The Need for Web Development Quality to Develop High-Quality Web Applications

The web has become closely ingrained with our life and massive effort for web development and maintenance continues to take place in an ad hoc manner, resulting in poor quality web systems and applications. Problems such as outdated or irrelevant information, difficulties in using the website, website crashes, and security breaches are common. We encounter these kinds of problems because web developers failed to address users' needs along with the improper appliance of the web engineering process in all its phases. As a consequence, web engineering and more precisely web requirements engineering is becoming of major importance in the web development process. In this context, this work tackles the validation of the navigational requirements of a web application. A methodology named NRVA is introduced in order to validate the navigational requirements for correctness, consistency, and completeness. It is based on the generation of an XML document defining the navigational rules of the application and used as input to the animator. The supporting tool to the approach does not only validate the correctness of the generated requirements, but also it aids to the elaboration and enhancement of those requirements through visualisation.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as the World Wide Web (WWW) has increasingly become embedded in everyday life and is progressively becoming indispensable for public, business, personal efficiency or even improvement of livelihoods [1]. Web users including People with Disabilities (PWDs) can conveniently undertake a number of tasks that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. But many Web applications such as e-learning, e-commerce and e-government are not accessible to PWDs including the blind. Through Web accessibility guidelines, Web developers can develop Web applications that are accessible to PWDs. However, majority of the available accessibility guidelines are difficult to integrate into existing developer workflows and rarely offer specific suggestions that are developer oriented. In this paper, we propose a Web Design Framework for Improved Accessibility for People with Disabilities (WDFAD). The WDFAD provides precise guidelines on how to develop Web applications that are accessible to PWDs particularly the blind. These are packaged according to the three components of Web applications namely; content, navigation and user interface. Using constructs of the Non Functional Requirements (NFR) Framework, Web accessibility design objectives are represented as primary goals and sub goals. The primary goals represent the high level accessibility design objectives, while the sub goals represent the requirements that need to be met in the Web development process in order to meet each primary goal. WDFAD also illustrates the overlaps between the process of meeting each primary goal. This unveils the optimal ways of achieving Web accessibility during Web design. The precise nature of WDFAD and its packaging according to the main components of Web applications makes Web accessibility requirements potentially easier to understand and apply by Web developers. Web Developers prefer precise and familiar tools due to their busy work life and daily interface and expression in formal instructions. In addition, the global versus local classification of Web accessibility requirements in WDFAD modularizes the web accessibility guidelines hence making them easier to understand, apply and update.

Comparison of development methodologies in web applications

The quality evaluation of Semantic Web applications (SWAs) in isolation is not enough. The future shall see almost all Web applications being deployed on the cloud and available to us as services, facilitating transparency and reusability. The business model of cloud computing provides services on demand, which are paid as per their use. The Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model of cloud computing segregates provider’s ownership from customer’s use. Since the concept of quality is crucial to services, therefore, it is plausible to build models for quality assessment of SWAs, which fit in the cloud’s SaaS paradigm. Such applications are referred to Semantic Web application as a service (SWAaaS), in the following text. In our knowledge, there are no quality factors, measures, or frameworks for tracking the quality of SWAaaS. The Semantic Web application quality framework described in Chap. 3 is not profusely appropriate for evaluation of SWAaaS, owing to the distinctive natures of Web application and service. Previously, some ways of assessing quality of SWA and SaaS have been invented, a few of which build on quality features from existing software and Web application quality models, whereas some formulate SaaS quality metrics. few works merely present quality attributes in the context of Service Level Agreement (SLA) and Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. Here, the representative quality factors influencing SWAaaS are recognized after the literature review and a Hierarchical Fuzzy System (HFS) has been developed to assess SWAaaS quality. The quality attributes of HFS have been validated using IEEE 1061 framework. Results of experiments show that our HFS handles multiple quality attributes, and may perform quality-based ranking of SWAs available as services. The hierarchical fuzzy quality model discussed here may serve as a beginning point toward an all-inclusive quality model aimed to facilitate a SWAaaS consumer to choose the best quality service among SWAs available as a service on the cloud. Additionally, HFS may act as a directive to SWAaaS provider for the betterment of quality of SWA that is being provided as a service.

