All your database are belong to us
July 30, 2013 8:29 AM Subscribe
Looking for media to help planning web based development.
I'm attempting to create a LAMP backended inventory system for different resources (key tracking, membership in services we offer, etc). I'm familiar enough with the nuts and bolts of some languages to be confident that I could do this, but I'm really having an issue planning how the data relates to each other and how it should be structured. I'd like for it to be easily comprehended later by myself and others. One of the problems in my searching is that I don't know exactly what this is regarded as: is this software development, web programming or some other classification?
I guess I would call it web development theory. I've searched for "web development planning" and variants but I keep getting web site planning like "questions to ask your client", "know your audience", "how to determine your bid" and "making your site fit with the brand", or I get sites from 1999. For the record, the budget is not an issue (this is in-house and in my spare time using OSS), my users are a captive audience of co-workers, and the look is a secondary concern as long as it doesn't make eyes bleed.
What I'm looking for is books or other media on strategies for creating database interfaces and structures geared towards the intermediate user, or even your own processes or methods. I'm not so concerned with the actual building of them - though I'm interested in that, too - but how to outline the whole thing first and bring that to the development stage. I've tried services like Jumpchart and Balsamiq but they are more for just web site planning. Thanks for your help.
I'm attempting to create a LAMP backended inventory system for different resources (key tracking, membership in services we offer, etc). I'm familiar enough with the nuts and bolts of some languages to be confident that I could do this, but I'm really having an issue planning how the data relates to each other and how it should be structured. I'd like for it to be easily comprehended later by myself and others. One of the problems in my searching is that I don't know exactly what this is regarded as: is this software development, web programming or some other classification?
I guess I would call it web development theory. I've searched for "web development planning" and variants but I keep getting web site planning like "questions to ask your client", "know your audience", "how to determine your bid" and "making your site fit with the brand", or I get sites from 1999. For the record, the budget is not an issue (this is in-house and in my spare time using OSS), my users are a captive audience of co-workers, and the look is a secondary concern as long as it doesn't make eyes bleed.
What I'm looking for is books or other media on strategies for creating database interfaces and structures geared towards the intermediate user, or even your own processes or methods. I'm not so concerned with the actual building of them - though I'm interested in that, too - but how to outline the whole thing first and bring that to the development stage. I've tried services like Jumpchart and Balsamiq but they are more for just web site planning. Thanks for your help.
Response by poster: Thanks, j_curiouser. Your analysis is correct, and I appreciate you giving more concrete labels to my ideas.
RoR is definitely an option I hadn't considered before. I was considering python as opposed to php but nothing is set in stone.
posted by dozo at 10:07 AM on July 30, 2013
RoR is definitely an option I hadn't considered before. I was considering python as opposed to php but nothing is set in stone.
posted by dozo at 10:07 AM on July 30, 2013
In some organizational structures, this kind of thing may fall under the purview of an information architect.
posted by juv3nal at 11:04 AM on July 30, 2013
posted by juv3nal at 11:04 AM on July 30, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
This is called 'data modeling'. A good way to wrap your head around it is to draft the model as an Entity-Relationship Diagram. This is assuming you'll be using a relational database. 'Data Modelling' is a subset of some 'requirements elicitation' process - understanding the aims of the system. There are infinity ways to do this. All successful working devs I know essentially have their own hybrid approach built from bits and pieces of experience gathered over time.
There are lots of perspectives out there, from very formal and rigorous, to looser. The person who does this work is sometimes called a Business Analyst (BA), but more and more, the developer is exposed to the client for direct and effective communications.
What I'm looking for is books or other media on strategies for creating database interfaces and structures geared towards the intermediate user, or even your own processes or methods.
The questions I am hearing in this sentence are:
a) How do I figure out what all the components of a system are and how they fit together? b) How do I tailor/design those components so they meet customer requirements?"
This is 'application design' or maybe 'system architecture' - but the term 'architecture' is a can of worms - different meanings in different contexts.
c) What is a systematic approach I can use to answer (a) and (b) sufficiently to build the system?
This is 'software process'. Infinity answers here, too.
So Google some of those terms and get familiar. Here are a few titles that might have some utility for you:
Professional LAMP
Software Requirements
Agile for Dummies
I'm not suggesting that any of these are the answer to your situation, but do some reading and get familiar with some different povs.
An aside: Look into Ruby On Rails as an alternative to php for the server side.
posted by j_curiouser at 9:43 AM on July 30, 2013