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Web Application Development

Course Code: CST-1251  |  Second Semester
Duration 15 Weeks
Lectures 3 per week  ×  1 hour
Textbooks
📚
Required Textbook
How To Build a Website with CSS and HTML
Erin Glass — DigitalOcean, New York City, 2020
📄
Reference Books
  • HTML & CSS: The Complete Reference, 5th Edition — McGraw-Hill
  • URL Resources (Optional)
Course Description
This course provides a hands-on introduction to web application development using HTML and CSS. Students begin by setting up a development environment and progress through core HTML elements, hyperlinks, forms, and validation before moving into styling with CSS and modern CSS frameworks. The course also covers practical deployment skills including layout design, version control with Git and GitHub, public hosting, and search engine optimisation. The course concludes with a project that requires students to apply critical thinking to design and publish a complete web application.

Learning Objectives

  1. Introduce students to the principles and tools of modern web development.
  2. Build proficiency in writing well-structured HTML documents using core elements, hyperlinks, and forms.
  3. Develop the ability to style and lay out web pages using CSS and CSS frameworks.
  4. Introduce version control workflows using Git and GitHub for collaborative and individual projects.
  5. Equip students with practical skills for deploying websites to public hosting platforms.
  6. Introduce search engine optimisation (SEO) and meta tags for improving web visibility.
  7. Foster critical thinking through an end-of-course web application project.

Learning Outcomes

  • Set up a local web development environment including an IDE and web server.
  • Build structured web pages using HTML elements, tables, images, and forms with validation.
  • Apply CSS styling and CSS frameworks to create responsive and visually appealing layouts.
  • Use Git and GitHub to manage and version-control a web project.
  • Deploy a working website to a public hosting platform.
  • Implement SEO best practices and meta tags to optimise web pages for search engines.
  • Design and present a complete web application demonstrating end-to-end development skills.
Major Topics Covered
HTML Fundamentals
Hyperlinks & Forms
CSS Styling
CSS Frameworks
Layout Design
Git & GitHub
Web Hosting
SEO & Meta Tags
Assessment Components
30%
Project
30%
Practical / LMS
40%
Final Exam
Lecture Structure: 3 lectures per week, each up to 60 minutes. The course runs for 15 weeks. Practical exercises accompany each topic; the course concludes with an individual or group web application project requiring critical thinking and independent problem-solving.
Course Outline
Week Topic
Part I HTML Fundamentals
Week 01 Introduction to Web Development
Installation β€” IDE and Web Server Setup
Week 02 HTML Elements (Basics)
  • Paragraph, Poem, Style, Image, Background Image, Table
Week 03 HyperLink Tag
HyperLink β€” Other Usages
Week 04 HTML Simple Form
Form Validation
Week 05 Add-ons & Extended HTML Features
Part II CSS and Layout
Week 06 CSS β€” Selectors, Properties, and Styling
Week 07 CSS Frameworks (e.g. Bootstrap)
Week 08 Layout Design β€” Flexbox & Grid
Part III Version Control & Deployment
Week 09 Git and GitHub β€” Version Control Workflow
Week 10 Public Hosting β€” Deploying a Website
Part IV SEO & Search Visibility
Week 11 SEO Fundamentals and Meta Tags
Week 12 Indexing on Search Engines
Week 13 💻   Project β€” Web Application Development (Critical Thinking)
Week 14 💻   Project β€” Testing, Debugging & Refinement
Week 15 💻   Project β€” Presentation & Peer Review
🎓   Final Exam