Project Definition Document

Project Definition Document contains a list of activities which gives an insight from how the problem is to be solved to the project risks which may occur during the course of it . I had completed my Project Definition Document a week ago and I shall be giving a short brief of the documentation .

Project Definition Document essentially contains :

1. An Introduction

2. Problem to be solved

3. Project Objectives

4. Project beneficiaries

5.Work plan

6. Project Risks

At the beginning of this definition document, I had a doubt in mind regarding whether I should be writing about my "TITLE" or about the "APPLICATION" I would be creating . After clarification from my supervisor , he advised me to write about how this web service will benefit by following the REST architecture which can be implemented on any web application .

To give an overview of the project definition , I have explained about my project title in the introduction and then how this project will help people solve some problems which would eventually benefit many PHP developers . Project Objectives which is the main part of the document included on what are my specific objectives which I would be solving using various technologies . No matter how big or small the project is there are always risks associated with it , so I have taken measures and evaluate enough time for each tasks . Finally the work plan I have laid out would be much better for you to see than me speaking about it .

If you like what you see then stay tuned for future updates .

Next Time : Progress is clear . .

REST , SOAP , Web services , PHP

In the last post I had mentioned quite a few number of terms which might look unfimiliar to some of you . I would like to explain what they mean .

Web Services : It allows heterogeneous systems to communicate with each other using messages . Due to the nature of the systems being unique , the need for one system to work with another arises. XML is the most common format used to send messages which all systems understand as they are simple lines of text.

REST : Representational State Transfer means each unique URL is a representation of some object . You can get the contents out of that object using HTTP GET then you might use POST , PUT , DELETE to modify the state of the object .

SOAP : Simple Object Access Protocol means that the protocol is used for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services used in computer networks . It is simple and extensible and allows you to get around firewalls.

PHP : PHP is the fourth widely used programming langauge . PHP is a scripting language used in web development for making dynamic and interactive web pages .

Next Time : Writing up Project Definition Document

Project Begins !!

I had chosen my project title offered to me by my supervisor on 4th October 2010 . As being a Computer Science student , I had chosen a Design and Build project . The idea is simple , create a web service application which will investigate how REST principles are meet using PHP . I hope this project will showcase the REST architectural style when compared to SOAP architectural style .

Next time : What is REST and SOAP architectural style ? What is PHP ? What is web service ?

Sound's interesting ? Stay tuned for more updates on the progress of this project .