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Impacts of Object Oriented Programming on Web Application Development

Article in International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research · September 2015
DOI: 10.7753/IJCATR0409.1011

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 International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research
Volume 4– Issue 9, 706 - 710, 2015, ISSN: 2319–8656

Impacts of Object Oriented Programming on Web

Application Development
Onu F. U. Osisikankwu P. U. Madubuike C. E. James G.
Computer Science Department of Computer Science Computer Science
Department, Computing and Department, Department,
Ebonyi State Engineering, Akanu Ibiam Federal Obong University
University, University of Polytechnic, Akwa-Ibom,
Nigeria Sunderland, Uwanna, Nigeria
UK Nigeria

Abstract: Development of web application nowadays can hardly survive without object oriented approach except for the purpose of just
information display. The complexity of application development and the need for content organization has raised the need for web
application developers to embrace object oriented programming approach. This paper exposes the impact of object oriented programming
on web application development. The exposition was done through a detailed study and analysis of information from secondary sources.
The internet was usefully employed to access journal articles for both national and international sources. Our study enables web
developers and designers to understand web application features, tools and methodologies for developing web application. It also keeps
researchers and scholars abreast of the boost which OOP has brought into Web Applications development.

Keywords: Object-Oriented Paradigm; Web; Web 2.0; RIAs; URL.

1. INTRODUCTION
According to [17], Web Applications are web sites which are designers to understand web application features and popular
dynamic in nature and uses server side programming to allow languages, tools, and methodologies for developing web
a good interaction between the user form at the front end, and application.
the database at the back-end. Such applications include but are The remaining sections of this paper are arranged as follows:
not limited to: Online Banking, Online Reservations, e- In section 2 and 3, we reviewed computer classes and computer
commerce or Shopping Applications, Online Training, Online application; the features and popularity of web applications;
Polls, Blogs, Online Forums, Social media sites, Location web application development languages and tools, and
based services, and Content Management Systems. Web methodologies for developing web application. However, our
applications are mostly preferred to their off-line counterparts discussion in this section will be mainly focusing on the
because of their ability to provide multiuser interface; functionality and history/evolution of the tools. In section 4, we
centralized maintenance and updates; thin client integration; discussed the impacts of object oriented programming on web
distributed processing; multilingual programming; and cross application. Finally, we concluded our paper with the
platform interoperability using either the Internet, Intranet or contribution of object oriented programming on web
Extranet technologies. Web applications have become very application development.
popular in the software market because of this popularity; most
application developers are converting their legacy applications 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
to the Web platform. Hence, today, virtually all kinds of Many of the studies in the area of web application development
applications are supported on the Web. These applications have mainly focused on the evolution of web application and
range from small scale services to large scale enterprise comparison of web application development languages.
software. Jazayeri wrote on trends and status quo of web application [16],
Early web implementations were only based on low level tools Ronacher presented security related issues in web application
that do not support high level abstraction for sharing and reuse. [21], Voslro and Kourie wrote on concepts and web framework
This lack of appropriate abstractions made it difficult to create [25]. Purer highlighted some differences, advantages and
frameworks that supported the reuse of different existing drawbacks of PHP, Python and Ruby [20]. He compared the
components. However, with the evolution of web application languages based on history, evolution, popularity, syntax,
in the late 90s, Web (software) engineers realized the need for semantics, features, security and performance in web
modularization of concerns to accommodate big and complex application environments. Cholakov analyzed PHP and
applications [1]. Hence, technologies like Document Object summarized some drawbacks [6]. Gellersen and Gaedke in
Model (DOM) and Extensible Markup Language (XML) which their article [12], overviewed object oriented web applications
supports object oriented principles (such as modularization, and identified object-oriented model for web applications, they
encapsulation and abstraction) were developed. This bridged found that XML technology contributes in enabling high level
the gap between higher and lower level implementation [12]. abstractions for design level modeling in a markup language.
Today different frameworks and tools have been developed Mattsson identified the strengths and weaknesses of object
with maximum support of object oriented concept for web oriented frameworks [18]. Finifter and Wagner explored the
application development. relation between web application development tools and
Our objective in this paper is to expose the impact of object security [10]. Chatzigeorgiou et al, evaluated object oriented
oriented programming paradigm on web application design with link analysis [5]. Paikens and Arnicans explored
development. Our study will also enable web developers and the use of design patterns in PHP-based web application

