This unit provides students with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to develop an application system that uses a web interface to a back-end database. The unit assumes a sound basic knowledge of programming and database concepts and skills as developed in the introductory units in these areas. The emphasis in the unit is on mastery of the key concepts and the basic knowledge and skills required to build this kind of application. The unit will provide students with an awareness of the wide range of technologies that are used to support this kind of application, but will examine only a limited number of these technologies to demonstrate the key concepts and their application. The unit explores the purposes and approaches in using scripting and markup languages in relation to the client-server paradigm. The role of both server-side and client-side code are examined. Students will study the use of markup and scripting programming languages to connect to databases via a network.

Students are introduced to some of the most common security issues involved in the development of software, including secure coding practices, secure database access, secure data communications, security of web applications and use of encryption techniques . Students are provided with a range of practical exercises to reinforce their skills, including authenticating and authorising users programmatically, user input validation, developing secure web and database applications, hashing data programmatically, security testing, designing logging and auditing mechanisms.