PHP Libraries and Frameworks - Essay Example

REFLECTION PAPER Reflection on Google In usability testing and evaluation, functionality of the system is also a prominent criterion to consider. It defines the interface design as; intuitive, easy to use, memorable and easy to learn A highly functional system will anticipate the diversity of the user requirements from display options, menu items etc. User interactivity in the system is my area of focus. In this evaluation I will measure the overall user experience, satisfaction. First, the design representation of Google is appealing. It allows the user to achieve the goal at that step. It’s simple homepage is intuitive and easy to use, in addition, it provides the user with many options to use. The design representation contains the placeholders for the client to use as search buttons and redirects the client if unsuccessful. Additionally, another key point on usability at this step is the ease of use for a leaner to use google. In my evaluation, Google is intuitive and provides adequate navigation options. Thus, a novice can easily perform the actions permitted such as viewing layout, languages and a host of other functions. PHP Libraries and Frameworks Overview Frameworks are significant innovation in modern website design. Recently, great steps have been made towards using frameworks as the basis for development. Typically, the code frameworks are a collection already created functions and classes. There exists numerous development languages and practically every language has a framework of sorts. This has extended to front-end scripting languages such as CSS and Javascript. The server-side scripting languages have realised more advanced development in terms of framework. For instance, PHP has several frameworks; Codeigniter, Zend Framework etc. Traditionally, the software management process has been focussed on basic code writing and development of modules. This takes place in two steps; developing software to completion and checking for functionality in the end product. The shortcoming of is that the approach is the same and normal pitfalls are still realised (Beck 1999). It is important to consider the uniqueness, of each piece of software and the development process it follows. Frameworks help, designing software as artefacts and means to serve the user needs adequately. However, the process – individuals, tools, methodology- followed are the same. This aspect of software development shows that the process is likely to be repeated. There are advantages that come with use of frameworks such as quality control and following a mature development process. Issues Quality software products “bug free” and those within timeline are the aim of any development effort. Frameworks, such as CodeIgniter, follow mature project management guidelines and are able to provide a platform to develop easily and faster. Applying quality management “control” on the software process is being adopted as a guarantee to achieve software quality and frameworks have enabled this to work effectively. Total quality management of the software design aims at continuously improving the quality of the end product (Bass & Clements, 2003). With Codeigniter, managing the software design by controlling the end product at the design stage is easy and straightforward. This technique adopts a set of practices throughout the software process and is aimed at consistently meeting the end user needs. While focussing on the software design aspect, it is important to note that frameworks offer interfaces that are already established (Berkhin 2002). The focus here is the practices of software management maintained by using frameworks. From this perspective, I was able to examine how quality management – continuous management of the process – is effected using frameworks. The development of code for software development is a practice that requires skill and experience, producing a design defect free code that does not have bugs is a hard task. Codeigniter gives the developer handy tools and reusable modules for development. There are many tools that assist the programmer with the development of code. These help in the detection and correction of the solutions. To effectively perform maintenance, programmers need to accurately learn the principles that code ignite has borrowed from its mother language PHP. The understanding of of these principles would also help formulate guidelines in working with codeigniter most optimally. Evaluation Code ignite simplifies the, software process to typically a translation of information from form to form. That is, from the user needs to functional requirements to structure to design and finally code. This process is predominantly human based and errors are likely to occur when progressing through the forms. Key Issues Provides simple debugging It is secure Easy to use and Install It scales well for applications using multiple platforms Quick and easy building of applications Case Study on CodeIgniter Codeigniter has come out ahead of all frameworks as an effective framework based on PHP. Applications with advanced features can be built using this framework. It follows the MVC pattern that provides a model, view and controller interface. This framework follows the basic principles in easy learning. This framework uses the conventional PHP coding and it provides porting of existing php codes to it. Reflection on Code Igniter Given the simplicity of CodeIgniter, it is a light framework and works with more speed than any other framework while at the same time providing all desired functionality. This framework typically hands the developer already constructed modules to implement. The