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Volume 4– Issue 9, 706 - 710, 2015, ISSN: 2319–8656

frameworks [19]. French presents a new methodology for 2.3 Web Application, Their Features and
developing web applications and web development life cycle Popularity
[11]. Copeland et al, in their article titled “Which web
Though early stage of the Web evolution, Web 1.0, which
development tool is right for you” discussed and compared
existed between 1990 and 2000 [8] enjoyed some level of
various tools for web application development [7].
growth due to its multiuser interface; single point maintenance
However, not too many studies have been conducted
and updates; distributed and hyperlinked documents etc. The
in the area of impact of object oriented programming on web
level of popularity and user activity was still low owing to the
application development. This research aims at discussing the
fact that most of the websites developed using web1.0 was
impact of object oriented programming on web application.
static and operated in brochure architecture with only
2.1 Computers and Computer Applications professional web designers producing the content for users to
Although, early computer applications runs on mainframe access.
computers, and application development were mainly on a low The Web platform we enjoy today, Web 2.0 has
level languages accessed through a low technology terminal grown tremendously with resurgence of popularity and interest
device. However, the popularity of computer applications from millions of companies and billions of users across the
started when the Personal Computers (PC) were invented. This world. Web 2.0 operates in architecture of participation were
technological advancement made computers more affordable companies only provide the platform and users generate the
and accessible. Also software developers started developing content. Most sites on the Internet today like wikis, blogs and
standalone applications that run locally on the PC. PC social media sites all present user generated content bringing
networking technology was subsequently discovered and the shift from few powerful professionals (programmers) to
client-server applications were created, which allowed PCs to many empowered users [15]. In-lieu of this development, so
remotely connect to servers and share information. Create a many tools have been introduced to enable more user
link between PC networking and the internet. With the constant participation such as the Rich Internet Applications (RIA) and
decrease in prices of microcontroller; high speed of internet AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) technologies.
connectivity and increase user participation on Web platforms, These technologies are used to develop web applications,
the Web became a dominant platform for applications which look and behave like desktop applications.
development. At the root of this Web 2.0 evolution, which is
triggered by technologies like AJAX, Document Object Model
2.2 Classes of Computer Applications (DOM), RIA, frameworks etc, is enshrined the concept of
There are several classifications of computer applications: Object-Oriented Programmed (OOP). Hence, the knowledge of
based on uses (Graphics applications, accounting applications, these tools and OOP cannot be ignored.
etc); based on the developer (proprietary or non-proprietary).
In-lieu of our discussion, we shall classify computer 2.4 Web Application Tools and Languages
applications based the platform they run. These include:- The World Wide Web operates in client-server architecture
 Desktop Application: These are applications which run with the user making request using his/her Web browser at the
on the desktop computers. They are developed to be client-side and the Web server, on the server-side, responding
installed and run on a particular system hardware and to user request. The entire Web 2.0 technologies can simply be
operating system. One major advantage of desktop categorized into AJAX technologies, RIA technologies and
applications is that they are standalone applications; hence Frameworks. Hence, we shall discuss Web application tools
they do not need network connection to operate [4]. and languages under the following: Client-side technologies,
Server-side technologies and Web application Frameworks
 Web Applications: these are client-server software
2.4.1. Client-Side Technologies
applications that run on Web browser. Unlike desktop
These are Web technologies, tools and languages that run on
applications that depend mainly on the operating system
the browser. Some of these tools include but are not limited to
or hardware platform, a Web application depends on the
the following:
web browser and server. Any computer device with web
browser and internet connection can run web application  Web Browser: The major responsibilities of web
irrespective of the operating system and hardware browsers are: (1) to generate and send request to web
platform [3]. servers. These requests can be from hyperlinks, submitted
forms, Uniform Resource Locator (URLs) and Hypertext
 Embedded Applications: these are applications that are
Markup Language (HTML) pages. The request could also
written inside Read-Only Memories (ROM) of computing
involve auxiliary resources like applets, and images,
controlled appliances. These types of applications differ
which accept and interpret responses from web servers to
significantly from desktop and web application mainly in
produce visual representation; (2) to render results in web
environmental conditions such as real time, performance
browser window or tools from third party based on the
expectations, maintenance difficulty, changing platforms,
type of content. [23]. Some of the most popular web
just to mention [9].
browsers are Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari
 Mobile Applications: these are applications that run on
and Opera, etc.
mobile devices such as PDA, GSM and Android phones,
 RIAs client technologies: Rich Internet Applications
etc. The early mobile phones were mainly capable of
(RIA) are Web applications that behave and look like
making and receiving calls, sending and receiving Short
desktop applications. RIAs are the major attraction of the
Message Service (SMS), without sophisticated
Web 2.0. RIAs client technologies are RIA technologies
applications. With Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
that run on the browser. This include Microsoft
standard, new mobile applications that run on WAP
Silverlight, Linux Moonlight, Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex,
browser started to emerge [24]. Just like standalone
etc
desktop applications, mobile applications can be
standalone and as well web based or even embedded.  AJAX technologies: Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
(AJAX): this is one of the key technologies of Web 2.0
and RIAs. AJAX allows different sections/regions of a
Web page to be refreshed separately while the user is still

