Lecture Outline

• Introduction to Web Engineering

• Categories of Web Applications
• Web Engineering is Multidisciplinary
• Evolution of Web Engineering
• Difference between Web Development and other
Development
• Web Development Practices
• Web Development Processes
 What is Web Engineering (WE)
• Web Engineering – is the application of systematic, disciplined, and
quantifiable approaches to the design, production, deployment,
operation, maintenance and evolution of Web-based software
products. [Gaedke,2000]
 Web Engineering (WE)
• A holistic and pro-active approach to Web systems development
• Offers systematic approaches and disciplined processes for
development
• Deals with the management of complexity and diversity of Web
development
• Brings to Web-based system development Control
• Risk minimization
• Enhanced maintainability and quality
 Basic Paradigm
• Hypertext + Internet
• Internet
• a global system of interconnected computer networks
• use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)
• facilitate data transmission and exchange
• Hypertext – textual documents together with the ability to interconnect documents by links
between them as part of the document contents
• HTML: HyperText Markup Language
• the predominant markup language for web pages
• provide a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text
• E.g. headings, paragraphs, lists, links, quotes, etc.
• HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol
• a protocol (utilizing TCP) to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and
browsers
• use for retrieving inter‐linked resources (hypertext documents)
• led to the establishment of the World Wide Web in 1990
 History of Web
• 1969: ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency)
• First small network: Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara,
• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)
• IP (Internet Protocol)
• 1972: Telnet protocol
• 1973: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
• 1973: FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• 1989: T. Berners‐Lee et al.:
• Word Wide Web (WWW)
• 1994: W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• 1996: HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
 World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C)
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
• International consortium where member of the organizations, a full‐
time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards
• http://www.w3.org
• W3C's mission:
• to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing
protocols and guidelines that ensure long‐term growth for the Web
Protocol Stack
 Categories of Web Applications
• A Web Application is a software system based on technologies and
standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that provides
Web specific resources such as content and services through a user
interface, the Web browser. [Kappel et al., 2004]
• Definition explicitly includes:
• Technologies
• User Interaction
• These are not Webapps:
• Technologies alone, e.g. web services
• Website without s/w components, e.g. static web pages
 Categories of Web Applications
• Scope and complexity of Web applications vary widely
• Offer vastly varied functionality and have different characteristics and
requirements
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Document‐Centric (Informational)
• Precursor to Webapps, stored in server as ready‐made
• Informational
• read‐only content is provided with simple navigation and links
• Examples:
• static HTML‐pages, “home pages”
• web radio
• simple presentations of companies/products
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Interactive
• content of a website is dynamically generated as response to a user request
• form‐based input is the primary mechanism for communication between
• client and server
• Usage of HTML‐forms and Common Gateway Interface (CGI) techniques
• radio button, string input, choice lists
• Examples:
• dynamic HTML pages
• public transport schedules
• search engines
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Transaction‐oriented (Transactional)
• complex interactions
• read and write actions
• usage of transaction management of database systems
• efficient and consistent data management
• structured data and queries
• Examples:
• online banking
• e‐shopping
• reservation systems
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Workflow‐based (Workflow‐Oriented)
• support business processes (“workflows”) within and between enterprises
or private users access
• an application provides a complex service to the user, e.g. assists the user in
determining the mortgage payment
• use of Web services to guarantee interoperability
• Examples:
• Business‐to‐Business (B2B) Integration Frameworks
• E‐Government
• patient workflows in health care systems
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Collaborative (Collaborative Work Environment)
• support cooperation in case of unstructured flow of activities and high
degree of communication
• Unstructured operations, “groupware“
• Support shared information and workspaces
• Log entries and edits
• Mediate meetings or make decision
• Examples:
• Wiki, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki
• Google Map
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Social Web (Online Communities and Marketplaces)
• People provide their identity to small community of others with similar
interest
• Examples:
• Social networking
• Video‐sharing
• Blogs
 Categories of Web Applications (Cont.)
• Portal‐oriented
• the application channels the user to other Web content or services outside
the domain of the portal application
• “single point of access“
• Specialized portals, examples:
• Community portals
• dedicated user groups
• customer loyalty through user interaction, customer profiles
• Enterprise portals
• Allow employee and business partners focused access to different sources on info
• and services
• Via intranet, extranet
• Marketplace portals
• B2B, B2C, SCM
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Ubiquitous
• personalized services at every time at every location
• multi‐ platform delivery (PC, PDA, mobile phone)
• context‐dependent information
• Examples:
• Display of today‘s menu on end‐user devices while entering a restaurant
• Must consider limitations of mobile devices
• Bandwidth, screen size, memory, context
 Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
• Semantic web
• Increasing convergence of TIMES leads to domination of ubiquitous
applications
• Telecommunication, Information Technology, multimedia, Education,
Entertainment, Security
• Present information on the web
• adequate for human understanding and
• adequate for automatic manipulation
• Facilitate “Knowledge management“ on the web
Categories of Web Applications
(Cont.)
 Class Activity
• Classify these web sites into above discussed categories.