advantage is that these modules have been built using certified standards that are inclusive of all features. For instance, the security module; user login and logout provides secure access using SSL certificates. Implementing this model by building from scratch without the use of a framework is tedious and will lead to a lot of fixes. While using codeigniter it takes only minutes and basic understanding of the conventional PHP code. EC-Payment Systems Overview The goal of EC-payments is to provide convenience, protect value, support innovation and enhance competition in the Electronic commerce system. E-business has evolved and is continually changing to accommodate new technology, inventions and innovations. Since the first website appeared online; organizations, companies, and institutions went on a rush. It is not enough to be on-line with an electronic commerce without the full knowledge of the implication of security vulnerabilities. A good and well-designed e-commerce website is an important factor to consider. E-commerce website statics are a major concern for the management, who want to realize a return on investment for their money but they have to be willing to invest in their works. Issues Despite the overrated chants for this new-age business concept that has suddenly become the goal of many commercial organizations, not much has changed in the traditional way of handling various business processes. E-business maintains the same principles of business operation as traditional commerce, that people, both sellers and buyers come together to exchange commodities and services over a network of computers. However, EC-payment systems raise concerns on information security given the nature of connections maintained by users. In addition, the information traded in an e-commerce exchange if interrupted could have far reaching effects on an individual’s privacy. E-payments systems face a new kind of threat and website owners have to mitigate this by all available means to secure their investments. The threat level in E-payment systems opens new frontiers, boundaries, for hackers and theft. E-commerce chiefly seeks to improve the buy-sell transaction activities in the electronic commerce system. At the same time it secures the payment systems and ensures confidentiality, trust and authenticity (Arcelli and Christina 2007). In a way e-commerce covers a range of on-line business activities for services and products, both businesses to customer and business to business on the internet as a platform. E-commerce breaks the process of on-line business into showing the scope activities and information that is provided to the customer to conduct business and online shopping. Case Study on EC-Payment systems: MoneyBookers The growth of the internet has led to a demand for new and diversified payment systems. Payment methods include credit cards, electronic checking and digital cash. The e-business system has to verity the credit and approve through a credit card that verifies the systems. Payment gateways that route payments through existing financial support systems are required to purposely authorize credit cards or make settlements as required. The challenges facing the current available options include social equality, acceptability and reliability. All individuals who would like to focus on electronic commerce are not able to access credit cards, digital cash or online accumulating balances. In the case of online payment systems such as MoneyBooker (Skrill), they provide a secure interface to upload and verify identity. For instance, a MoneyBookers account holder is required to verify their identity physical and bank information. The system applies a simple charge to a credit card and appends a secret code. The owner of the credit card is able to extract this code from their credit card statements and verify. This is one of the specific verification procedures applied to establish authenticity and validity of users. Reflection Quite a number of different functions go into the security requirements. For instance, there are some basic functional necessities that cover the sort of specialized that perform the functions that run payment systems. The vendors have to ensure that a user does not submit another person’s details as their own - repudiation. There are also other functions that cover the software and hardware requirements to carry out the same services. An analysis of how e-business verity credit, process an order and how they fulfill the order as well as how they verity shipments and all or any post sales process needs to be considered while assessing the performance of an e-business. Security and verification procedure needs for an ec-payment system may make or break a venture and essentially are what keeps any e-business venture in operation. Without security, performing reliable business functions will not be with trust on the end of the consumer. Consumer trust is vital just like with traditional store. Building consumer confidence in your system is in this case a good sign of growing business. Reference Arcelli, F., & Christina, L. (2007). Enhancing Software Evolution through Design Pattern Detection. Software Evolvability 2007 Third International IEEE Workshop on, 7 14. Ieee. Bass, L, Clements, P& Kazman, R 2003, Software Architecture in Practice (2nded), Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA. Beck, K 1999, Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA. Berkhin, P 2002, Survey of Clustering Data Mining Techniques, Accrue Software, San Jose, CA. James J. Lee, “Information Resources Management Association,” International Journal of E Business Research, 6, no. 4 (2011): 44. Read More