Inside perspective: how to develop a medium sized web project
In our series ‘inside perspective’, we describe the development process of Bridge in launching medium sized web projects. In this article our developer Aneesh describes his experience with Rentautobus.
The project Rentautobus is one of the best projects I have done. It’s a complex web application, built to automate the process of renting buses for trips. A team of two developers (including me), 1 analyst and 1 project manager were doing this project.
As in all complicated projects, we took sufficient time to analyze the requirements. The specifications document we received from the customer was large, but had a lot of questions and risks in it, which we tried to eliminate. We found that some links were missing in the documents provided by the client. At this point we decided to make a final specification document that connects all the broken links. Also we made a flow chart showing the basic flow of the site. This specification and flow chart were sent to the client and got it approved. These documents were the base of development. The analysis and documentation phase took some time but we knew that it would pay off later.
In our series ‘inside perspective’, we describe the development process of Bridge in launching medium sized web projects. In this article our developer Aneesh describes his experience with Rentautobus.
The project Rentautobus is one of the best projects I have done. It’s a complex web application, built to automate the process of renting buses for trips. A team of two developers (including me), 1 analyst and 1 project manager were doing this project.
As in all complicated projects, we took sufficient time to analyze the requirements. The specifications document we received from the customer was large, but had a lot of questions and risks in it, which we tried to eliminate. We found that some links were missing in the documents provided by the client. At this point we decided to make a final specification document that connects all the broken links. Also we made a flow chart showing the basic flow of the site. This specification and flow chart were sent to the client and got it approved. These documents were the base of development. The analysis and documentation phase took some time but we knew that it would pay off later.
In our series ‘inside perspective’, we describe the development process of Bridge in launching medium sized web projects. In this article our developer Aneesh describes his experience with Rentautobus.
The project Rentautobus is one of the best projects I have done. It’s a complex web application, built to automate the process of renting buses for trips. A team of two developers (including me), 1 analyst and 1 project manager were doing this project.
As in all complicated projects, we took sufficient time to analyze the requirements. The specifications document we received from the customer was large, but had a lot of questions and risks in it, which we tried to eliminate. We found that some links were missing in the documents provided by the client. At this point we decided to make a final specification document that connects all the broken links. Also we made a flow chart showing the basic flow of the site. This specification and flow chart were sent to the client and got it approved. These documents were the base of development. The analysis and documentation phase took some time but we knew that it would pay off later.
In our series ‘inside perspective’, we describe the development process of Bridge in launching medium sized web projects. In this article our developer Aneesh describes his experience with Rentautobus.
The project Rentautobus is one of the best projects I have done. It’s a complex web application, built to automate the process of renting buses for trips. A team of two developers (including me), 1 analyst and 1 project manager were doing this project.
As in all complicated projects, we took sufficient time to analyze the requirements. The specifications document we received from the customer was large, but had a lot of questions and risks in it, which we tried to eliminate. We found that some links were missing in the documents provided by the client. At this point we decided to make a final specification document that connects all the broken links. Also we made a flow chart showing the basic flow of the site. This specification and flow chart were sent to the client and got it approved. These documents were the base of development. The analysis and documentation phase took some time but we knew that it would pay off later.
Waterfall or Agile?
We decided to follow the classical waterfall approach in this project. As we invested a lot of time in the analysis phase, we figured that we’d be able to grasp the complete project from the start.
Database design
Then comes the most important part, I should say, the database design.We succeeded in creating a normalized database. We used the Third normal form and Boyce Codd Normal Form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization). The database diagram was made using “MySQL Workbench” (http://dev.mysql.com/workbench/). I was using this software for the first time and it was interesting to see how it generated the diagram with the foreign key relations drawn clearly.
The Development phase
The project was done using Zend framework. This helped us to implement Object Oriented Programming concepts to the maximum and to maintain the MVC architecture. We worked hard to make a good foundation for the project, with the most suitable folder structure. The site has multi-language functionality with the option to add more languages. This functionality was the main thing we had to consider while designing the DB tables as well as the core classes.
As Bridge uses a strict coding standard to ensure high quality, we invested time to ensure that we both followed the standard and our project coordinator also thoroughly tested our code. This eventually helped us to reuse many functions without discussion.
The main tools/functions/classes used
JQuery is used in the entire site to make the interface look better. The simple animations give a very nice UI to the web site.
Zend PDF – Zend provides a powerful PDF generation class which helps to implement create custom PDFs dynamically. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.pdf.html). It helped to save the development time.
