CIS 320 Advanced Web Development and Security

Course Details

  • Course title:

    CIS 320 Advanced Web Development and Security

  • Catalog course description:

    This class covers server and client side programming and security. Students learn to create, read, update, and delete records in a database through a website. Students learn how manage security with data validation and encoding, session management, encryption, hashing, and understanding common security vulnerabilities. Students will learn to fine, use, and integrate common code libraries and applications into their website. Prerequisites: CIS 120, CMSC 150, and CIS 255. WRITCOMM. Four credits. Offered every spring of odd numbered years.

  • Course level student learning objectives (SLOs):

    • Learn to create web applications that can create, read, update, and delete records from a database.
    • Learn to validate information both on the server side and on the client side.
    • Learn how to protect against common security vulnerabilities.
    • Learn both encryption and hashing.
    • Learn to authenticate and authorize users and manage session information.
    • Learn to manage a server stack.
    • Learn to write tutorials, and to create a security plan.

  • Textbook is on-line: http://web-development-class.readthedocs.io

Instructor

Schedule

Class meets Tuesday/Thursday from 8:00 am until 9:30 am.

Academic Calendar

Spring Semester 2021 Date
Classes Begin Jan-19
Last Day to Add/Drop Jan-25
No Class Feb 26
Mid-Term Date Mar-08
Mid-Term Grades Due Feb-10
Last Day to Withdraw Mar-26
Easter Recess Apr-05
Honors Convocation Ceremony Apr-21
Research Symposium (No Class) Apr-22
Last Day of Class Apr-26
College Reading Day Apr-29
Spring Final Exam Week Apr 27-29
Commencement May-01
All Spring Grades Due May-04

Class Calendar

I plan on keeping to the due dates on the assignments. The exact topics of what we cover in class will be adjusted as needed.

Date Class Topic Assignment due Points
Tue, Jan 19 1 Syllabus, CRUD overview, stack overview    
Thu, Jan 21 2 Local & production environment setups. Show IntelliJ and Tomcat working. Demo how to do Lab 1.    
Tue, Jan 26 3 Go through JavaScript chapter Assignment 1 - Full Stack Deployment 100
Thu, Jan 28 4 Go through jQuery chapter. Go through regular expression tutorial.    
Tue, Feb 02 5 Talk about class paper, paper topic choices, annotated bibliography    
Thu, Feb 04 6 Talk about JSON Work with setting up Amazon RDS Assignment 2 - First JavaScript Assignment 100
Tue, Feb 09 7 Manage DB connections in Java. Work on lab 3.    
Thu, Feb 11 8 Lab 3 Research paper, annotated bibliography 100
Tue, Feb 16 9 Making JSON calls over AJAX, work on Lab 4 Assignment 3 - List Records 100
Thu, Feb 18 10 How to encode characters for the web, Work on Lab 4    
Tue, Feb 23 11   Research paper, outline 100
Thu, Feb 25 12 Modern build process, work on Lab 5 form validation Assignment 4 - List Records - Final 100
Tue, Mar 02 13 Talk about check-boxes and file uploads.    
Thu, Mar 04 14 How to delete n-1 rows of a table in Javascript Research paper, rst setup 100
Tue, Mar 09 15 Talk about getting data from a form in code Assignment 5 - Validate a Form 100
Thu, Mar 11 16      
Tue, Mar 16 17   Research paper, first page 100
Thu, Mar 18 18 How to do back-end validation. Work on Assignment 7 Assignment 6 - Insert a Record 100
Tue, Mar 23 19 Work on Assignment 7    
Thu, Mar 25 20 Talk about passwords and password rules. Work on assignment 8    
Tue, Mar 30 21   Assignment 7 - Back-End Validate / Delete a Record 100
Thu, Apr 01 22 Work on assignment 8    
Tue, Apr 06 23 Cookies and sessions Research paper, draft 100
Thu, Apr 08 24 Local storage, work on login lab Assignment 8 - Edit a Record 100
Tue, Apr 13 25 Work on login lab    
Thu, Apr 15 26      
Tue, Apr 20 27 Talk about encoding, citations, final paper    
Thu, Apr 22 No class Symposium day Research paper, final 100
Tue, Apr 27 No class Final exam week    
Thu, Apr 29 No class Final exam week Assignment 9 - Login Lab 100
         
         
      Total points 1000
         
    A 93% 930
    A- 90% 900
    B+ 87% 870
    B 83% 830
    B- 80% 800
    C+ 77% 770
    C 73% 730
    C- 70% 700
    D+ 67% 670
    D 63% 630
    D- 60% 600

Student Assessment

Assignment Submission

  • Assignments must be submitted on-line via Simpson’s Scholar website.
  • Assignments are not accepted via e-mail.
  • Source code will be checked into GitHub.
    • This will require a free account on GitHub.
  • A live web server must be maintained using Amazon Web Services.
    • This will require an AWS account linked to a credit card. AWS offers one year of very basic level service free. If you are past that year there will be a nominal charge.
    • Make sure you shut down your servers at the end of class so you don’t keep getting charged.
    • See the instructor if you are not able set up your own server.

