CS 55.13 - PHP Programming

Section 4191 - ONLINE

Goals and Objectives

This class will introduce the student to the Open Source, server side scripting language PHP. The skills and knowledge required to write web applications will be developed. Specific objectives are to:

• Learn the language syntax of PHP
• Learn how to generate dynamic web pages.
• Learn how to process cookies.
• Learn how to manipulate images
• Learn how to store and retrieve information from a database
• Learn how to send email from PHP
• Learn how to control user access and session management
• Learn how to process and produce XML

Prerequisites

• CS 10 (was CIS 10A) - Introduction to Programming or CS 19.11A (was CIS 16A) - Introdution to Visual Basic Programming - Previous programming experience as evidenced by the completion of CS 10, CS 19.11A, or the equivalent.
• CS 50.11A (was CIS 58.51B) - Creating Web Pages 2 - HTML - PHP will be used to create web applications using HTML user interfaces. A firm grasp of hand editing HTML and a basic understanding of HTML forms is needed.
• CS 81.61 (was CIS 69.53) - Structured Query Language (recommended) - The web applications built in this class with include components that dynamically generate web pages from a the contents for a database. Students should be familiar with writing of SQL insert, update and delete statements.

Text Books

• Required - Meloni, Julie C 2008. Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One, Fourth Edition, Sams Publishing. ISBN 978-0-762-32976-0. Publisher's online resources. Author's on line resources
• Required - Sams Teach Yourself PHP and MySQL: Video Learning Starter Kit, Sams Publishing. ISBN 978-0-672-33027-8. Publisher's on line resources

Expectations

• Expect to read about 30-40 pages of text, watch 20 minutes of video lessons, chapter activities and programing assignments each week. Readings will be from both the textbook and outside references, generally articles on the web.
• You will need your own computer. You can use Windows 2000/XP/Vista (Windows 95 or 98 is not sufficient), Mac OS X (OS 9 is not sufficient) or a Linux machine.
• Programming exercises are to be completed according to the schedule provided.
• One multiple-choice test question must also be submitted for each reading assignment. The web site includes a link to the submission page.
• Two examinations will be given, the second covering only the topics studied since the previous test. The Midterm Exam will be due on 16 October 2009. The Final Exam will be due on 18 December 2009. Both exams and will be administered online, you will be able to take the exams any time during the week before the due date, you will only be able to access the exam once, you will have 4 hours to complete each exam.

Grading

Please note - late work will only be accepted up to 1 week after due date, a 20% deduction will be imposed. Assignments turned in more than 1 week late will receive no points. EXCEPTION - All assignments must be turned in by 12 PM 18 December 2009.

The semester grade will be composed of two examinations (12% each) and programming exercises (76%).

Both examinations must be completed to earn a D or better. All programming exercises must be completed and all test questions must be submitted to earn a B or better.

A running total of the grades will be posted in the Grades section of the web site. You should never have a question as to what your grade currently is.

IMPORTANT!
It is your responsibility to officially drop this class if you are not going to complete it. Failure to do so will result in a grade of "F" on your transcript.

Programming Exercises

All assignments and the semester project will be implemented on the school's computer system, http://student.santarosa.edu. All assignments will be turned in via web forms to the instructor which must be received by Midnight (Pacific) on the due date.

Credit is contingent on the following:

• The submission must include:
  1. The URL to the code being submitted for grading.
  2. A list of the files that implement the specified requirements, including their locations. External support files need not be included.
  3. An explanation of how to test the application and how to tell the test was successful.
• The program must fulfill the specifications and run correctly.

Getting Help

My job is to help you learn. I expect that most of our communication will be via e-mail, but you can also come to see me in person by appointment. You don't need an appointment to contact me via Yahoo! IM during office hours. I am online during normal business hours (I have a day job) and will answer quick questions via Yahoo! IM. For bigger issues we can schedule a time to go into depth on the subject.

For class subject questions, I do want you to post your questions, problem code and links on the class Message Board. When you have a question, there is a good chance that another student has the same question and will benefit from my, or another student's, answer. Private email to me is for personal correspondence (grades, sickness, etc.). The Message Board is for class content questions. If a question that applies to the class content is recieved via email, I WILL take that question and post it to the message board. I will also remove any private questions from the Message Board and answer them privately via email.

When you send me a private email, please prefix the subject line with "CS 55.13" so that your message gets filtered in my mail client correctly. Messages that do not have that prefix will end up getting filtered in to a folder that does not get looked at as often as class messages, delaying my response.

Required Administrative Notices

Attendance
See, http://www.santarosa.edu/polman/8stuserv/8.1.5.pdf If you do not participate in the first two weeks of class, you may be dropped from this course.

Lab & Lab Policies
The campus computer labs all have Macs and PCs which contain sufficient software for the class. We have zip drives, scanners, color printers, and laser writers as well. You will NOT be able to install PHP, Apache nor MySQL on the campus computers.

The lab printers are for printing class assignments only! This class does not have any assignments where you will turn in printed output. Please do not use the printers to print out class notes or large web sites which can consume several printed pages.

Conduct
Students will adhere to the "student code of conduct" and computer use policy as described at http://www.santarosa.edu/polman/6facilit/6.9P.pdf

Special Assistance
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disability Resources (527-4278), Analy Village - C or (778-2491) Petaluma Village.

Health
Tobacco use including smoking is prohibited on all property and in all indoor and outdoor spaces owned, leased, licensed, or otherwise controlled by the District. See http://www.santarosa.edu/polman/6facilit/6.8.6.pdf Implementation of the Smoke-Free Campus Environment Policy will be the shared responsibility of every student, faculty member, staff person and visitor.

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Updated at: September 13, 2009 4:12 pm