CST 311 Week 3

CST 311 Week 3

I found this week to be challenging as it was a lot of new material. I found the videos to help tremendously as the reading was a lot to take in and it was good to learn from a different form. This week we learned all about the transport layer of networks. We learned about the specifics of how UDP and TCP transport data on the transport layer. The concepts of multiplexing and demultiplexing were examined. We also learned how TCP and even UDP implement reliable data transfer along the transport layer.

CST 311 Week 2

CST 311 Week 2

This week was all about the application layer of the Internet protocol stack. Before this week I had a limited knowledge of HTTP, cookies, SMTP, and Peer to Peer. I learned that HTTP connections can be both persistent or non-persistent and the differences between the two. Before this week I understood the concept of cookies but did not know exactly how they worked. This week's lesson helped to expand my knowledge on the subject. Web caches can be used to make web browsing more efficient from the client end. The amount of "conversations" that occur for small amounts of data is neat to see with WireShark and a bigger appreciation for the application layer has been realized through my studies this week. We owe a lot to the scientists and researchers who have created this technology in which most people take for granted not knowing really what is involved behind the scenes in the various Internet networks.

CST 311 Week 1

CST 311 Week 1

This week I learned about the basic structure of the internet and the networks within it. It is now understood that the network edge consists of clients and servers and the network core is the network of networks that consists of interconnected routers. The idea of packet switching and how it drives the flow of information across networks was also introduced. I learned about packet delay and the various processes that effect packet delay suck as nodal processing, queueing delay, transmission delay, and propagation delay. Formulas for figuring these four delay processes were introduced. The throughput of networks was studied and also how to find the throughput of a given network. Finally we learned about the internet protocol stack and the layers within: application, transport, network, link, physical.

I felt this was a good introduction to the basic structure of how networks and the network core work. It forms a good basis for what I am sure will be a more in depth analysis of computer networks. I found the history of computer networks to be fascinating as far as how they have changed communication so much in so little time considering that for thousands of years forms of communication did not change very much.

CST 336 Week 8

CST 336 Week 8

This week we learned about updated and uploading PHP binary files. I found this to be challenging as the demo tutorial seemed to be on the light side. The course in general increased my knowledge of Internet Programming as I had no previous experience. I found the languages to be considerably different than what I am used to with Java and C++. The test this week was adequate; however, I should have looked over all the questions from the start as I needed a bit more time for the coding section of the test. If I had looked the test over from the start I would have starting on the coding portion first and then work on the multiple choice aspect.

CST336 Week 7

CST336 Week 7

This week we learned the basics of AJAX, XLM, and JSON. AJAX is a javascript code that allows for updating of web pages dynamicallys. It stands for Asynchronious Javascript and XML. We learned to use the XMLHTTPREQUEST to fetch data and export database info into JSON format. We also learned how to process JSON data in a web page and how to submit form data using AJAX. For the assignment we were tasked with creating a webpage using AJAX to change a webpage dynamically.

Here is a screenshot of a before and after shot of clicking through a database and the data automatically showing on the page without it having to reload:

CST 336 Week 6

CST 336 Week 6

This week was fairly light compared to the previous 2 weeks. We learned the basics of JavaScript and JQuery and I am now able to distinguish between the two codes. We were able to import JQuery libraries and create JQuery functions. We then learned to update HTML elements and styles using JQuery. I found Javascript more to my liking as it utilizes several concepts and syntax that I was already aware of. Here is a screenshot of the webpage created in the lab to utilize what we learned:

It is a simple vocabulary quiz that perhaps an elementary school student could take to test their basis Spanish. The first question asks the user to click on "El Pollo". When the mouse is hovered over the image, the image gets larger. The second question asks the user what is cat in Spanish. The user then types it in via a form. The third question consists of radial buttons asking the user to select what dog is in  Spanish. The submit quiz button grades the quiz. This web page is built on the foundations of Javascript and JQuery.

CST Week 5

CST Week 5

This week we learned about being able to distinguish between cookies and sessions. We had to implement creating sessions in PHP and store and retrieve data in a session. We also learned how to stop a session and how it is implemented with logins and passwords.

We finalized our team project which implemented a database to create a webpage. This was challenging as our team consisted of various levels of knowledge in these areas. We were able to finish the task on time.

http://hosting.otterlabs.org/classes/cort1669/CST336/projects/login.php

Our project is a PC game Catalog

The project has met all of the requirements. There is a login screen to begin. We decided to make the color an appealing blue with a picture showing what the database is about.

There is one form per table allowing users to see information for each game or users of the catalog.

We have functions to find the most expensive game, total cost of all games in the database, and the average cost of the games.

You can filter the games by publishers or genres and filter the user by first letter of their last name.

Finally you can update or delete user entries. We would have liked to put this in a table if we had more time to make the page shorter.

Here is a screenshot of the first page: