PHP Libraries and Framework - Report Example

Evaluation and Reflection al Affiliation) This paper provides an evaluation and analysis on the following three topics while reflecting upon a case study where each has been employed or is currently in use: PHP Libraries and Framework, Rich Interface Technologies and EC Payment Systems. It states their advantages and disadvantages after which it reflects on each topic based on their characteristics. Introduction PHP Libraries and Framework (CodeIgniter) According to Grehan, it is undeniable that PHP is widely and extensively used as a web development language even though the language does not exclusively rule the website development world. PHP based website usually needs more than just PHP code as it works side by side with other web development languages such as HTML for page layout, CSS for styling, Java-script for client responsiveness and SQL for database. This can be quite a daunting task especially when one is trying to develop a website from scratch. (2012) Through PHP libraries and frameworks like CodeIgniter, Zend Framework and CakePHP one can easily build a scalable and more easily maintainable web application in a much less time as opposed to building it from scratch. PHP frameworks have the principle function to accelerate the web development process. (Grehan, 2012) The paper, under this topic, presents an evaluation of CodeIgniter as a PHP framework. In a test center scorecard, a test conducted on capability, ease of development, documentation and ease of development, CodeIgniter emerged as one of the best among other PHP frameworks with the highest scores on ease of development and installation. (Grehan, 2012) CodeIgniter is an open source web application, first developed in 2006 by EllisLab, light in weigh meaning that it presents the developers with a directory structure of a proper MVC pattern besides its light weight inbuilt templating engine. CodeIgniter, through its MVC structure, help developers to separate business logic and the presentation layer. It is one of the frameworks that require minimal setup and is easy to learn as opposed to the other frameworks like Zend since it is mostly used in developing enterprise applications hence making the learning curve more difficult. (Khosla, 2012) Features According to Mye, web developers usually ask themselves one fundamental question before choosing a framework to use in the development of their websites and application: “can the framework do what I need it to do?” (2008) CodeIgniter presents most of the standard framework features like database abstraction, form validation, session handling, model view controller architecture (MVC), error handling, flexible and scalable architecture, implementing carts for e commerce sites and libraries to handle tasks like uploading files. In addition to the above named features, CodeIgniter has the capability that lets its developers add any additional functionality that they may need through new custom library builds or extension of the existing core libraries. (Mye, 2008) Mye adds that, on documentation, CodeIgniter presents a user guide which is complete, ease to understand and up to date. It is by far the most documented framework among the PHP frameworks. This therefore makes its learning curve simple and easy enabling developers with basic understanding of OOP to easily pick up the framework. (2008) CodeIgniter has a very footprint on installation and requirements since it only 2MB in size include a documentation which can be deleted later. In addition, it works with all servers and hosting accounts that provide PHP version 4.3.2 and above. For web applications, CodeIgniter requires a database and it currently support such databases as MySQL, MySQLi, MS SQL, Postgres, Oracle, SQLite, and ODBC.(Mye, 2008) The advantages of CodeIgniter as a PHP framework are: It has a small footprint It provides an exceptionally high performance Easy to adopt, learn and deploy Easy to handle and customize It has a good documentation of the user base A collection of possessed libraries Enables for customization through addition of libraries The disadvantages include: It’s a company driven instead of community driven It’s PHP based and not entirely object oriented Its releases comes out irregularly Evaluation Based on the merits of CodeIgniter as a PHP framework, I would highly recommend code igniter to PHP developers in need of exceptional performance while saving on the footprint given that CodeIgniter requires a small footprint while at the same time it provides high performance as compared to the other PHP frameworks. Given its ease on customization, learning, adoption, handling and deployment, Beginners in PHP are likely to find CodeIgniter more helpful and easy to work with in addition to the fact that it is well documented. A good documentation on the user base presents the user with easy time to quickly learn and use CodeIgniter in web and application development. (Allard, 2007) As Allard puts it, CodeIgniter has just enough libraries but still it allows for addition of libraries for coders who are looking forward to customize their framework. Unlike other PHP frameworks, it is light in weight which makes it a simple but elegant toolkit with the ability to produce a fully functional web application within the client deadlines in a shared account hosting environment. On configuration, CodeIgniter presents coders with an easy time since it does not require much to configure. Furthermore, the framework does not require the use of command line which most often is a daunting task to coders with deadlines. (2007) CodeIgniter however, has a few setbacks just like any other framework. The fact that CodeIgniter is PHP based means it limits its support to PHP language especially PHP4 delimiting other coders with little or no knowledge at all in PHP language. Its support for PHP4 forces coders to manually load models, get CI instances in addition to its poor error handling as compared to PHP5. CodeIgniter is not all that flexible mostly because of its support for PHP4, it presents