Zend Router – Another major functionality of the site is to manage the URLs for SEO. This is implemented using Zend Router classes. The site administrator can decide what URL should be shown for each pages. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.controller.router.html)
Web application Testing
We developed a substantial amount of test scenarios to ensure that the application is running smooth. Because it is a booking site, where the time span between the first step and the last step can be up to several weeks, the testing took a long time. Our project coordinator used the test scenarios thoroughly.
Changes from the requirement
As in all big projects, there are setbacks, which have to be solved. When the client started testing, he found that his current design for the home page which is the core part of the site is not very user friendly and he wanted to change it. It was the main request for change from the requirement. Here we had the advantage of having a strong database that is designed to suit this application. We had a new design for the home page but it didn’t affect too much on the coding part.
The development phase went really fast, though it was complicated. The results were achieved in our team of 2 developers, 1 analyst and 1 project manager. Our project manager in India is Dutch and this has greatly helped us to communicate effectively with our Dutch client. I believe that a model that includes a project manager speaking the same language as the customer works most effective in any offshore project.
The project Rentautobus is currently in the beta release phase. In a few weeks, we will post the project in our portfolio including a link to the live site.
Bridge helps companies from around the world with offshoring web development projects. We have a clear process for medium sized web projects with a focus on developing clear requirements before development. Big size projects are developed using an agile methodology or with a dedicated team managed directly by the customer.
Waterfall or Agile?
We decided to follow the classical waterfall approach in this project. As we invested a lot of time in the analysis phase, we figured that we’d be able to grasp the complete project from the start.
Database design
Then comes the most important part, I should say, the database design.We succeeded in creating a normalized database. We used the Third normal form and Boyce Codd Normal Form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization). The database diagram was made using “MySQL Workbench” (http://dev.mysql.com/workbench/). I was using this software for the first time and it was interesting to see how it generated the diagram with the foreign key relations drawn clearly.
The Development phase
The project was done using Zend framework. This helped us to implement Object Oriented Programming concepts to the maximum and to maintain the MVC architecture. We worked hard to make a good foundation for the project, with the most suitable folder structure. The site has multi-language functionality with the option to add more languages. This functionality was the main thing we had to consider while designing the DB tables as well as the core classes.
As Bridge uses a strict coding standard to ensure high quality, we invested time to ensure that we both followed the standard and our project coordinator also thoroughly tested our code. This eventually helped us to reuse many functions without discussion.
The main tools/functions/classes used
JQuery is used in the entire site to make the interface look better. The simple animations give a very nice UI to the web site.
Zend PDF – Zend provides a powerful PDF generation class which helps to implement create custom PDFs dynamically. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.pdf.html). It helped to save the development time.
Zend Router – Another major functionality of the site is to manage the URLs for SEO. This is implemented using Zend Router classes. The site administrator can decide what URL should be shown for each pages. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.controller.router.html)
Web application Testing
We developed a substantial amount of test scenarios to ensure that the application is running smooth. Because it is a booking site, where the time span between the first step and the last step can be up to several weeks, the testing took a long time. Our project coordinator used the test scenarios thoroughly.
Changes from the requirement
As in all big projects, there are setbacks, which have to be solved. When the client started testing, he found that his current design for the home page which is the core part of the site is not very user friendly and he wanted to change it. It was the main request for change from the requirement. Here we had the advantage of having a strong database that is designed to suit this application. We had a new design for the home page but it didn’t affect too much on the coding part.
The development phase went really fast, though it was complicated. The results were achieved in our team of 2 developers, 1 analyst and 1 project manager. Our project manager in India is Dutch and this has greatly helped us to communicate effectively with our Dutch client. I believe that a model that includes a project manager speaking the same language as the customer works most effective in any offshore project.
The project Rentautobus is currently in the beta release phase. In a few weeks, we will post the project in our portfolio including a link to the live site.
Bridge helps companies from around the world with offshoring web development projects. We have a clear process for medium sized web projects with a focus on developing clear requirements before development. Big size projects are developed using an agile methodology or with a dedicated team managed directly by the customer.
Waterfall or Agile?
We decided to follow the classical waterfall approach in this project. As we invested a lot of time in the analysis phase, we figured that we’d be able to grasp the complete project from the start.
Database design
Then comes the most important part, I should say, the database design.We succeeded in creating a normalized database. We used the Third normal form and Boyce Codd Normal Form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization). The database diagram was made using “MySQL Workbench” (http://dev.mysql.com/workbench/). I was using this software for the first time and it was interesting to see how it generated the diagram with the foreign key relations drawn clearly.
The Development phase
The project was done using Zend framework. This helped us to implement Object Oriented Programming concepts to the maximum and to maintain the MVC architecture. We worked hard to make a good foundation for the project, with the most suitable folder structure. The site has multi-language functionality with the option to add more languages. This functionality was the main thing we had to consider while designing the DB tables as well as the core classes.