Grading

Grades will be calculated on a percent scale. The percentage is calculated by total points earned, divided by total points possible. If there is an attendance penalty, then that is subtracted next.

Danger

Simpson’s Scholar/Moodle site shows can show the wrong grade, for the two reasons below.

  • Scholar will not show any attendance penalty. You can look up your attendance on Scholar.
  • If there is a missing grade that hasn’t been set at zero, then Scholar will not show that in the average. For example, if there are 10 assignments, each worth 100 points, but one is missing, Scholar will show your average as 100 instead of 90. I do try to go back and enter zero on missing assignments so Scholar shows the correct grade, but sometimes that isn’t practical.

If you want to calculate your grade, total up your points, divide by the total possible. Then take into account any attendance policy penalty. See the attendance policy.

Appealing an assignment grade: Please do this within a week or two of the grade being posted. Please regularly check for missing assignment grades. After final grades are posted, I’ll only re-examine assignments turned in during finals. I’m not going back to look at early assignments. Turning in tech assignments can be more complex than turning in a paper, so it is critical to notice right away if you are missing a piece.

Appealing your final grade: If you believe your final grade is in error, please go through the effort of calculating the grade yourself. Total up points earned and the total points possible. Calculate the percentage. Check your attendance. Include that information when contacting the instructor.

Grading Scale

Grades are not rounded. For example, 92.99% is considered an A-, and 93.00% is an A.

Percent Grade
100-93% A
92-90% A-
89-87% B+
86-83% B
82-80% B-
79-77% C+
76-73% C
72-70% C-
69-67% D+
66-63% D
62-60% D-
59-0% F

Late-Work/Make-up Work Policy

  • All work should be turned in on-time.
  • Late work will be assigned a penalty:
    • 1-3 calendar days: 5%
    • 4-7 calendar days: 10%
    • 8-10 calendar days: 15%
    • 11-14 calendar days: 20%
    • 14+ calendar days, not accepted
  • All work must be in by midnight, April 29th. No extensions beyond this date/time are given unless you have a form filled out and signed for an “incomplete.”
  • Extra-credit / make up work is not offered.
  • If you need to use the lab for doing work, make sure to understand when the lab is open. The McNeill lab is usually closed on Sunday nights, and assignments are due Monday morning. Not knowing when the lab is open is not accepted as an excuse.

Attendance/Participation Policy

A student may miss three classes unexcused without penalty. After three unexcused absences, a student’s final grade will be lowered 3% for each class missed, not including the original three. So missing five classes will be a 6% penalty on the final grade.

Excused absences are those approved by the Academic Dean, or by prior permission of the instructor. Absences for sporting event functions are normally run through Dean’s office. E-mail me that you will be gone so that I can check you off as excused.

Danger

To be counted as attending class, the student must be present when the instructor takes attendance. Showing up to class 10 minutes late does not count towards attendance. Therefore continually showing up to class late can really hurt a student’s grade. If a student leaving class early with prior permission will be counted as absent.

COVID-19: Absences due to Covid-19 are excused, but you need to let me know, along with health services.

Course Assessment

Engaged Citizenship Grids

Written Communication (WC)

Written communication is the ability to communicate successfully via handwritten, printed, or electronic text.

Writing is an essential skill that students need in order to comprehend, analyze, and synthesize a variety of texts in a variety of disciplines. In college, students will learn to write in multiple contexts: in the Simpson Colloquiums, in general education courses, in courses for their majors, and in elective courses. Effective writing is also a skill they will find indispensable in their professional lives beyond the undergraduate academic setting.

Engaged citizens rely on strong writing skills, whether they are exploring and developing their own ideas, responding fairly and responsibly to the ideas and perspectives of others, or crafting the polished, compelling and persuasive expression so often necessary to shaping and creating a diverse and just community.

A student who completes a WC course will be able to…

Student Learning Objective (SLO) Class activities directly relating to this SLO Student work to be evaluated for this SLO
WC SLO1. articulate an idea and formulate a thesis as appropriate to the discipline Lecture, quizzes, labs Tutorial on how and why to use a new web technology
WC SLO2. identify and correct errors in grammar and/or style in written communication Lecture, quizzes, labs Students review each other’s tutorial draft and turn in a marked-up copy
WC SLO3. provide credible evidence to support claims and arguments in written communication Lecture, quizzes, labs Tutorial on how and why to use a new web technology
WC SLO4. organize thoughts in a logical fashion in written communication Lecture, quizzes, labs Tutorial on how and why to use a new web technology

Student Learning Outcomes for the Major

CIS Major SLO #1: Apply and manage computer systems to meet business objectives.

