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06-21156 - Information & the Web (2008/09) |
Contents
Module Description
This module introduces issues relating to the structuring, representation, storage, exchange and presentation of information, and the processing of such information using the appropriate tools. Raw information formats, XML, XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript are introduced by example and background theories from Computer Science are presented where necessary. Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to employ these technologies to create dynamic webpages on the client-side, using the AJAX framework.
There is an 'official' module description for this module.
The material in this module was first taught in 2006/07, as part of a module called Language & Information, which is now divided between 06-21155 Language & Logic and 06-21156 Information & the Web. Last year's (2007/08) support material is also available.
Assessment
Continuous Assessment
| Assessed Exercise | Total Mark | Unit | Link(s) | Deadline |
| 1 | 20 | XML & DTDs | Specification; Model Solution | Thursday 29th January, 2009 at 18:00 |
| 2 | 20 | (X)HTML & CSS | Specification; Model Solution | Thursday 12th February, 2009 at 18:00 |
| 3 | 20 | CSS & JavaScript | Specification; Model Solution | Thursday 26th February, 2009 at 18:00 |
| 4 | 40 | Website Development; AJAX | Specification; Model Solution | Friday 27th March, 2009 at 18:00 |
| Total: 4 | 100 |
Submission Instructions
All assessed exercises should be submitted via BOSS.
- Your answers should contain your student identifier number (registration number) as required, and should not identify you by name nor by any personal details.
- You must include your student ID exactly as required in the specification. In particular, all files must be named ExM_NNNNNN.EXT where M is the number of the assessed exercise, NNNNNN is your student ID and EXT is the relevant extension (e.g. dtd, xml, html, js).
- All submissions should be via the BOSS electronic student submission system by 18:00 on the day specified for the assessed exercise. Make sure BOSS has sent you a receipt e-mail after submission.
- No other form of submission will be accepted. In particular, no paper or e-mail submissions will be accepted. Any such submissions will simply be discarded.
- Specified penalties will be applied to solutions which have not been validated as directed.
- No extensions can be allowed for an exercise. If you have welfare reasons why you cannot submit in time, please contact the welfare team (welfare at cs.bham.ac.uk) who can decide on your case and, if appropriate, can excuse you from the exercise.
Past Examinations
- 2006/07 paper [PDF]
- 2007/08 paper, Report [PDF]
- 2008/09 paper, Report [PDF]
Lecture Material
Lecture notes are subject to change before (and after!) the lecture.
Unlike in previous years, I will not be handing out copies of the notes at the lecture. It is your responsibility to read the lecture notes, preferably before the lecture takes place. Please consider the environment before printing them (use n-up printing where possible).
Please note: solutions to exercise class questions are not necessarily ''model'' solutions. Often, questions are open to interpretation and may require 'rules-of-thumb' to be applied.
Administration
Lectures
- Mondays, 15:00 - NG08, Biosciences
- Tuesdays, 10:00 - G34, Mechanical Engineering
Office Hours
- Andrew Brown - Monday, 16:00 in Room 134
- Katrina Samperi - Friday, 13:00 in Room 106
Compulsory Exercise Class
Tuesdays at 11:00 in UG04, Computer Science. Practice exercises will be set and lecturer and demonstrators will be available to assist you. Attendance at these sessions is monitored and any student who fails to attend at least seven such sessions will receive a mark of zero for the continuous assessment part of this module.
For weeks 2 through 11, 'stretcher' questions will be added to the exercise class sheets. Each will be worth a 0.5% bonus mark. Students whom attempt these questions and provide a reasonable attempt at a solution will be awarded these marks (up to a maximum of 5% of the module, which itself will be capped at 100%). Solutions should be e-mailed to Andrew Brown (a.j.brown at cs.bham.ac.uk) on the day of the exercise class. Unfortunately, 'stretcher' solutions which are not sent on the same day will not be marked.
Lab Session
Thursdays from 16:00 to 18:00, in UG04, Computer Science. This is scheduled at the same time as the First Year Workshop lab session. Consult the Information and the Web demonstrators if you need assistance with the assessed exercises.