In the era of pervasive computing, the demand for high - quality web applications has surged, prompting developers to adopt robust frameworks and programming languages. This paper explores the significance of Java in web application development, emphasizing its reliability, portability, and object - oriented nature. By leveraging Java's features, developers can create scalable applications that meet evolving customer and business requirements. We discuss the architectural principles of web applications, as an example focusing on the performance implications of adopting a 3 - Tier architecture using Java technologies such as Servlets, JSP, and AJAX. Furthermore, we analyze factors affecting web application performance, including user experience, server capabilities, network conditions, and database efficiency. The insights provided in this paper aim to guide developers in optimizing web applications, ensuring enhanced user satisfaction and operational effectiveness.

In recent years, web applications have evolved from small websites into large multi-tiered applications. The quality of web applications depends on the richness of contents, well structured navigation and most importantly its security. Web application testing is a new field of research so as to ensure the consistency and quality of web applications. In the last ten years there have been different approaches. Models have been developed for testing web applications but only a few focused on content testing, a few on navigation testing and a very few on security testing of web applications. There is a need to test content, navigation and security of an application in one go. The objective of this paper is to propose Dual Security Testing Model to test the security of web applications using UML modeling technique which includes web socket interface. In this research paper we have described how our security testing model is implemented using activity diagram, activity graph and based on this how test cases is generated.

Web Application Development has shown progressive and rapid growth using various techniques. Nonetheless, web application security is a major component in web development that is often overlooked or not properly focused on. Due to ad hoc existence and poor code written, most available web applications are vulnerable and desirable target for the attackers. To alleviate this issue, the use of defensive programming basic technique allows the developers to develop secure applications. Defensive programming includes validate output and correctly manages error messages. This avoids the misuse of snippets and builds the program in a consistent way despite unpredictable inputs. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, this paper discussed the development of a web application program using PHP as server-side scripting exploiting defensive programming techniques to overwhelm web application vulnerabilities. Secondly, this paper examined common vulnerabilities of web application risks refer to Open Web Application Security Project to validate the effectiveness of defensive programming technique. The work presented in this paper shall be a fundamental guideline for the development of secure web-based applications.

We report a subset of findings from a survey of over 300 web developers – a mixture of professional and more casual developers – targeted at understanding the needs, problems and the processes that developers follow and the tools they use. The prototypical web developer from our sample is meticulous about the quality of the web sites she produces, considers usability issues but neglects accessibility concerns. Web developers have many similar interests regarding web applications or features such as authentication, databases, online surveys or forms. They value ease of use as the most important property of a web development tool but mention many other needs such as integration with other tools, strong code editing features, or WYSIWYG facilities. This report details findings regarding process, tools, quality control, and learning.

Most of usability evaluation methods for the Web domain have several limitations such as: the concept of usability is only partially supported; usability evaluations are mainly performed when the Web application has been completed; there is a lack of guidelines on how to properly integrate usability into Web development. This paper addresses these issues through the presentation of a Web Usability Evaluation Process (WUEP) for integrating usability evaluations at different stages of model-driven Web development processes. A case study was performed in order to analyze the feasibility of the approach by applying WUEP to evaluate the usability of a real Web application that was developed by using a specific model-driven development process in the industrial domain. The results suggest that WUEP provides good insights into the performance of usability evaluations. The usability problems are corrected at the model and model-transformation levels, thereby improving the usability of the final Web application.KeywordsWeb UsabilityEvaluation ProcessWeb MetricsModel-Driven Web Development

Cloud computing has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in the IT industry today. Cloud providers like AWS, MS AZURE, Rackspace, GoGrid allow users to deploy their applications on cloud. A lot of web applications are also provided by these cloud providers. But a major concern is the security and the quality of these web applications. Taking full advantage of cloud computing technology requires re-architecting applications to realize the full benefits of the applications. To enhance the quality of web applications deployed on cloud many strategies have been proposed. In this paper, we have proposed an extensive testing strategy and a test model for these web applications which will thoroughly test a web application and enhance its quality. A good quality application will increase the revenue of the service provider on the cloud and provide operational efficiencies too.