a hard time in routing from the database for example. (Khosla, 2012) The framework is missing certain core components like decent form handling and authentication even though it is a third party libraries for the components, there a great need for an inbuilt support for the component given their intrinsic nature. (Khosla, 2012) In conclusion, CodeIgniter is therefore a very powerful PHP framework right for developers who want a framework with small footprint, with an exceptional performance, abroad compatibility with shared hosting accounts and minimal configuration. Rich Interface Technologies Rich interface technologies include interface applications that greatly enhance user interaction within a browser or an application. The rich interface applications such as HTML5, JQuery and Ajax among others, greatly improves the outward appearance of a browser in addition to enhancing its functionalities while improving on the look and feel of an application. The development of rich interface applications addresses some of the short comings of the first generation web applications while improving on the user interface technology. It can be inform of a fully interactive browser or a web-based business application that is capable of offering the interface functionality and flexibility of a desktop application. (Grehan, 2011) Rich interface applications ensures secure and result-oriented business applications that provides a faster and more expensive interface as compared to the traditional application. They enhance the aesthetic value of the browser and application making the user interaction more interesting and fun. In addition, the development of rich interface applications offers a rich , engaging experience enabling business to enhance their productivity while utilizing advanced communication systems to level up their services and efficiency to customer all over the world. (Grehan, 2011) Currently HTML5 is considered the best among the rich interface technologies in web development. The paper highlight on the background behind the development of HTML5 as a rich interface technology while stating its strength and weaknesses. (Pilgrim, 2010) HTML5 is latest revision of the hypertext markup language (HTML) developed with the aim of fulfilling the needs of modern web applications so that the dependency on external browser plug inns is reduced. HTML5 Evaluation There are a number of new elements which come alongside HTML5 which previously did not exist in the earlier versions of HTML. To begin with various tags such as header, canvas, footer and section tags have been introduced to represent the common web structure. In addition to the new tags, new form elements such as date picker, number of range components and form field that validates the input automatically have also been introduced. Furthermore, CSS has also been enhanced to support custom fonts, new visual styles including animation, color gradient, shadow and reflection effect. It has an additional video component which allow one to play video without the need of adobe flash player. (Pilgrim, 2010) . The major advantages of HTML5 are: Improved tags and mutuality Pilgrim states that HTML5 support for rich media tags such as audio and video tags which are fully programmable with java-script, enables it to offer an incredible ease of use while at the same time offering a powerful flexibility without the need to install additional plug inns such as flash player. The tags in HTML5 are improved as compared to the previous version since it presents clear and more understandable tags such as the header tags, nav, footer and aside. (2010) Support for offline web applications Provision of support for offline web applications is another feature of HTML5 which enables it to address the mobile devices. It closes the gap between desktop application and web application through more features like File API, Notification API and Drag and Drop support Error handling capabilities On error handling, HTML5 is capable of handling wrong syntax since it has been designed in a manner to enable old browsers are capable of handling HTML5 syntax by ignoring the wrong HTML5 syntax. (Pilgrim, 2010) Support for offline application cache HTML5 unlike other rich interface technologies used in most browser, has the support for offline cache enabling for one to view a cached page when offline even after refreshing the page. The disadvantages of HTML5 are: Browser support One of the demerits of HTML5 is that it is not supported by some browsers like the internet explorer and some old versions of other browser. Only the modern browsers support HTML5 hence limiting the use from the users with old version browsers. (Grehan, 2011) The language is still considered a work in progress despite the fact that most part of the language is stable. Some of the features and element may undergo changes and finalizing on the language is not until after a few more years. (Pilgrim, 2010) Basically the main aim of HTM5 is to enhance and improve HTML language through the support of the latest multimedia and improving its human readability and computer understandability at the same time. Given the additional features and elements on HTML5, its performance and capability as a rich internet technology is undeniably great and in would highly recommend it to any web developer with performance, quality and deadlines as the main factors in mind. (Grehan, 2011) EC Payment Systems Business organizations are challenged with the selection of the best payment options that meets both their requirements and those of their customers as e-commerce is highly critical to an organization’s survival. E-Commerce payment systems are open money transaction tools used to secure electronic money transfer and processing through computer networks. There are five types of E-Commerce payment systems available for business organizations to choose from. Electronic Cash (Digi-cash) This is a legal tender defined by a national authority and is the most common type of payment system. Key features of cash are that they are easily converted to other