2005 Major Work: PHP? (1 Viewer)

[chensta]

Hey everybody, first post here. I am getting ideas for my year 12 major work, and I have thought about programming in PHP. I am thinking about making a online turn based game. The theme will likely be a racing management, ie you buy cars, sell cars, improve your characters skill, and race others. The game will be mainly text, but accompanied by some graphics.

The reason for this are:
1) I am looking to become a webdesigner/graphic designer, and programming in php will help me more than any other languages, for example VB or C, also i have some knowledge of php/mysql.

2) I have an interest in cars/racing, therefore I might find it more enjoyable doing the project. Some guy once said you will do a better job if you enjoy what your doing....or something like that

3) From looking around, there is ALOT of resources on PHP, plus beeing in the webhosting business myself, i have access to servers and various other resources.

The questions I would like to ask is:
1) Have anybody ever programmed a php application for the HSC? Or is there a reason that it is not recommended

2) How the hell am i going to submit this work? I will be submitting documents and the source code on a disc, but it will require a server to run. I could always host on my own servers, but there is the issue of the markers thinking i will be changing the program after the deadline.

Thanks for reading, any comments, advice or suggestions are welcome!

William

 

[sunny]

Welcome to the forums

The questions I would like to ask is:
1) Have anybody ever programmed a php application for the HSC? Or is there a reason that it is not recommended

Keep in mind HSC SDD is not focused on writing the software itself, but on the development process. If you can squeeze enough documentation out of a project then its ok.

2) How the hell am i going to submit this work? I will be submitting documents and the source code on a disc, but it will require a server to run. I could always host on my own servers, but there is the issue of the markers thinking i will be changing the program after the deadline.

HSC SDD major works are not submitted to the Board of Studies for marking, they are marked by your teacher.

 

[chensta]

thanks alot sunny, that clear up alot

 

[menty]

something like this?
http://www.midnitechallenge.com

 

[DJGerber]

1) Have anybody ever programmed a php application for the HSC? Or is there a reason that it is not recommended

I did my major project in PHP. It was an online web store which I called FISH (Fake Inventory Sales Handler) which used a mySQL database to store data. The only reason that I was allowed to use PHP was because a new student to our class this year had been learning in Visual Basic whereas we were learning FutureBASIC II, so our teacher 'had' to open up the major project to a language of our choosing.

2) How the hell am i going to submit this work? I will be submitting documents and the source code on a disc, but it will require a server to run. I could always host on my own servers, but there is the issue of the markers thinking i will be changing the program after the deadline.

Being on good terms with our computer co-ordinator, I setup a RedHat 9.0 http/ftp server using a spare machine in the school. It took me a while to get Linux, PHP, mySQL and vsftpd all working nicely but once I got that done I used the Macs which we had to work on to script (in SimpleText) and then upload that via FTP to the server I built.

The great thing about using mySQL is that you can use phpMyAdmin which creates its own data dictionary, so you can demonstrate usage of CASE tools as apart of your documentation.

My teacher marked mine on the day of the deadline and took the rest home on a Mac to mark there so I'm sure you can work something out.

Support for PHP couldn't be better. Their online documentation is usually spot on and if you ever need a hand with anything, just ask me. I came first in the year for the subject and the project task, > 90%.

 

[MedNez]

Yeah, I'd have to agree. PHP (if you're allowed, and good enough with it to program what you need) would be a great choice.

Our major project this year was an instant messaging program, coded in VB (that works over the net, lan, etc), using a php and mysql backend for all the login data and user verification.

We got top project and a higher top than last year, so go for PHP. As sunny said up there ^ , if you can get great documentation, it's weighted a lot more than the actual result.

Best of luck with whatever you choose!

 

[DoubleD]

I To am a PHP Programmer, I faed this same problem, i did a php program for my y11 major work..
I Found an open source program that allowed me to submit the application on CD, basically i had a Mysql Database, PHP Enabled web server, and it all ran from a CD(Only for windows tho)

just finding the name of it, i'm likely to use it again in 2005, or i'll be using VB, i'm not sure yet.

Hmm.. Sorry i don't have the name of the product here, but DWeb does a similar job(but it wasn't as good)
I'll get back to this thread on monday when i have a look in my Home Drive at school.
You could also ask your IT Admin to set up a PHP Enabled IIS Server for you to use, and for him to simply deny edit access for you when your done(Easy, as in 2005 EVERY school is required to upgrade to windows 2003 server -- even those with Linux and/or macs -- it's part of their push to get rid of IT admins at schools and to have one admin per say the district.)

-=DoubleD=-
PS. Leave me a PM if i forget to get back to this thread.

 

[DoubleD]

Just an update on the server i use..

it's called 'microweb' and is 20mb
http://www.indigostar.com/microweb.htm

MicroWeb
Create a working web site on a CD-ROM.

MicroWeb allows you to create a working web site on a CD-ROM. Using a web browser, a user can run CGI programs as well as view html files on the CD-ROM.

To view the website the end user only has to run the microweb.exe program on the CD-ROM, there is nothing to configure. This will automatically start a web browser for viewing the website.

MicroWeb provides support for MySQL, it will automatically start a MySQL server if one is included on the CD.

There is no royalty on each CD containing the runtime distributed and there is no limit on the number of CDs that can be distributed. A license is required only for your development machine.

Requires Windows 32-bit including 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003,etc


Works quite well if you need to submit a php application working.. only problem is ou'll be submitting a 20mb set.. it also supports Perl, and could probably be modified slightly to accept any other scripting language available for windows.

-=DoubleD=-

 

[MedNez]

PHPDev is also a nice environment to work and test in, and easy to set up, if anyone is interested in trying it out.

 

[Casmira]

do teachers really allow this too be done in php?! i thought it was visual basic only

 

[sunny]

do teachers really allow this too be done in php?! i thought it was visual basic only

The syllabus does not specify any specific programming languages to be taught or used for projects. As long as the teacher is comfortable with using it - then its OK.

VB is common because it is very easy to catch on. Alot of the time teachers force one language down on a class as this would allow a standardised marking scheme to be use for all the projects.

 

[DoubleD]

Actually PHP isn't a reconised language by the BOS.... because you can't define a variable as a certain typoe(ie. float, integer, string)... aparantly that means it's an unaceptable language...

To that i say ignore it however.

my teacher said as long as he could view it, it'd be fine

-=DoubleD=-

 

[MedNez]

because you can't define a variable as a certain typoe(ie. float, integer, string)...

You can use settype() if you wish to declare variable types .. just like vb.

 

[Slidey]

do teachers really allow this too be done in php?! i thought it was visual basic only

C++ here, so... yes they do.

 

[Casmira]

They allow C?!

Jesus I wish I learnt C instead of VB =/

 

[sunny]

They allow C?!

Jesus I wish I learnt C instead of VB =/

Given some of the complexities of C and time constraints of a HSC course, very few teachers would be qualified to teach it and very few students would ever come anywhere near developing a half decent program in C for SDD.

 

[Slidey]

^ And what about C++?

 

[acmilan]

Probably still too advanced for HSC year

 

[MedNez]

There are no doubt students than can undertake harder languages if they already know some, or are excellent at coding and learning new programming languages, but on a larger scale, VB is probably the easiest to learn and teach.

 

[Slidey]

Heh. I'll be interested to see how my teacher plays it, then. I and another bloke can handle C++, the others flounder a lot.