Transcript Technologies of e-Commerce

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Technologies of e-Commerce 3
Unit 8 – e-Commerce
LO1 : Know the technologies required for e-commerce
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Database Systems
E-commerce websites usually have a database backend storing the catalogue of
products, customer records and other business information. This database should
link to the website seamlessly so that the user is unaware of it.
Some organisations outsource the creation of their website, but retain control of
the content of the database. This means that if any changes need to be made,
such as price changes, only the database needs amending and the organisation
can do this themselves.
Applications such as Oracle®, or languages such as MySQL™, can be used to
create the database.
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Networking
This refers to the methods used to connect computers together to create the
network. It looks at how individual computers are identified so data can be sent to
the correct place, the methods of data transfer across such a massive network and
the naming of websites.
HTML - stands for hypertext mark- up language. All web pages are controlled and
structured using HTML, even 1f they use other languages as well.
Wysiwyg - stands for 'what you see is what you get'. In web design programs, it
means what you see in design view is the same as if it was published on the internet.
MySQL™ - a language for creating online databases . it uses an SOL base, which is the
language behind most databases .
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TCP/IP
TCP/IP is a protocol that is used when transferring data across a network. If
computers do not use the same protocol, it becomes impossible for them to
understand the data transmitted between them. This is similar to humans who
speak different languages- unless they agree to speak a common language, they will
not be able to understand each other. To make sure the data reaches the right
location on a network, each computer is given a unique number, called an IP
address. it is a set of four numbers, each from 0 to 255. For example, 145 .2 .78.255
would address a specific computer on a network. The Internet is a large global
network and works in the same way as a WAN (wide area network).
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Ports connect protocols and IP addresses together. Each computer has several ports
for data to pass through- they are virtual so they cannot be seen. Ports are like
doors- each has a number to identify it and it can be open or closed. There are some
default ports, for example port 25 is usually for email and port 80 is usually for the
Internet, although these can be changed. For a web server, it is good practice to
close all ports that are not being used otherwise hackers can take advantage of open
ports to get into the system.
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Domain Names
Every website has an IP address, relating to the server which hosts it. For example, if
you were to type 72.14.207.99 into the address bar of a browser, the page for
www.google.com should appear.
Smaller sites will always use the same IP address. However, large sites like Google
have several, because they have many web servers. Businesses would struggle to
entice many customers to their e-commerce sites if the customers had to remember
the IP address, so domain names were invented. Each IP address resolves to a
domain name e.g. 72.14.207 .99 resolves to google.com. A domain name is only the
core part of the name (google) and the extension (.com).
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HTTP and www are protocols which tell the computer that the data is a web page.
This makes sure that the computer interprets the data in the right way. There are
several extensions available
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Each website can be contacted by its universal resource locator (URL). For example,
if www.google.com is entered into the address bar in a browser, Google's website
should open at its home page. A URL is any website address, for example
www.google.com/about/contact/ would also be a URL. However, the domain name
is still just google.com.
To make sure they maximise traffic to their sites, businesses usually not only buy the
URL they want to use as the main address (for example www.google.com), but also
other extensions, for example www.google.co.uk and www.google.org and
alternative spellings, for example www.gogle.com and ww.google.com.
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Programming Requirements
Web pages are usually written in HTML, or a form of HTML such as XHTML. Within
the HTML code, other languages can be used, including PHP, ASP , JavaScript and
others which add functionality. HTML itself does not provide e-commerce
capabilities, so another language must always be used as well.
PHP- stands for hypertext pre-processor. it allows web pages to connect with
databases and on line payment systems.
ASP- stands for active server pages. it also allows web pages to connect with
databases and on line payment systems.
JavaScript - in basic terms, provides interactivity between the computer and the user.
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HTML uses a system of tags (indicated by angle brackets: <and>) which contain the
instructions. Almost all tags use a pair of open and close tags enclosing the content
to be affected. For example: <font color='red'>Some text</font> would produce:
Some text.
Note that American spelling is used in HTML. HTML pages should start and end with
<html> </ html> tags to declare the language being used. Each page is divided into a
head and body section, each defined by their tags. The head section is unseen by
the user and can be thought of as the brains of the page.
It contains all the information for the page to function correctly. The body is the part
seen by the user and contains all the content of the page. A well designed page
should have re-usable code in the head and minimal code in the body.
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Download Speeds
A variety of download speeds are available and a business should never assume that
all customers will have the same connection available. Internet connection speed is
measured in kilobits per second (Kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps). A kilobit is
1000 bits. This is different from the binary measurement of a kilobyte which is 1024
bits. A megabit is 1,000,000 bits.
There are several ways of minimising the download times of a website. Images are
essential to create interest on a web page, but down loading images takes much
more time than down loading text. Using smaller image files can be a way of
minimising download times. To do this, images should be compressed and conform
to the web safe palette. Use the ALT function so that while the image is down
loading the user knows what to expect. Text only options need also to work without
the images, so great care is needed in designing pages.
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Animation can bring a web page to life and demonstrate a product which might help
the visitor decide to buy, but it uses up a lot of bandwidth (data transmission rates),
so it should be used sparingly. Tables of information might be the best way to
summarise information. However, these also take longer to down load, so it makes
sense not to include very large tables.
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Browser and Platform Compatibility
There are several web browsers available and each renders graphics on a website
differently. This is to do with the way the browser interprets the code and must be
taken into consideration when designing a website.
In addition, the different computer platforms that users might have should be
considered: not just the latest platforms, but also older ones that are still being
used, such as earlier versions of Internet Explorer® and Netscape Navigator®.
Web developers should design to meet the lowest specifications available, otherwise
potential customers may be excluded from purchasing products and so the business
will lose potential profit.