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Volume 4– Issue 9, 706 - 710, 2015, ISSN: 2319–8656

on the same page. In RIA, AJAX technologies provide the

fast response of the application. Common AJAX Tools Frameworks IDE
technologies are XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup
Language), CSS (Cascaded Style Sheet), JavaScript, PHP Zend, CakePHP, Symfony Project, Micromedia
DOM, XML (Extensible Markup Language) [22]. AJAX Seagull, WACT, Prado, Zoop, PHP on Dreamweaver,
implements the Object Oriented Model. For example TRAX, eZ Components, Codelgniter NetBeans, JetBrains,
using the DOM, each element of a Web page can be etc. WebMatrix3 etc
treated as an object which can be created, modified or
removed independently. JSP Struct 2, JavaServer Faces (JSF), Eclipse, JavaBean,
2.4.2. Server-Side Technologies Spring MVC, Wicket, Stripes, JBuilder, Micromedia
These are technologies, tools and languages that run on the Tapestry, RIFE, Seam, Google Web Dreamweaver, Sun
Web server. Some of tools include: Toolkit (GWT), OpenXava etc. Java Studio Creator,
 Web Server: these are software applications that store the Borland JBuilder,
hyperlinked documents and other Web resources for users Stylus Studio, Oracle
to access. IIS (Microsoft Internet Information Services) JDeveloper etc.
and Apache (developed by Apache Software Foundation)
are the most popular Web servers today. ASP ASP .NET MVC Framework, Visual Basic .NET,
 Database Management Systems (DBMS): most ASP.NET Dynamic Data, Mono Rail, Cloudio,
Websites of today’s Internet use DBMS to store their data. OpenRasta, Component Based WebMAtrix3,
These databases are managed with DBMSs which are Scalable Logic Architeture(CBSLA), MonoDevelop,
installed separately or as a suite. Common DBMS on the Base One Foundation Component JetBrains, WeBuilder,
Internet are Structure Query Language (SQL) based. Library(BOFCL) etc. NetBeans etc.
These include: SQL Server, MySQL, and Java DB.
 RIAs Server technologies: these are RIA languages and
frameworks that run on Web Server. They include Perl, involvement, programming, testing and bug fixing,
PHP, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, JavaServer Faces, Active system testing, implementation and maintenance [11].
Server Pages (ASP & ASP.NET) and Web Services. 2. Agile Software Development: is a set of methodologies
2.4.3 Web Application Frameworks (like scum) that uses few resources to build software
Web application frameworks are sets of precompiled libraries, faster. Agile methodologies are often used for systems
components and software tools arranged in such a way to whose user requirements are constantly changing. [17].
separate content from presentation. This is done by dedicating 3. Object- Oriented Methodologies: over the years a lot of
the task of presentation formatting to web designers, while software methodologies have been proposed by different
developers will be responsible for program logic and access the authors using object-oriented concept to address
content [17]. This practice creates a consistent architecture contemporary issues on the Web. They include:
among designers and developers for developing and accessing a. WebComposition: is an object-oriented methodology
request framework elements that can be embedded within the that decomposes Web applications into components.
presented page. Such requests including support for Each component (page, site etc) is defined in terms
authentication, data access and transformation, session and of its state and behavior. This approach maintains
state management. Frameworks provide the rich interfaces for support for software reuse, high level abstraction,
RIAs giving them similar appearance as their desktop run-time management and maintenance throughout
counterparts. the development cycle of the web application [13].
The table 1 shows some of the frameworks and tool support for b. W3Objects: this methodology encapsulates the web
web application development including IDEs. elements as objects with well defined interfaces for
interaction with other objects. Each object can
inherited to build new ones. Using W3objects, the
Table 1. Web Application Development Tools, problem of referential integrity and transparent
Frameworks and IDEs. object migration can be well handled [14].
c. Jessica: is a web engineering system that employs
object-oriented abstraction model of HTML++ (a
methodology similar to W3objects). Jessica system is
made up of two major component: an Object-
3. WEB APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT oriented language component of the web application
METHODOLOGIES and a compiler that maps the abstract system
A web application is a client to server application that generally definition into highly dynamic Web services [2].
adopt web browser as its client, the browser sends requests to
the server and the server generate responses and send to the
browser [23]. There are several approaches to web application 4. DISCUSSION
development. The choice of development approach depends on Object oriented programming is currently the flexible
several factors such as the nature of the information, scale of programming pattern that every software developer or
the application, frequency of content update, experience of the programmer employs, this OOP concept applies to both web
developer, and many more. In this paper, we briefly look at 3 application development and standalone software
methodologies. development. Many programming languages and frameworks
1. System Development Life Cycle (SDLC): is the particularly for web applications are now structured along-side
traditional process of developing software or web OOP techniques. It is clear that all the recent frameworks for
applications by including research to identify and define web application development maintain a solid structure of
the application requirements, information analysis, object oriented techniques and design patterns. It is therefore
architectural design and specifications blueprint, team necessary to understand what impact object oriented approach

