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Inverted Software's guide to Website Technology

Domain Names: A domain name is a like a street address on the Internet. Registering a domain name, like www.InvertedSoftware.com, is the first step to creating an online identity for either small businesses, or consumers.

Website Technology Spread

All websites essentially consist of HTML (Hyper Text Mark up Language) over HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). Basic websites use static HTML, which stays the same all throughout the website's life. Those websites will have their web pages written in pure HTML. Websites that create and manipulate data or e-commerce etc. will use dynamic programming, which would in the majority of cases be integrated into the web page's HTML code. Example: a list of products is stored on a remote database and is accessed to be displayed dynamically on a web page. The user can then select a product and add it to a shopping cart. This will change the look and function of the website. Therefore, it is dynamic. In contrast, static websites will never change unless the code is rewritten. Static websites are mainly informational. All of Inverted Software's websites are hand-coded. We do not use any code generators such as Macromedia's Dreamweaver, Microsoft's Front Page, or Ultradev. All of our websites start off as an image using Adobe's Photoshop. This image is manipulated by our design team to fit the client's needs and personal preferences (look and feel). After the client is satisfied with the website's look, we "break out" the image into a dynamic expandable web page. Hand coding allows us to fit the website to any browser and any screen resolution.

List of Internet Programming Technologies (Server side):

CGI (common gateway interface): This method of Internet programming is the oldest currently used. It can be written in Pearl, C, or C++. CGI can run on any server. However, it is usually used with UNIX based servers. Websites written in CGI are expensive due to the inefficiency of the method.
PHP: Another UNIX based programming method. It is the simplest method of previous generation internet programming methods. Sites written in PHP would be simple; however, due to the inefficiency of the language itself, it would take more time to write in this method therefore negatively affecting the cost of the website.
Cold Fusion: Invented by Macromedia, this is actually a simpler way of JAVA based Internet programming. Cold Fusion uses Macromedia pre-written components to communicate with JAVA Virtual Machine.
ASP (Active Server Pages): A Microsoft technology that can be written in Visual Basic Script (VB) or Jscript. (Jscript is the Microsoft version of Java Script, invented by Netscape) ASP is the most common method of internet programming today. It can run on Microsoft, UNIX based, and LINUX based servers using Chilisoft ASP package. Websites written in ASP would be deployed to the customer faster and at a lower cost than any other method of internet programming. Inverted Software recommends all small to medium websites be written in and use ASP technology.
ASP.NET: Microsoft's latest .net framework offers a totally different programming model. Pages written in ASP.NET would be compiled once, and then served to the client's side using precompiled DLL files. This reduces server usage of dynamic resources in contrast to all the other methods included above. (Scripting languages are being compiled at run time using a JIT (Just in Time) compiler. This uses a large amount of server processing which in turn can slow the website loading and productivity)
JSP (Java Server Pages): HTML pages with embedded JAVA code. The JSP model uses "Java Beans" (Pre compiled JAVA programs) for all business logic. This method is expensive and is most suited for sophisticated websites and websites with security issues.
Servlets: All JSP files are being compiled at run time by the web server into servlets. By writing prepared servlets and compiling them, we can save server resources during run-time compilation. Those are the most expensive web-sites to write because the JAVA language is the most advanced in the market. All the leading websites use JAVA servlet technology. (Yahoo, Google, Amazon)

List of Internet Programming Technologies (Client side):

Java Script/ DHTML (Dynamic HTML): Invented by Netscape and adopted by all browser manufacturers, Java Script is a client side programming language. It is executed solely on the users machine. It is used to check the values of submitted forms, move elements across the screen, and utilize expandable navigation bars, etc.
Active X: Microsoft's native method of incorporating "foreign objects" into HTML pages. Such objects can include Visual Basic based chat rooms, flash movies, and any other component that is based upon non-web technology.
Java Applets: As with Active X, this is Sun's way of introducing visual objects that are non-static into HTML pages. Such can include any of the Java 1.1 elements. For Java 2 elements (advanced Java) the user must download a plug-in (about 6M). The majority of chat rooms and games are applet based. Companies that have chat rooms and games embedded in their web sites include Yahoo, MSN, and AOL.
Flash: Introduced by Macromedia, Flash technology started as a new media presentation system. It evolved over the last five years into one of the industry's leading client side means of programming (games, chat rooms and forms). What started out as an animation tool has become a sophisticated embedded scripting container. Flash can be used in a number of ways including: website introductions, games, navigation bars, and even complete web sites.