Teaching students project managements requires a hands-on approach. Incorporating project management concepts and processes into a student team Web development project adds a dimension that exposes students to the realities of effective Web development. This paper will describe the project management approach used in a Web development course in which students build complete Websites. Based upon the written evaluations included with the final project documentation, students feel this project is the most valuable learning experience of the course. Furthermore, a positive relationship is established between the actual Web development and effective project management processes. It is important for students to understand the triple constraints (scope, time, and cost) that must be balanced in business projects.

Integrating security in the software development life cycle has been a significant concern for researchers, security professionals and software developers. Security frameworks help to improve security in SDLC and mitigate threats by promoting the use of best practices. While in the presence of such best practices, security is somehow considered to be an afterthought and often leaves us with insecure software. Insecure web development makes web applications vulnerable to security threats like injection attacks, data breaches, privilege escalation, CSRF and other threats. This research based on mixed methods approach aims to provide valuable insights for security professionals and web application developers regarding the use of security frameworks to map threats for secure web development. Security frameworks including NIST SSDF, OWASP top 10, OWASP SAMM, SAFECode 3rd edition and BSIMM13 are involved for this purpose. The goal is to address the gap by leveraging these security frameworks to systematically map threats in web development environment. The research will aim to provide a comprehensive methodology for identifying potential security risks, analysing their impact and recommending security measures tailored to specifically web development environment. To achieve this, a comparative study of security frameworks, testing of web applications has been conducted to achieve the results.

Despite a short history of the Web development, Web-related technologies are rapidly developing. However, the Web application quality is improving slowly, which requires efficient methods for developing Web systems. This study presents a model for Web-based software development for analysis and design phases based on the ISO/IEC 12207 standard. It describes the methods used to define processes and entities in order to reflect the contents in Web applications. It applies the methodology of Web-Road Map by KCC Information and Technology using this model to the public project. As a result, Web-Road Map is proven to be an efficient model to analyze and design Web-applications.

From the supply chain management (SCM) perspective, the low level of information accessibility to rice commodities availability has been one of the major postharvest distribution-related problems. This issue potentially cause delay in delivery, product scarcity and eventually financial loss for stakeholders. Previous studies concerned more with web and mobile applications for distribution of production means applicable for pre-harvest stage. This study focuses on the development of modest web and mobile SCM applications for distribution of post-harvest rice commodities. The characteristics of these applications are capable of addressing problems faced by those involved in such product delivery system. Web application was designed using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) through Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) towards a service at Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Mobile application was designed using Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) to build a smart client loaded onto handphone. Comparison of system simulation on sofware requirement specification (SRS), use case diagram was presented in tabular form enabling users for need adjustment. Output of this research included user interface model and application prototype introduced to client and user to obtain feedback. The tabular SRS measure using use case showed on average a degree of appropriateness of 92%. User satisfaction level averaged 4.345 (out of 5) suggesting a good performance of the designed applications. Utilizing internet and handphone technology, the application models have fulfilled theoretical requirements and have adequately responded problems relating to the poor information accessibility in an SCM-based, postharvest rice distribution system, hence are worthy of being called as a modest web and mobile SCM. Keywords: information accessibility, application analysis and development, distribution of post-harvest rice commodities, web-SCM, mobile-SCM

Memory leaks in web applications are pervasive and difficult to debug. Leaks degrade responsiveness by increasing garbage collection costs and can even lead to browser tab crashes. Previous leak detection approaches designed for conventional applications are ineffective in the browser environment. Tracking down leaks currently requires intensive manual effort by web developers, which is often unsuccessful. This paper introduces BLEAK (Browser Leak debugger), the first system for automatically debugging memory leaks in web applications. BLEAK'S algorithms leverage the observation that in modern web applications, users often repeatedly return to the same (approximate) visual state (e.g., the inbox view in Gmail). Sustained growth between round trips is a strong indicator of a memory leak. To use BLEAK, a developer writes a short script (17-73 LOC on our benchmarks) to drive a web application in round trips to the same visual state. BLEAK then automatically generates a list of leaks found along with their root causes, ranked by return on investment. Guided by BLEAK, we identify and fix over 50 memory leaks in popular libraries and apps including Airbnb, AngularJS, Google Analytics, Google Maps SDK, and jQuery. BLEAK'S median precision is 100%; fixing the leaks it identifies reduces heap growth by an average of 94%, saving from 0.5MB to 8MB per round trip.