About this course: This is the first course in a Coursera Specialization track involving Web Application Architectures. This course will give you the basic background, terminology and fundamental concepts that you need to understand in order to build modern full stack web applications. A full stack web developer is familiar with each "layer" of the software technologies involved in a web application, including data modeling and database technologies, the web server environment and middleware components, network protocols, the user interface and basic visual design and user interaction concepts. In this course we will learn by doing. We will start by learning the major components of web application architectures, along with the fundamental design patterns and philosophies that are used to organize them. You will build and continually refine a fully functional full-stack web application as we progress through the modules in this course. Along the way you will be exposed to agile software development practices, numerous tools that software engineers are expected to know how to use, and a modern web application development framework. This course is also available in Spanish. To join the Spanish version, visit this page: https://www.coursera.org/learn/apliweb.
Created by: University of New Mexico
Taught by: Greg Heileman, Professor and Associate Provost
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Taught by: Manel Martínez-Ramón, Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
| Commitment | 5 weeks of study, 2-3 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Welcome
1 video
- Video: Welcome
Module #1 - Web Applications in Context
This module sets the context for what we will study in this specialization by first providing a historical perspective on computing and web applications. Next we provide an overview of how the Internet works, and then we discuss how web applications have evolved over the past few decades. After that we’ll discuss some of the elements of modern software practice, including the typical tools that software engineers now use and the agile development practices they follow. The notion of software design patterns will introduced, and the n-tier architecture design pattern, fundamental to modern web application design, is then presented. Will also discuss a few current topics related to web application development. Finally, we will show you how to set up the software development environment you will use throughout the remainder of the courses in this.
22 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: Learning Outcomes
- Reading: Lesson #1 - Web Applications: An Overview
- Video: Web Applications - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Modern Web Applications
- Video: Video 2: Historical Perspectives
- Discussion Prompt: Reflection #1
- Video: Video 3: Web App Characteristics
- Discussion Prompt: Reflection #2
- Video: Video 4: Course Overview
- Video: Video 5: Interview with Edwin Agbenyega
- Reading: How the Internet Works: An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Networking Concepts
- Video: Video 2: The Internet
- Video: Video 3: Internet Hot Topics
- Video: Video 4: Interview -Brian Pietrewicz
- Video: What is a Web Application? - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Web Apps - A Model
- Video: Video 2: Web App Definition
- Video: Video 3: Evolution of Web Apps
- Video: Video 4: Design Patterns
- Video: Video 5: n-Tier Architecture
- Video: Setting up your Development Environment - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Setting up your Development Environment
- Video: Video 2: Ruby and Rails
- Video: Video 3: Editors, GIT, SQLiteBrowser
- Video: Video 4: Web Developer Tools
- Video: Video 5: Interview - Melanie Moses
Graded: Web Applications in Context
WEEK 2
Module #2 - Web Applications Frameworks
In this module you will learn about web application frameworks. We will start by talking about the evolution of software and programming languages, and then talk about software application frameworks. The fundamental trade-off we will consider is programmer productivity versus program efficiency. Next you will learn about web application frameworks, as well as the model-view-controller design pattern that is the backbone for many of these frameworks. We will also consider how these frameworks support the agile programming principles associated with modern software practice. This will include a discussion of distributed version control systems and you will learn how to use the popular Git system. We will also demonstrate how to use Git with a Ruby on Rails application. We will use Git to submit all of the programming applications in this specialization.
20 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Learning Outcomes
- Video: What are Web App Frameworks? - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: What is Programming?