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 International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research
Volume 4– Issue 9, 706 - 710, 2015, ISSN: 2319–8656

has on web application development. We have considered this 2. Difficult to find bugs in code especially when embedding
under positive impacts and challenges posed by the approach. scripting language with HTML code. Again, one can
4.1 Positive Impacts of OOP on Web introduce unknown bug through code reuse from copying
a function from other sources.
Application 3. It creates opportunity for cyber attack through the support
The popularity of web applications (web Apps) was the reason for integration of code from third party application. Object
for the applications developers to evolve a more robust oriented pattern accepts integration of object from other
technique for the web App development. The adoption of OOP source which can permit application attack.
techniques in web App development has brought about the
following: 5. CONCLUSION
1. Reduce the number of code a programmer needs to write: The popularity of the Web and its impacts as a client-server
if the application a programmer is developing requires a system has led to a vast collection of web application. That was
similar functionality of already developed application, the not so until frameworks and other technologies that supported
programmer just need to edit little code to meet the object-oriented concepts were introduced. Our study has shown
programmers required function than writing the whole the various classes of computer and its application development
code from scratch. more especially in the area of web applications. The object-
2. Enable reuse of design and code function: in developing a oriented paradigm has been shown to be the most secured and
web application a programmer do not need to write the flexible pattern for developing web application by shifting task
whole code for the application, he/she can easily copy from functional modules to a more confined level. Despite the
design or code function from other Apps and add to his/her few challenges with the integration of object-oriented concept
project to suite his/her application needs. in Web development, our conclusion is that the impact of object
3. Transfer design knowledge and experience to a developer: oriented approach on web application development (especially
from the reuse of design developed by others, design in the areas of resource reuse, extensibility, maintenance,
knowledge and experience can easily be transferred. scalability and delegation) are implicit: This impact has been
4. Improved Maintainability of web application: since object tremendously positive and has brought about and a large
oriented approach breaks complex programs into separate acceptance of web applications. Hence web App development
modules. Functions can easily be removed or updated on has become a boom due to OOP.
web page without affecting other functions.
5. Reduce the cost and time of developing a web application: 6. REFERENCES
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