CS 315 Exam Two Terms and Concepts

Don't forget the basics of what you learned for the last test. So, remember things like XHTML, CSS, Javascript and the DOM.

Element positioning: absolute vs. relative vs. static
Moving elements by changing the top and left properties
Controlling visibility
Changing style attributes of DOM objects
Be familiar with the basic ideas of AJAX and how they can be used to update pages without reloading. You do not need to worry about the details of AJAX Javascript syntax, but you should be familiar with the main concepts.

Understand the basics of what Java Applets are
Understand what they can be used for
Understand why someone might choose to use them on a page (advantages of Applets)
Understand why someone might choose not to use them on a page (disadvantages of Applets)

Know what a web server is and, in a general way, what web server software is
Know what a Java servlet is and what one might be used for
Understand web security issues as discussed in class
- Know what buffer overflow is and why it is a problem
- Understand the basics of public key cryptography
- Know what certificates are and how they can be used to set up a secure connection between a browser and a web server using SSL
- Understand some simple ways to clean up input from forms and why it is important to do so

Be familiar with PHP and be able to write simple PHP programs.
Understand the somewhat odd way that arrays work in PHP.
Recall how to do file I/O in PHP.
Be familiar with regular expressions and pattern matching in PHP and be prepared to use them in simple examples.
Understand what cookies and sessions are and how they work in PHP. You don't have to remember all the details of the syntax.

Understand what a relational database is.
Understand why relational databases are so useful in concert with web pages.
Understand in a general way how to use PHP to insert and select elements in MySQL databases.
Know how to encode simple insert and select commands in SQL. Nothing too complicated. No joins required.