PHP and MySQL Web Development 4th Ed-tqw-_darksiderg

536 Chapter 25 Using PHP and MySQL for Large Projects
Applying Software Engineering to Web
Development
As you probably already know, software engineering is the application of a systematic,
quantifiable approach to software development.That is, it is the application of engineering
principles to software development.
Software engineering is also an approach that is noticeably lacking in many web projects
for two main reasons.The first reason is that web development is often managed in
the same way as the development of written reports. It is an exercise in document structure,
graphic design, and production.This is a document-oriented paradigm.This
approach is all well and good for static sites of small to medium size, but as the amount
of dynamic content in websites is increased to the level in which the websites offer services
rather than documents, this paradigm no longer fits. Many people do not think to
use software engineering practices for a web project at all.
The second reason software engineering practices are not used is that web application
development is different from normal application development in many ways.
Developers deal with much shorter lead times, a constant pressure to have the site built
now. Software engineering is all about performing tasks in an orderly, planned manner
and spending time on planning.With web projects, often the perception is that you don’t
have the time to plan.
When you fail to plan web projects, you end up with the same problems you do
when you fail to plan any software project: buggy applications, missed deadlines, and
unreadable code.
The trick, then, is in finding the parts of software engineering that work in this new
discipline of web application development and discarding the parts that don’t.
Planning and Running a Web Application
Project
There is no best methodology or project life cycle for web projects.There are, however,
a number of things you should consider doing for your project.We list them here and
discuss some of them in more detail in the following sections.These considerations are
in a specific order, but you don’t have to follow this order if it doesn’t suit your project.
The emphasis here is on being aware of the issues and choosing techniques that will
work for you.
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Before you begin, think about what you are trying to build.Think about the goal.
Think about who is going to use your web application—that is, your targeted
audience. Many technically perfect web projects fail because nobody checked
whether users were interested in such an application.
Try to break down your application into components.What parts or process steps
does your application have? How will each of those components work? How will
they fit together? Drawing up scenarios, storyboards, or even use cases can be useful
for figuring out this step.