CIS Major SLO #2: Create and manage computer systems utilizing a variety of information technologies.

CIS Major SLO #3: Design, implement, and modify normalized database systems. Graduates will also know how to maintain and manage database systems.

Contact Hours and Learning Time

CIS 320 meets two times per week. Class covers 14 weeks, with one week of break, and one day off for Honor Symposium giving us a total of 25 classes. At 90 minutes per class, that’s 37.5 hours of meeting time.

There are a total of 13 assignments. Each assignment should take approximately three hours of research and five hours of work. This will add up to about 104 hours of work.

Total time spent on the class should be about 141 hours.

Policies and Procedures

Course Continuity Plan

Should the normal instructional activity on the campus be shortened or interrupted by a campus-wide closing, students will receive information from the instructor or other representative of the college about when and if the course might be continued or completed via Internet, telephone, or United States mail.

Academic Integrity

Simpson’s Statement: In all endeavors, Simpson College expects its students to adhere to the strictest standards of honesty and integrity. In keeping with the College’s mission to develop the student’s critical intellectual skills, while fostering personal integrity and moral responsibility, each student is expected to abide by the Simpson College rules for academic integrity. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to) any form of cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, misreporting any absence as college-sponsored or college-sanctioned, submitting a paper written in whole or in part by someone else, or submitting a paper that was previously submitted in whole or in substantial part for another class without prior permission. If the student has any questions about whether any action would constitute academic dishonesty, it is imperative that he or she consult the instructor before taking the action. All cases of substantiated academic dishonesty must be reported to the student’s academic advisor and the Dean for Academic Affairs. For further guidance on these rules and their sanctions, please see the college catalog.

My addition: Students are strongly encouraged to work with one another on homework; however, blatant copying of assignments will be considered cheating.

If I get two assignments that are the same thing, both people will get zeros. Guard your homework carefully, so it is not used as a source for cheating. Don’t e-mail it to a friend so they can ‘use it to learn’ or ‘as a template’. Don’t allow someone to simply read off what you have on your computer screen. By allowing someone to cheat, that will allow the person to get behind in what they understand, and they will never catch up.

A student caught cheating will either get a zero for the assignment, have his/her over-all letter grade reduced, or be flunked from the course. Cheating students may be required to do extra work.

The instructor keeps a database of prior assignments and assignments commonly found on the Internet. The instructor will periodically run scans to look for duplicate assignments. We catch students cheating every. single. year. Don’t do it.

Regardless, cheating is like paying for a gym membership, and then sending someone else to work out for you. It doesn’t make sense. You aren’t going to get stronger that way.

Accommodations for Students with Accessibility Needs

I want everyone in this class to be successful. If you have a physical, sensory, learning, or psychological disability that can interfere with your learning, I want you to receive the accommodations to which you are entitled by law. In order for me to do provide accommodations to a student, the student’s disability must be documented with the Student Accessibility Office. I cannot assist a student with accommodations that I don’t know are needed, so if you need something, please make sure that you either contact me or that you ask Simpson’s Student Accessibility Coordinator, to do so on your behalf. If you have any further questions on the policies and services for students with disabilities, please refer to the academic catalog or go to http://simpson.edu/academics/student-accessibility/

Inclusive Explanation Statement

In this course, each voice in the classroom has something of value to contribute. Please take care to respect the different experiences, beliefs, and values expressed by students and staff involved in this course. We support Simpson’s commitment to diversity, and welcome individuals of all ages, backgrounds, citizenships, disabilities, sex, education, ethnicities, family statuses, genders, gender identities, geographical locations, languages, military experience, political views, races, religions, sexual orientations, socioeconomic statuses, and work experiences.

Sexual and Relationship Misconduct

Simpson College strives to create an environment free from sexual or relationship misconduct of any kind; and in which those who have experienced sexual misconduct get the help and support they need. Simpson’s Sexual and Relationship Misconduct Policy outlines expectations the college has students and employees, including faculty. In order to do all that we can to maintain a safe campus community, and in compliance with Federal law, all employees of the college are expected to report knowledge of alleged sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator. Therefore, if you reveal to me, in conversation, writing, class discussion, or in any other manner, that you have experienced sexual misconduct it is my obligation to share that information with the Title IX Coordinator on our campus. Please know that if this is a step that needs to be taken, I will do my best to involve you in that process so that you know what to expect as a result of the communication with the Title IX Coordinator. To learn more about the expectations the college has of you with respect to sexual misconduct, you can find the full policy here:

http://simpson.edu/sexual-and-relationship-misconduct-policy/