Fundamentals

of Web
ITU 07204:

Technologies
Lecture 2: Development Technologies

Dr. Lupiana, D
FCIM, InsFtute of Finance Management
Semester 2

Agenda:
•  Web Deployment Architectures
•  StaFc Website Vs Dynamic Website
•  Web Development Technologies

Client-Server Model

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Client-Server Model

Request
e.g. "Get me a webpage"

Web Web
Browser Server

Client Response Server

e.g. "here’s the web page"

A Web Server
•  Thus any Website shall be hosted on a Web
server for its clients (users) to access it.
•  A Web server is a specialised soOware that
responds to clients’ (i.e. Web browsers)
requests.
–  In this context, a Web server refers to a soOware
–  However, the machine on which this soOware
runs can also be referred to as a Web server.

Common Web Servers - Apache

•  Apache is the most popular Web server.
•  It runs on Unix, Linux and Windows operaFng
systems.

•  It supports a range of server-side

technologies, but may require addiFonal
soOware installaFon

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Common Web Servers - IIS
•  Internet InformaFon Services (IIS) is a
MicrosoO product.
•  It is an enterprise level web server.
–  A scaled down version of IIS is called Personal
Web Server (PWS)

•  It runs on Windows operaFng system

Common Web Servers - NGINX

•  Pronounced "engine-X“
•  It is a lightweight, high-performance Web
server.
•  It does not support Java servlets
•  It runs on UNIX, GNU/Linux, BSD variants, Mac
OS X, Solaris, and MicrosoO Windows

Common Web Servers

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A Web Server
•  Web servers respond not only to Internet
traffic, but also to intranet and extranet
traffic.
•  Thus, a Web server can also be installed
locally on your computer. Any Website hosted
on this server can be accessed;
–  Locally by using localhost domain name or IP
address 127.0.0.1
–  Over the LAN by using IP address of the host
computer.
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A Web Server
•  For Website development purposes, a Web
server should be installed on your computer.
•  If a Website is for internal use, then it should
be hosted on a Web server installed on a
specific computer on a LAN.
•  If a Website is to be accessible globally, then
it should be hosted on a Web server of an ISP
or a Web hosFng company.
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A StaFc Website
•  A staFc Website is a collecFon of staFc Web
pages.
•  In this type of Websites, Web pages are
delivered as stored on a Web server.
•  Unless changed by a Web developer, content
of Web pages do not change.
–  Users cannot input and save data to a Website

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4
Deployment Architecture
•  2-!er Architecture
ApplicaFon User interface.
Presentation
Client tier tier The client interacts with the middle
Fer to make requests and to retrieve
data from the informaFon Fer

Controls the interacFons between

the applicaFon clients and applicaFon
Application or
Middle tier Business Logic data.
tier Enforces business rules.
implements presentaFon logic.
Web server typically supports this Fer.

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Accessing a StaFc Website

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Accessing a StaFc Website

–  Browser sends a request to a Web server
–  The server forwards the requested page to the
browser
–  The browser process the content of the forwarded
HTML page, including any script.

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A Dynamic Website
•  A dynamic Website is a Website that has one
or more dynamic Web pages.
•  Dynamic Web pages are generated ‘on the fly’
or dynamically.
•  Content of dynamic Web pages change
without being changed by a Web developer, .
–  Users can input and save data to a Website

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Why Dynamic Website?

•  New demands from users;
–  Users wanted to see pages based on their inputs.
–  The desire of users to upload their informaFon.
–  The desire of users to dynamically change their
informaFon.

•  New business opportuniFes;

–  new applicaFons such as social media and news
Websites that needs to be frequently updated

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Deployment Architecture
•  3-!er Architecture
ApplicaFon User interface.
Presentation
Client tier tier The client interacts with the middle
Fer to make requests and to retrieve
data from the informaFon Fer

Controls the interacFons between

the applicaFon clients and applicaFon
Application or
Middle tier Business Logic data.
tier Enforces business rules.
implements presentaFon logic.
Web server typically supports this Fer.

Maintains data used by the

Data tier applicaFon.
Database Data typically stored in a relaFonal
database management system
(RDBMS) 18

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Accessing a Dynamic Website

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Accessing a Dynamic Website

–  Browser sends a request to a Web server
–  The server checks for scripts on the requested page
–  The server acFvates an appropriate interpreter to
interpret the script
–  The result of the interpretaFon is sent back to the
server
–  The server forwards the requested page to the
browser
–  The browser process the content of the forwarded
HTML page.

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Web Development Technologies

•  Markup Languages;
–  Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
–  Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML)
–  Extensible Markup Language (XML)

•  Cascading Style Sheet (CSS)

•  ScripFng languages
–  Client side scripFng
–  Server side scripFng
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Client Side ScripFng
•  Code is executed by a Web browser.
•  ScripFng languages in this category include;
–  JavaScript
–  VBScript

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Client Side ScripFng

•  These scripts are used for various purposes;
–  ValidaFon of user inputs
–  Enhancing Web pages with AcFveX controls
–  Enhancing interacFvity e.g. Graphics and bulons
–  ManipulaFng browser documents

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Client Side ScripFng

•  LimitaFons of client side scripts;
–  Cannot implement funcFonality that returns
customised informaFon to the user – e.g.
database search results
–  Client machine/device must be sufficiently
powerful to carry out processing (problems of
some handheld devices)
–  Need to ensure that the browser can support the
client soOware
–  Source code is visible – may compromise security

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Server Side ScripFng
•  Code is executed by a Web server.
–  Code executes because an interpreter has been
installed and acFvated on the Web server.

•  ScripFng languages in this category include;

–  PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
–  PracFcal ExtracFon and Report Language (Perl)
–  AcFve Server Pages (ASP)
–  Python
–  Ruby
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Server Side ScripFng

•  These scripts are used for various purposes;
–  Browser detecFon
–  Database connecFvity
–  File uploading and downloading
–  CreaFon and idenFficaFon of Cookies

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Server Side ScripFng

•  Advantages of server side scripFng languages;
–  Users cannot view source codes
–  Provides programmers greater flexibility
–  Generates custom responses for clients
–  Contains greater programmaFc capabiliFes than
client-side equivalents
–  Has access to server-side soOware that extend
server funcFonality

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