Navigating the Framework Jungle for Teaching Web Application Development

Abstract

Studies indicate that information systems and computer science programs should place more emphasis on software design topics. Because little significant software in a commercial environment is developed using only programming skills, students without exposure to design patterns and frameworks will be ill-prepared for the workforce. This paper investigates whether PHP-based web development courses should use PHP frameworks to guide program development and how to select an appropriate framework. The paper begins with a literature review of the concept of design patterns, particularly the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern. We review studies that argue that design patterns and frameworks are essential pedagogical tools. Finally, we report on our work to select an appropriate framework for incorporation into web development courses as well as the process by which some of the major PHP MVC frameworks were assessed to determine which is best-suited for use in an academic environment.

Learning by Doing: How to Develop a Cross-Platform Web App

“…As demonstrated in their report (Akopian et al, 2013), using template-based learning helped shorten the learning cycle because of these factors: ready-to-use tools, existing code templates, reusable codes, and integration process. At the other end, instead of focusing on coding, those such as Chao, Parker, and Davey (2013) put an emphasis on using application development frameworks to teach software design concepts. Their rationale is that students are often worried about learning programming language syntax, and therefore they fail to see the big picture of applying that language to solving real problems (Hundley, 2008).…”

The Real World Web

“…The trend to cover content management systems (CMS) is a crucial one [3]. CMS like WordPress have been widely adopted and expertise in this area is critical for those pursuing a career in web development.…”

State-of-the-Art Reformation of Web Programming Course Curriculum in Digital Bangladesh

“…Based on different case studies and teaching experiences on web programming at undergraduate studies we can list the following issues where Liu in 2011 presented challenges and tools used [13] [18]. Recently Chao in 2013, reviewed the usage of framework but which is not suggested in preliminary web programming courses [19]. These are the summary view of ongoing activities and suggestions of updating web curricula in various universities to achieve standard goal towards web development in undergraduate level.…”