: Font awesome

jQuery: used to add click functionality and do AJAX calls to rerender the products

JavaScript HTML CSS in between

Version control: Git

Pictures from: unsplash.com

I did the project by myself and I think I worked out pretty well. I searched for information

when I got stuck. I started the project right after the assignments. I have never worked with JavaScript

before so it was quite difficult at the beginning but I learned a lot from the assignment so

the project went on great. I think it was good to do the assignments first and then start with the

project since we got a lot of information during the lectures and how to solve them which then could

be used in the project. I think it was a reasonable project I aimed for grade 3 since I did not have

any experience before. I was working alone and it went well.

Finish with a final paragraph with your thoughts on the course and what you think about the

you give the course?

I think the course was really good and well structured. It was great that Mikael uploaded the

lectures on YouTube so we could follow it from home and see it again if we missed out on something

I don't have any suggestions on how to improve the course, in my opinion it was one of the best

courses we have had all because of how well it was structured. I'm really satisfied and I will

recommend it! I give this course a 10!

What is your final TIL for this course?

I have learned how to work with JavaScript, HTML, CSS and all the needed tools to create a webpage.

I have also gotten more knowledge in how to use github which was really good!