Critical evaluation and comparison of web server-side technologies

Introduction of The technology

           The technology has taken so much space in every aspect and it was great to explore the technology of making a website on PHP. It is a fact that the internet and relevant technologies have provided so many opportunities to explore and learn new things. One cannot only express himself but one can also explore his/her creative capabilities by doing such tasks. So, this website development task was very informative and useful for me in so many ways. It is easy to check on a website and say it was not good, I did not like the design, colors, layout, etc. But once I started developing a website myself, I came to know that process is not that simple. One has to keep so many things in mind like what is the idea to develop a website, and what kind of content, colors, and images will be made part of it. I must accept the fact that website development on PHP was a challenging task, but it was also engaging and interesting as well. It really helped to understand the different dynamics of going through different phases of website development. In this reflection report, I will further analyze and explain different elements which I experienced while developing this website on PHP.

Critical evaluation and comparison of web server-side technologies

It is important to have certain skills and knowledge to develop a website in PHP. One must be aware of different elements of PHP website that how it is developed, and how things can be managed accordingly. This website is developed for a wellness service provider, who provides different activities to its users. So, the purpose was to develop relevant landing pages, where users can sign up, sign in and book their orders for different activities. First of all, I picked a color scheme for this website, and opted for shades of green color, as they feel more relevant to such positive activities.

When nature is looked outside, we use to see greenery around for fresh air and better health conditions, so this idea was behind choosing the green color because I wanted to relate it to nature. It means that the activities available on this website are healthy and positive. Once I finalized the simple color scheme for the website, then the next phase was to decide that what initial tabs will be available on the homepage. I decided that the homepage will have images such as related to fitness and sporting activities, and the upper portion will have tabs such as Home, Contact Us, About Us, Log-in, etc. If someone clicks the login page, then they will be directed to a login page, where they will be asked to give username and password to sign in. and if someone has not already registered an account, then at the same page, they can find a Sign-Up button, which will direct the user to a Sign Up page. At this sign p page, different boxes are necessary to be filled by users such as Name, Phone, Email, Password, and complete Address. The other important part of this PHP project was to develop a well informed “About Us” page. This page was most important because it is a portion of a website, which users visit to know about the company or website that what its purpose is. A fitness training picture was used for this page, and a comprehensive content was written on this page to introduce the website. It is important to include engaging words in this section so that users become eager to explore more about a website. If the content is not engaging and it is not catching the attention of users, then users may not further explore that particular website.

            It is also critical to mention here that different programming languages are used in website development along with web server-side technologies. The five most important languages are JavaScript, PHP, Java, Ruby, and Python. Each programming languages has its own elements to talk about, which comes with their own pros and cons. Now, it is solely the decision of developer that which kind of programming language is suited for its web server-side technology. This decision is made on the basis of overall design and requirements of a website that which elements will be covered from a programming language. For this project, I selected PHP to be used as a programming language for this web server-side technology. It has been observed that PHP is a server-side language, which is mostly used in website developments more than any other language. The stats have revealed that more than 80% of websites are using PHP as a programming language on web server-side technologies, which shows its huge success and effectiveness in the field of web development. The website developed through WordPress also uses this programming language. The great examples of the website made on PHP are Wikipedia, WordPress, and Facebook (Thor, 2018)

Implementation of web security controls during the development phases

         It is always important to remember that a website developed on PHP must implement web security protocols during the phases of web development so that data is secured, and the website is accessed by only valid users. These web security protocols are important to keep information safe and secure, and it also ensures that no cyber hackers can attack a website and hack its important information like information of users such as their name, emails, phone numbers, etc.

Future Enhancements with the benefit of your experience on the project

         During the development of this website, I completed the Security Control Design Analysis, which was accompanied by Threat Modeling so that website is made totally secure. Architecture Risk Analysis was also made part of the process, and each web security protocol was well checked and then implemented (Buyens, 2017). These were some of the steps, which I took during the development of this website on PHP. I could have done better on the design and layout of this website. Moreover, I would like to change its overall features and color scheme, if I need to make it again.

Conclusion on The technology

             It can be concluded in the end that overall website development project was very informative and beneficial for me to understand different phases and dynamics of website development. I was able to practically learn so many things, which I did not know about earlier. This website development on PHP was a great learning curve, and I am sure that if I get another chance to develop a website on PHP, it would be more engaging, purposeful and effective as compared to this one.

References of The technology

Buyens, K. (2017) A journey through the secure software development life cycle phases, [Online], Available: https://www.synopsys.com/blogs/software-security/secure-software-development-life-cycle-journey/ [2 August 2019].

Thor, W.-M. (2018) 5 top programming languages to learn server-side web development, [Online], Available: https://twm.me/best-programming-languages-and-frameworks-for-server-side-web-development/ [2 August 2019].