Lecturer and Demonstrators
Photographs of the lecturer and the demonstrators are displayed below to help you recognise them; clicking on the photos directs you to their personal webpages.
| Andrew Brown | Katrina Samperi | Petr Klus | Masoud Koleini |
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| Lecturer | Teaching Assistant | Demonstrator | Demonstrator |
Demonstrators: our weekly meeting is at 14:00 on Mondays, in Room 217.
Assessment Submission
All assessed exercises are to be submitted via BOSS. Instructions on using BOSS are available here.
Marks
Marks for the continuous assessment component of the module are announced below. All marks and are provisional and are awarded based on the content and quality of your exercise submission. Final continuous assessment marks will be released in May.
This arrangement is different to the one previously advertised here. The reason for this change is that SIS cannot handle the amount of feedback that the markers would like to provide you with.
- Marks and feedback for Assessed Exercise 1
- Marks and feedback for Assessed Exercise 2
- Marks and feedback for Assessed Exercise 3
- Marks and feedback for Assessed Exercise 4
- Final marks awarded for the coursework component of the module
- Provisional marks for the module, including a breakdown
Resources
Browsers
In this module, Firefox should always be used as the 'reference' browser. Also essential is the Firebug plug-in, which can be added to your browser in just a few mouse clicks. If you encounter any problems using Firebug, which is remarkably straightforward, please read the FAQ or consult the demonstrators.
Mac users should note that although Safari is reasonably standards-compliant, it does have differences from Firefox. For JavaScript work, please look at Peter Coxhead's web page on JavaScript and Safari. Safari is significantly faster than Firefox, and can be useful in developing code which uses the XMLHttpRequest object, although Firefox should remain the definite reference browser.
Editors
NetBeans version 5.5 and higher is available on multiple platforms and comes with in-built support for developing XML and DTD documents. You should use this for developing your solutions where XML and DTDs are required. Please consult a demonstrator if you face problems when using NetBeans.
You should not use NetBeans for editing and creating XHTML, CSS, or JavaScript files, or indeed any stand-alone XML files. You need to be familiar with the source of these documents to pass this module, and a simple text editor like gedit (Linux/Gnome) or gvim (multiple platforms) is more suitable for this purpose.
Reading and Reference Materials
There are various recommended books for this module, though it is not necessary for you to purchase them. The lecture notes from this and previous years should be sufficient for learning the course content in detail.
The web is, naturally, an excellent source of information on all web technologies, which tend to change rapidly. A Google search with a careful choice of keywords will normally produce any information you require.
Links
Some interesting and useful links, which will increase in number as the module progresses:
External:
- Big (clickable) picture of the XML family of specifications
- Thirty Day Challenge - how to make your first $10 online
- Improve your writing - your English should be as well-formed and valid as your XML, XHTML and CSS!
- Cafe con Leche - Elliotte Rusty Harold's site, with many useful XML resources
- CSS Zen Garden - Many different CSS styles applied to a single HTML page
- Firebug - Absolutely essential Firefox add-on
- CSSViewer for Firefox - A very useful Firefox add-on to see CSS more clearly
- Position is Everything - How to repair cross-browser bugs in CSS
- Haven Works - Perhaps the worst website I've ever seen
- W3C Schools' JavaScript examples - Features 'live' editing and display
- JavaScript Kit; JavaScript Reference - Top-level reference, structured like JavaDoc
- LightBox - Excellent JavaScript library for displaying images
Internal:
- Information and the Web (2007/08)
- Language and Information (2006/07) - Alan Sexton's part (XML, XHTML, CSS)
- Language and Information (2006/07) - Peter Coxhead's part (JavaScript, AJAX)
- Software Systems Components 1 (2008/09) - Andrew Brown's part (Processing XML)
- Peter Coxhead's Web Information Page - Summary of essential information for web developers
- Peter Coxhead's JavaScript Libraries - Very useful additions to JavaScript
- JavaHelp Tutorial - writing help files for Java applications using XML
- Regular Expressions Tutorial - Regular Expressions are discussed in a number of the lectures for this module
- SoCS web information - Information on the School's web facilities
- Student Webpages - How to apply to host your own webpages on the School's web server
Further Information
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Dr Peter Coxhead, who meticulously prepared much of the material for this module.