As Bridge uses a strict coding standard to ensure high quality, we invested time to ensure that we both followed the standard and our project coordinator also thoroughly tested our code. This eventually helped us to reuse many functions without discussion.
The main tools/functions/classes used
JQuery is used in the entire site to make the interface look better. The simple animations give a very nice UI to the web site.
Zend PDF – Zend provides a powerful PDF generation class which helps to implement create custom PDFs dynamically. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.pdf.html). It helped to save the development time.
Zend Router – Another major functionality of the site is to manage the URLs for SEO. This is implemented using Zend Router classes. The site administrator can decide what URL should be shown for each pages. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.controller.router.html)
Web application Testing
We developed a substantial amount of test scenarios to ensure that the application is running smooth. Because it is a booking site, where the time span between the first step and the last step can be up to several weeks, the testing took a long time. Our project coordinator used the test scenarios thoroughly.
Changes from the requirement
As in all big projects, there are setbacks, which have to be solved. When the client started testing, he found that his current design for the home page which is the core part of the site is not very user friendly and he wanted to change it. It was the main request for change from the requirement. Here we had the advantage of having a strong database that is designed to suit this application. We had a new design for the home page but it didn’t affect too much on the coding part.
The development phase went really fast, though it was complicated. The results were achieved in our team of 2 developers, 1 analyst and 1 project manager. Our project manager in India is Dutch and this has greatly helped us to communicate effectively with our Dutch client. I believe that a model that includes a project manager speaking the same language as the customer works most effective in any offshore project.
The project Rentautobus is currently in the beta release phase. In a few weeks, we will post the project in our portfolio including a link to the live site.
Bridge helps companies from around the world with offshoring web development projects. We have a clear process for medium sized web projects with a focus on developing clear requirements before development. Big size projects are developed using an agile methodology or with a dedicated team managed directly by the customer.
Waterfall or Agile?
We decided to follow the classical waterfall approach in this project. As we invested a lot of time in the analysis phase, we figured that we’d be able to grasp the complete project from the start.
Database design
Then comes the most important part, I should say, the database design.We succeeded in creating a normalized database. We used the Third normal form and Boyce Codd Normal Form (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization). The database diagram was made using “MySQL Workbench” (http://dev.mysql.com/workbench/). I was using this software for the first time and it was interesting to see how it generated the diagram with the foreign key relations drawn clearly.
The Development phase
The project was done using Zend framework. This helped us to implement Object Oriented Programming concepts to the maximum and to maintain the MVC architecture. We worked hard to make a good foundation for the project, with the most suitable folder structure. The site has multi-language functionality with the option to add more languages. This functionality was the main thing we had to consider while designing the DB tables as well as the core classes.
As Bridge uses a strict coding standard to ensure high quality, we invested time to ensure that we both followed the standard and our project coordinator also thoroughly tested our code. This eventually helped us to reuse many functions without discussion.
The main tools/functions/classes used
JQuery is used in the entire site to make the interface look better. The simple animations give a very nice UI to the web site.
Zend PDF – Zend provides a powerful PDF generation class which helps to implement create custom PDFs dynamically. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.pdf.html). It helped to save the development time.
Zend Router – Another major functionality of the site is to manage the URLs for SEO. This is implemented using Zend Router classes. The site administrator can decide what URL should be shown for each pages. (http://framework.zend.com/manual/en/zend.controller.router.html)
Web application Testing
We developed a substantial amount of test scenarios to ensure that the application is running smooth. Because it is a booking site, where the time span between the first step and the last step can be up to several weeks, the testing took a long time. Our project coordinator used the test scenarios thoroughly.
Changes from the requirement
As in all big projects, there are setbacks, which have to be solved. When the client started testing, he found that his current design for the home page which is the core part of the site is not very user friendly and he wanted to change it. It was the main request for change from the requirement. Here we had the advantage of having a strong database that is designed to suit this application. We had a new design for the home page but it didn’t affect too much on the coding part.
The development phase went really fast, though it was complicated. The results were achieved in our team of 2 developers, 1 analyst and 1 project manager. Our project manager in India is Dutch and this has greatly helped us to communicate effectively with our Dutch client. I believe that a model that includes a project manager speaking the same language as the customer works most effective in any offshore project.
The project Rentautobus is currently in the beta release phase. In a few weeks, we will post the project in our portfolio including a link to the live site.
Bridge helps companies from around the world with offshoring web development projects. We have a clear process for medium sized web projects with a focus on developing clear requirements before development. Big size projects are developed using an agile methodology or with a dedicated team managed directly by the customer.
Excellent work..congratulations to the entire team for bringing this to fruition !