YOUTUBE ?
Google ?
Twitter ?
Rozee.pk ?
Dropbox ?
HBL Phone Banking?
JIRA ?
Apple Smart Watch?
LinkedIn?
 Class Activity
SOLUTION

YOUTUBE - Collaborative
Google - Interactive
Twitter - Social
Rozee.pk - Portal
Dropbox - Collaborative
HBL Phone Banking - Transaction oriented
JIRA - Workflow
Apple Smart Watch - Ubiquitous
LinkedIn? - Uses Semantic web Technology
 Web Engineering is
Multidisciplinary
• systems analysis and design
• software engineering
• hypermedia/hypertext engineering
• requirements engineering
• human‐computer interaction
• user interface
• information engineering
• information indexing and retrieval
• Testing
• modelling and simulation
• project management
• graphic design and presentation
 WE discipline (Cont.)

• Web Engineering is not a clone of software engineering

• While Web Engineering uses software engineering principles,
it encompasses new approaches, methodologies, tools,
techniques, and guidelines to meet the unique requirements
of Web-based systems
 Evolution of Web Engineering
• Progressively emerging as a new discipline addressing the
unique needs and challenges of Web-based systems
development
• Since 1998,
• Workshops
• Conferences
• Journals
• Books
 Difference between Web Development and
other
Development
• Web Development is Different
• Web application development has certain characteristics that
make it different from traditional software, information
system, or computer application development
• Web applications have the following characteristics:
• Web applications constantly evolve
• Web applications are inherently different from software
• Web applications are meant to be used by a vast, variable user community
• Web-based systems are content-driven (database-driven)
• Web-based systems demand a good “look and feel,”
• Web applications have a compressed development schedule, and time
• pressure is heavy
• Ramifications of failure or dissatisfaction of users of Web-based applications can be much
worse than conventional IT systems
 Web Development is Different (cont.)
• Web applications have the following characteristics (Cont.)
• Web applications are developed by a small team of (often young) people with
diverse backgrounds, skills, and knowledge compared to a team of software
developers
• There are rapid technological changes
• Web development uses cutting-edge, diverse technologies and standards, and
integrates numerous varied components
• The delivery medium for Web applications is quite different from that of
traditional software
• Security and privacy needs of Web-based systems are more demanding than
that of traditional software
• The Web exemplifies a greater bond between art and science than generally
encountered in software development
 Web Development Practices
• Lacks rigor, systematic approach
• The completed system is not what the user wants
• System not developed on time, cost overruns
• Lacks scalability and maintainability, hence a limited useful life
• Does not meet performance requirements
• Resources are wasted
• Complexity of Web-based systems is often deceptive and is not often
recognized by many stakeholders
• Several attributes of quality of Web-based systems are not given the due
consideration
• Web applications also fail to address cultural or regional considerations,
and privacy, moral and legal obligations and requirements
• Web systems also lack proper testing, evaluation, and documentation
Web Development Processes