In this course my tech topic of Web and mobile applications connects to the fundamentals because with the increasing amount of smart phone production and mobile devices in general it’s important for me to know how to compare and contrast different apps (like in Week 2’s discussion) in order for me to develop one on my own. It could be a web application or most likely in my case it will lean towards the mobile side. Apps are important because we are constantly on our phones and these days it’s more than just a phone. It’s a device to play a game and relax on your break, it helps you organize your day to day activities, it’s a GPS, it tells me the weather and lets me check and compose emails at any time day or not. Our phones are important to our lives in some form or another.
My chosen tech topic relates highly to the concepts of information technology and computer science, including the history of computers and the means by which computers operate. Let’s first take a look at the history of web and mobile applications, “Apps emerged from early PDAs, through the addictively simple game Snake on the Nokia 6110 phone, to the first 500 apps in the Apple App Store when it made its debut in July 2008” (Strain, 2015).
With that being said web applications first started, “In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee developed the very first web browser, and it was called WorldWideWeb, although it was later renamed as Nexus. At that time, only text could be displayed on a web page. No fancy fonts, no pretty pictures or videos, just simple plain text, with links underlined in blue. In 1993 Mosaic was released, the first-ever web browser that allowed developers to add images to their web pages. It was able to support .gif images and web forms, a massive leap forward for the time” (Hardy, 2020). Therefore, one could say that web design is a big part of computing history especially since the invention of the world wide web.
First of all, mobile app technology relies on hardware components such as the accelerometer, Bluetooth connection, the build in compass/GPS, and the camera for a lot of the major apps. Especially popular games like Pokémon Go! Input/output components are important for things like your headphones and the phones built in microphone. On the other hand, web applications rely the most on your physical PC’s hardware. Mostly RAM (Random Access Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), Processor power, and a decent graphics card.
My chosen tech topic uses programming languages highly and program execution methods. Mobile app design uses programming languages that can be specific to the OS on the unit. For example, “Apps can be built for iOS devices either by using the native iOS SDK with Objective-C and Swift or with the various cross platform technologies that are written against the SDK of that framework, but targeted for iOS” (n.d.). Whereas for android you are going to use languages like Java or Kotlin. Web design on the other hand could be a whole host of languages: Python, Java, Javascript, CSS, C++, HTML, PHP and SQL. All of these need to be executed in order to make either the web site to run correctly or the mobile app to function properly. If the tiniest bit of code is off then there will be errors and your program or game will not run.
I would say that software is extremely important for web and mobile app design. They of course need to be specific to the kind of app that you want to design. Email is universal so let’s start with that. “Modern email systems keep messages on a server; a user can then access those email messages from various devices. IMAP is a common protocol for retrieving email messages via the Internet (short for Internet Message Access Protocol). An IMAP server's name commonly starts with imap, as in imap.gmail.com. Systems usually use a separate server for sending email. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is an Internet protocol for sending email. An SMTP server's name commonly starts with smtp, as in smtp.gmail.com” (Vahid, 2017).
Software that could help developers to design apps such as: Zoho creator, Appy Pie, Appsheet, Appian, and Verivo. Web developers can use apps such as: Wordpress, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Dreamweaver, Bootstrap, Canva, Figma, Sketch, Gimp, Weebly, Divi, Sitebuilder, Gator Builder, and Constant Contact Builder.
Describe how your chosen tech topic relates to the basic concepts of database and database management. Web and mobile app design relate highly to database and database management especially for web design as SQL is highly utilized. MongoDB is another popular database, “MongoDB stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents, meaning fields can vary from document to document and data structure can be changed over time. The document model maps to the objects in your application code, making data easy to work with” (n.d.).
Something I just learned here is that you can actually use database management with mobile devices. “In business terms, a mobile device is only as useful as the data it can store or access. Even in today's always-on world, network access isn't a guarantee depending on your location or environmental conditions, so having the ability to access data in an offline or airplane mode scenario is a key element to mobile productivity” (Matteson, 2019). There are quite a few and most of them are free but there are a few that are paid: SQLite, Couchbase Lite, LevelDB, Realm and Microsoft SQL Server Compact. Paid products such as Oracle Berkeley DB and SAP SQL Anywhere.
In regards to web and mobile app design the concept of network architecture is especially important for the web as it pertains to data transmission protocols: TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, HTML, XML, CSS, URI and URL. Network management is important because it’s the thing that makes your website run. “Network management is a broad range of functions including activities, methods, procedures and the use of tools to administrate, operate, and reliably maintain computer network systems. Strictly speaking, network Management does not include terminal equipment (PCs, workstations, printers, etc.). Rather, it concerns the reliability, efficiency and capacity/capabilities of data transfer channels” (n.d.).
Security influence is extremely important for both as you don’t want to invite hackers to your website or mobile device. Therefore, security should be something worth researching when you get a new device. Antivirus software is an example of this and some companies that offer this are: Bitdefender, Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, and Webroot. Ideally you want software that covers security, Malware, Adware, and Spyware. You could also install a Firewall as well or invest in a VPN (virtual private network). Just as long as you protect yourself from cyber attacks.
- References
Best programming languages for mobile app development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://developer.ibm.com/technologies/mobile/articles/choosing-the-best-programming-language-for-mobile-app-development/
Hardy, J. (2020, February 12). The History of Website Design. Retrieved from https://historycooperative.org/web-design-through-the-years/
Matteson, S. (2019, March 18). How to manage mobile databases: Tips and best practices. Retrieved from https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-manage-mobile-databases-tips-and-best-practices/
Strain, M. (2015, February 13). 1983 to today: a history of mobile apps. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2015/feb/13/history-mobile-apps-future-interactive-timeline
Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2017). Computing technology for all. Retrieved from zybooks.zyante.com/
What Is MongoDB? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.mongodb.com/what-is-mongodb
What is Network Management? - Definition from Techopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.techopedia.com/definition/20974/network-management
