Overview
This course is designed to introduce students to the conceptual, design, and technical aspects of developing web sites. No prior knowledge of programming, or web or graphic design is assumed or necessary.
In the course, we will cover basic web technologies such as eXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading StyleSheets (CSS), beginning server programming using PHP, along with basic graphic design techniques in Adobe Photoshop. The course also addresses design principles, usability concerns for the web, user testing, and a number of other theories and principles to assist you in designing your website.
Meeting Times
This course meets for lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30-3:20 in Olin 155. Sections meet on Fridays from 12:20-1:20, 1:25-2:15, or 2:30-3:20 in the ACCEL Labs in Carpenter Library.
| Time | Location | TA |
| 12:20pm - 1:10pm | Section 201 - Accel Red | Ruwan Pallegedara |
| 12:20pm - 1:10pm | Section 202 - Accel Orange | Zachary Porges |
| 1:25pm - 2:15pm | Section 203 - Accel Red | Benjamin Weyhrauch |
| 1:25pm - 2:15pm | Section 204 - Accel Orange | Richmond Wong |
| 2:30pm - 3:20pm | Section 205 - Accel Red | Mytien Nguyen |
| 2:30pm - 3:20pm | Section 206 - Accel Orange | Nitesh Goyal |
Please note that section attendance is required.
First section is on Friday, August 24th. If you are not registered for the class yet, please attend the section that best works for your schedule. Please note if you are not registered that because this class is fairly full, it may not be possible for you to continue attending at the time you prefer.
Getting into the course
The course is full, and the waitlist for this course is now closed. If you are on the waitlist, you have received notification of your status (waiting for a slot, or told that enrollment is unlikely). We will not be accepting new requiests for the waitlist, since it is very unlikely that remaining waitlisted students would still get a slot.Textbooks
The following textbooks are required for this course:
- Watrall, (WA) Head First Web Design
- Freeman and Freeman, (FF) Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
The following textbook is highly recommended, but not required. By "not required" I mean that if you have a very strong programming background, you can probably get adequate coverage from on-line resources detailed elsewhere in this site. For those students, the extra purchase is not required. For everyone else, buy and read this book:
- Ullman, (PHP) PHP for the World Wide Web
The following textbook is not required, but would be useful for you in mastering some of the design elements in this course.
- Krug, (DMMT) Don't Make Me Think, Second Edition
Throughout the semester we will use the Resources section of this web site to recommend to you good references on HTML, CSS, PHP, and other aspects of the course curriculum.
Evaluation
The material in this course is best learned through practice. Therefore,there will be assignments almost weekly, due on the following Tuesday at 3:00 PM. These assignments fall into four groups.
- Homeworks - relatively short, well-defined assignments.
- Projects - more open-ended assignments requiring creative design work and coding in HTML, CSS, and PHP.
- Final Project - a very substantial group (3-4 people) effort, involving an outside customer, which is due at the end of the semester.
- Final Project Milestone - Intermediate work for the final project.
Regrading information is found at regrades.
For more information about the class, please contact any of our course staff.
