Web Applications Tips

ASP.Net Web Applications

ASP.Net is used in many popular websites. MySpace.com--one of the largest social networking websites--uses ASP.Net to power the millions of websites that its users create. Online retailers also use ASP.Net, including Dell.com (one of the largest computer manufacturers), NewEgg.com (one of the largest online discount electronics dealers), as well as CostCo, a major discount club.

Websites outside of the USA also use ASP.Net, such as the London Stock Exchange. Monster.com, a popular career development website, uses ASP.Net to power its site and the millions of users that frequent it.

All of these sites rely on ASP.Net to keep their applications running, and are excellent examples of companies that have successfully deployed an ASP.Net platform.

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Extranet Network Design

An extranet network must be designed with security being the highest priority. Because it connects to the internet, any devices on the network must have firewalls installed on them. Additionally, the entire extranet network should connect through a central server to the Internet, so that all traffic going to and from the extranet is filtered through a second additional firewall.

This filtering should be performed at the port level so that the computers on the intranet cannot have their ports accessed by intruders coming in from the outside. Other important aspects of extranet network design include restricting the access of the extranet users and limiting the rights they have on their computers.

If any users have information on their computers that is considered confidential, they should encrypt their computers so that intruders from the Internet cannot access the data even if the extranet's firewall is broken through.

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Database Development

A database is a repository for holding data in a manner that allows it to be easily retrieved and categorized. Web databases generally use some form of SQL (Structured Query Language) with PHP (Php: Hypertext Preprocessor) to query databases and display information from database for a user on their browser.

A SQL database can hold thousands of entries, and is often used in applications such as online stores, where product information must be stored in an easily-retrievable manner. PHP is used on web pages to query the SQL database and retrieve data based on user inputs (such as in search boxes).

PHP is free to use, and certain forms of SQL are free to use as well (MySQL is one of the most common and popular).

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Rich Internet Applications

Rich Internet applications are web applications that have the same abilities and functionality as the desktop applications that they emulate, copy or attempt to replace. Rich Internet applications are developed using web application frameworks such as ASP.NET, Ajax or Ruby on Rails.

These applications can range in function from simple calendars to complete office applications containing text editors, spreadsheet editors and presentation editors. The applications usually save their data to a central server, but they can also save their data to the user's computer so that the user has a local copy available whenever needed.

In the past year, rich Internet applications have become more prevalent in situations where users need access to their files or documents from multiple locations, and don't want to bother with carrying them on their person.

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Extranet Design

An extranet is a private network that connects to the Internet. An extranet is often part of a company's or organization's intranet, which is a private network that has no connection to the Internet.

The extranet's purpose can be to provide users with access to the Internet, to act as a gateway from the intranet users to the Internet, or to act as a firewall/guardian for the overall intranet.

Extranet design must be done while keeping in mind that the Internet will have access to the network and all devices on it. Thus, security and protection of the users and their data must be a top priority in extranet design and development. Some designers, keeping security in mind, will design the extranet with hardware and software that allows intranet access to the Internet, but filters access from the Internet to the intranet to a very select group of computers or ports.

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Best Web Applications

Google Documents is one of the best and most popular options for users who want to be able to use common office applications on the Internet. Google Documents offers, among other things, a text editor, spreadsheet editor and presentation editor.

Basecamp, produced by Signal37, has also become popular, and provides users with a web-based project tracking and managing system, which is useful if contributors to a project need constant access to the project plan on the web.

Finally, an excellent web-based email application is Google Mail, which provides many advanced features and almost 3GB of storage space to users. All of these applications provide excellent functionality to users with a convenience of being accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.

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Custom Web Applications

Google Documents is a custom web application that was created to provide users with an online way to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and other items that are normally found within an office environment.

Google Mail (or "G-Mail") is another application created by Google, a full-featured email client that is entirely web-based. G-Mail has many advanced features found in modern email clients, and it is accessible from anywhere in the world.

Finally, Meebo, which is a web-based alternative to instant messaging applications, has become popular as a way to communicate with others over multiple IM protocols without having to install an application on the computer.

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Web Database Applications

Web applications that rely on databases for their operation, such as online stores or websites that require registration, need three things.

• First, a web server that has a large quantity of RAM and hard drive space is required, because database applications can take up a lot of space and are memory-intensive.
• Second, some form of SQL must be installed on the server. SQL is a database software package, and will create databases to store information, and it will enable users to query them.
• Finally, PHP will need to be implemented in the web pages that users go through to access the web application. The PHP code will take input from the users and translate it into queries which will be run on the SQL server.

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