forms without intermediation by any other institution. Private organizations at times create their own form of cash called scrip that can be instantly redeemed by participating organizations for goods or cash such as point programs or other forms of computer currency. (Montague, 2011) One of the advantages of Cash is that it is portable. You can move with cash anywhere within the globe. Cash requires no authentication. It requires no third party during transaction. It gives an instant purchasing power to those who posses it. Cash requires a low cognitive demand from the user, as it is anonymous and does not require complimentary assets. Cash does not allow for micropayments. Cash can be disadvantageous in that it does not provide for float. Float is the period between purchase and the actual payment. Cash is irreversible, once it’s spent, it’s gone. Cash is also limited to smaller transactions. (Montague, 2011) Electronic Cheques (Netchques) Cheque is a form of payment system where funds are transferred from a consumer’s checking account to a merchant’s bank account. Cheque provides float, are secure and allow for both small and large payments. Cheques take time to process. All cheques have a processing period as they cannot be transacted immediately. They can bounce or get cancelled which posses` serious danger to the seller. They can be forged easily and hence require authentication. They cannot be used for micropayments as they tend to be expensive in terms of paper work. They are not anonymous and require third parties to work with. (Becker, 2008) Credit Cards Credit cards deal with accounts that extend credit to the consumers by permitting a consumer to purchase items by differing payments, and allowing consumers to make payments to different vendors at a time. Credit Card Associations such as visa cards set standards for issuing banks such as Barclays bank. ( Peirce, 2001) Credit cards offer a line of credit to consumer by allowing them to make large and small purchase. This reduces the risks associated with cash payments as it is a widely used form of payment. Credit card offer considerable float. The major disadvantage of credit cards is that consumers can refute purchases under certain circumstances. Stored Values These are accounts made by depositing funds into account from which funds are paid out or withdrawn as needed. The major advantages of stored values are that they immediately debit a checking in depositing accounts instead of extending a line of credit like credit cards. The major disadvantage of stored values is that they depend on funds being available on a customer’s bank account. That is they don’t extend a line of credit to the customers. (Mahony, 2001) Advantages of E-commerce payment systems include: They Overcome geographical limitations : more reach to customers Much faster buying and selling procedures Better service quality and low operational costs Credit cards offer a line of credit to consumer Easy portability The demerits of E-commerce payment systems include: Security is not fully guaranteed Involves exchange of sensitive financial information Prone to attack by hackers Evaluation The choice of payment system is one of the major critical decisions made by merchants dealing with electronic commerce given the difficulty in the verification and collection of funds. There are three fundamental issues that are addressed while choosing the appropriate e-commerce payment system. Based on the advantages and demerits of the various payments systems, factors such as fund transfer methods, security of the transaction and the protection of the sensitive financial information need to be addressed among other factors as well. E-commerce payment systems allow business organizations to sever customers faster and at a lower cost as compared to other manual mode of payments that involves face-to-face meeting between the organization and the customer. ( Peirce, 2001)This eliminates the geographical limitation enabling reach to more customers at the same time reduces the costs and time involved in travelling to meet up customer or the seller. The payment systems such as credit cards extend credits and discount to customers which is not available in most of manual payment modes. The payment systems however presents a great security issue given the fact that it involves the exchange of sensitive financial information such as credit card information and mailing address. The information can easily be captured by hackers placing a customer or as seller at a risk of credit card fraud or worse, identity theft. The security of transaction is not guaranteed. ( Peirce, 2001) References Upton, D., Ellis, R., & Allard, D. 2007. CodeIgniter for rapid PHP application development improve your PHP coding productivity with the free compact open-source MVC CodeIgniter framework!. Birmingham, U.K.: Packt Pub.. Khosla, S. 2012 "Getting started with PHP framework codeigniter." DigiMantra | PHP,WordPress Themes,Plugins,CMS,Web Development & Design. N.p., n.d. Web.. . . (Accessed on 26 Apr) Pilgrim, M 2010. HTML5: up and running. Sebastopol, CA: OReilly. Top of Form Bottom of Form Grehan, R. 2011. Test Center:Product Reviews:Developer World Index. Business technology, IT news, product reviews and enterprise IT strategies - InfoWorld. Retrieved April 26, 2012, from http://www.infoworld.com/test-center/d/developer-worldTop of Form Bottom of Form Montague, D. 2011. Essentials of online payment security and fraud prevention. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley. Top of Form Becker, S. A. 2008. Electronic commerce concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey, Pa.: IGI Global (701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033, USA). Turban, E. 2011. Introduction to electronic commerce (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Bottom of Form Mahony, D., Peirce, M. A., & Tewari, H. 2001. Electronic payment systems for e-commerce (2nd ed.). Boston: Artech House. Myer, T. 2008. Professional CodeIgniter. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley. Read More