Desktop Applications Technology Spread

Desktop Applications, also referred to "rich clients" utilize the computing power of the client's machine to perform all the needed tasks. (As opposed to "thin clients" that utilize the computing power of a remote server.) Desktop applications are most commonly used for document composing, tracking customers, paying bills, generating invoices, and inventory control. In the past, desktop applications used to be an isolated component in the business logic. Today, they are being integrated as a part of network or sometimes internet system and can communicate with websites and hand-held devices (phones, PDAs). Inverted Software has extensive experience with desktop applications in JAVA, Visual Basic, and .Net.

List of programming technologies:

MFC (Microsoft foundation classes) One of the oldest and most complicated Windows technology is Microsoft's C++ based Visual C++. Every program written in that language starts out as a blank window, 4 megabyte in size. The programmer then adds the necessary visual elements and C++ code to interact with those elements. Because of the complexity of this process, development in this method is highly expensive and suitable for small and medium businesses.
VB (Visual Basic) Microsoft's Visual Basic is designed for ease of use. Programs written in this language are more suitable for small and medium businesses. VB can be integrated into Microsoft Access forms and the combination of drag and drop form design and behind the scenes VB code is very suitable for low budget programs.
JAVA: Sun's Java technology is the most advanced logically and visually. Inverted Software produces high quality Java programs. Java programs can run on any platform, which means that in businesses where the receptionist is using an apple computer and accounting department is using PC's, the same program will function properly on both systems.
.NET: Written in C#, or Visual Basic .Net. Microsoft's .Net platform is taking VB to the next level. It is an enhancement of Visual Basic and the Java generic programming model. .Net programs are cheaper to develop than Java; however, they are not as sophisticated.

There are many more programming languages that are used for building desktop applications (Borland's Delphi, etc.).

Relational Databases

Relational databases utilize the SQL (structured query language). Relational databases are the absolute majority of the databases used today. They are the easiest to manipulate.

Microsoft Access: A desktop database fits for small uses and can be used for small websites.
Microsoft SQL Server 6/7/2000: Microsoft SQL Server is a more robust application suitable for high traffic websites and network desktop applications.
IBM DB2: IBM's version of a database server. It is in the same performance league as Microsoft's SQL Server.
Oracle 7i/8i/9i: The biggest gun out there. It requires a high-performance machine and constant maintenance. It is used by all the leading companies and is known to serve up to 60,000 clients at the same time.
Point Base: This pure Java database has three versions: Micro, Embedded, and Server. It is recommended to be used in a small Java Windows Application because of its low footprint and high compatibility.

Some other databases include: Sybase, Interbase, etc.

Other tutorials and articles from Inverted Software on the web

1. Resizing JPEG Images Java Versus .NET. - Published in Web Pro News. Written by our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

2. How to Protect Your Application Against Parameter Injection. - Published in ASP101.com. Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

3. Effective Data Paging Using SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft's Enterprise Library. - Published in ASP101.com. Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

4. Record Movies with Java Media Framework (JMF). - Published in InvertedSoftware.com. Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

5. Load your CLASSPATH at runtime. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

6. Cache Your Data: JDBC vs. ADO.NET. - Published in Web Pro News. Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

7. Save Your Page State Between Posts To Multiple Pages. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

8. Generics: JAVA vs .NET. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

9. A classic shopping cart including source code in C#. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

10. JSON Your AJAX. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

11. Move a DataReader to an Object with reflection. - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

12. Embedding Data In Images - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

13. Javascript numeric paging - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.

14. Avoid Cookie Stuffing in your affiliate program - Written By our CEO Mr. Gal Ratner.


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