- Video: Video 2: Application Frameworks
- Video: Video 3: Web Application Frameworks
- Video: Video 4: The Model-View-Controller Design Pattern
- Video: The Ruby on Rails Framework - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Your First Rails Program
- Video: Video 2: Scaffolding
- Video: Video 3: Ruby Programming I: Objects, Classes and Inheritance
- Video: Video 4: Ruby Programming II: Strings, Regular Expressions and Symbols
- Video: Video 5: Ruby Programming III: Expressions and Control Structures
- Video: Modern Software Practices - An Overview
- Video: Video 1 -Software Processes
- Video: Video 2 - Agile Development
- Video: Video 3 - The Blog App
- Video: Version Control - An Overview
- Video: Video 1 - Why Version Control
- Video: Video 2 - Version Control Basics
- Video: Video 3 - Git Introduction
- Video: Video 4 - Git in Practice
Graded: Blog App Iteration 1
WEEK 3
Module #3 - Managing Data
A successful web application provides information t
o users that is (1) useful, and also (2)
easy to access and understand. This information is
often collected from users, as well as
from other information sources, and must be stored
in a manner that allows it to be
manipulated by the web application. The typical app
roach is to store this data in a
relational database. In this module you will learn
some basic concepts associated with
modeling the data in a web application, including h
ow to specify the relationships between
various data entities. We will also investigate ho
w to hook a web application up to a back-
end data store, along with good design techniques t
hat will make it easier to use the data in
your web applications by maintaining consistency th
roughout the entire web stack.
20 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Learning Outcomes
- Video: Relational Databases in Web Apps - An Overview
- Video: Video #1 - Data Management in Web Apps
- Video: Video #2 - Relational Databases: Basic Concepts
- Video: Video #3 - Database Schema I
- Video: Video #4 - Database Schema II
- Video: Database Integration in Web Apps - An Overview
- Video: Video #1 - Application Environments
- Video: Video #2 - Database Configuration
- Video: Video #3 - Database Management
- Video: Video #4 - Blog App Databases
- Video: Active Record Design Pattern - An Overview
- Video: Video #1 - Active Record Design - An Overview
- Video: Video #2 - Active Record in Rails
- Video: Video #3 - Database Migrations
- Video: Video #4 - Blog - Iteration 2
- Video: Database Associations and Validations - An Overview
- Video: Video #1 - Associations
- Video: Video #2 -Blog App - Iteration 3
- Video: Video #3 - Validations
- Video: Video #4 - Blog App - Iteration 4
Graded: Blog App - Iteration 2, 3, & 4
WEEK 4
Module #4 - Middleware
Middleware is an abstraction layer that hides details about hardware devices and other lower-level software services from an application. Middleware services implement common low-level functions, such as communication with the operating system, application servers, database servers, etc., so that application developers do not need to concern themselves with these details, and can instead focus on the application functionality they are trying to provide. In a web application, these services generally make use of the HTTP protocol, and in a web application framework, the MVC design pattern can be thought of as being implemented over the middleware.
14 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Learning Outcomes
- Video: Middleware an Introduction - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: What is Middleware?
- Video: Video 2: Middleware in Web Apps
- Video: Video 3: Middleware Frameworks
- Video: The HTTP Protocal - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: HTTP Overview
- Video: Video 2: HTTP Request
- Video: Video 3: HTTP Response
- Video: Video 4: HTTP Sessions and Cookies
- Video: MVC Over Rails Middleware- An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Request Processing
- Video: Video 2: RESTful Web Services
- Video: Video 3: Response Processing
- Video: Video 4: MVC in Rails
Graded: Middleware
WEEK 5
Module #5 - The User Interface
In our final module we will discuss the User Interface. We will touch on CSS and JavaScript, and how these are used to add style to layout and design of HTML documents. We will also learn about Ajax and how it improves user requests.
14 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: Learning Outcomes
- Video: Presentation Tier Overview - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: The Presentation Tier
- Video: Video 2: Layout and Design
- Video: Video 3: HTML: History and Philosophy
- Video: Video 4: HTML CSS and JavaScript
- Video: HTML CSS and JavaScript Overview - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: HTML Overivew
- Video: Video 2: CSS Overview
- Video: Video 3: JavaScript Overview
- Video: Dynamic Content and Ajax Overview - An Overview
- Video: Video 1: Ajax Background
- Video: Video 2: Ajax Cycle
- Video: Video 3: Dynamic Content Creation
- Video: Video 4: Blog App - Iteration 5
Graded: Blog App - Iteration 5
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Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
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complete and practical course, recommended
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