Web Server Frameworks with Laravel/PHP

CSCI E-15   Instructor: Susan Buck (susanbuck@fas.harvard.edu)

Description

The needs of modern web applications vary greatly depending on the business/product the application is serving, but certain functionality is common to most applications. Such functionality includes registration/authentication, form processing and validation, routing, caching, database interfacing, and more.

While this functionality can be built "from scratch" with any server-capable language (PHP, Python, Java, etc.), it is much more efficient to use a framework that provides this common functionality "out of the box", allowing developers to focus on the specific business needs of their application.

In this course, students will learn about web application development using frameworks, via the lens of the PHP-based framework Laravel. Along the way, we will explore paradigms common to many web frameworks such as routing, controllers, models, views, and object-relational mapping.

Over the course of the semester, we will build stand-alone web applications and also look at how to build web services that can act as the backend to single-page applications built using tools such as Angular, React, Ember, or Vue.js.

Note: This course pairs well with DGMD E-26 Single-Page Applications and Interfaces with Vue.js as the web services you learn about in this course can act as a data source for single-page applications built with Vue.js.

Structure

This course is available online and delivered asynchronously.

Every Tuesday by 8pm Eastern, materials for that week will be posted via a link on the schedule and will include the following content:

• 4-6 short lecture videos, totaling about 2 hours on average
• An outline of topics and notes
• Link to that week’s assignment

This course does not have sections; supplemental help is available via the course forum and optional one-on-one Zoom meetings with the instructor.

Prerequisites

Go here to read about this course’s prerequisites...

Other courses by Susan Buck

I teach three courses at the Extension School:

• DGMD E-2 Web Programming for Beginners with PHP
• DGMD E-28 Single-Page Applications & Interfaces with Vue.js
• CSCI E-15 Web Server Frameworks with Laravel/PHP (Currently viewing)

In the following “mini-class” I explain what each of these courses cover and how they relate to one another: