How to create mobile apps using PhoneGap?

What is PhoneGap?

PhoneGap is an open source mobile development framework that enables you to build mobile applications for various platforms by using eminent web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

The main idea is to build a application using the architecture of PhoneGap and distribute across manifold platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, Symbian, webOS and Bada.

The following are some of the main reasons that you want to build PhoneGap applications:

• PhoneGap applications have the potential of running on various mobile platforms like iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
• You can use web development skills of already existing developers instead of learning and implementing device-specific languages such as Java or Objective-C.
• You can make your applications accessible to more than one native APIs such as camera, accelerometer, etc.
• The applications that you develop using PhoneGap will be available offline also.
• You can make your applications available in an app store or market and monetize it.
• You can make the icon of your application appear on the home screen of mobile devices.

If you want to build a native application for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other devices, then use the PhoneGap that wraps your HTML, CSS and JavaScript into an application, which can be installed on mobile devices, and provides access to some of the device APIs like camera, location, permanent storage, and phone’s contact list.

However, WaveMaker is an open source software development platform that supports you to build native applications. It provides users with easy access to most common PhoneGap APIs, a build option for building a zip file that can be uploaded to a location where your project will be converted into native applications, and the tools that enable you to build PhoneGap applications locally on your system.

PhoneGap acquires the whole WaveMaker client-side runtime environment and your entire project files, and then provides access to them through iOS, Android and Windows WebView components.

PhoneGap APIs

The two tools that are used to access the PhoneGap APIs are as follows:

1. PhoneGapService component
2. A typical ServiceVariable

PhoneGapService component: Insert PhoneGapService component from the Studio’s Inset menu, and you can able to set an operation to any of the below mentioned device APIs.

• geolocation_getCurrentPosition
• notification_beep
• notification_vibrate
• contacts_read
• contacts_delete
• contacts_save
• capture_picture
• capture_audio

A typical ServiceVariable:

• Calls a server
• Sends inputs and a method to the server
• Gets back a response
• Stores the response; allowing you to access it via., binding or calls to getData or getValue
• Calls onSuccess, onError and onResult

Local Storage

You can access LocalStorage by using your wm.Variable/ServiceVariable/LiveVariable's saveInPhonegap property. Any data that is stored to your Variable/ServiceVariable will also be stored in permanent memory.

Other APIs

You can get an entire list of APIs that are provided by PhoneGap from the website http://phonegap.com.

PhoneGap Build Server vs. Local Build

• PhoneGap Build Server: 

This server requires no installation or configuration. You just need to register with their website and then upload the zip file that Studio generates. Instead of installing and configuring various development environments, you just let the build server do all of the work.

• Local Builds using XCode or Eclipse: 

There is installation, setup and if you have made any mistake in this, then definitely debugging involved. Once you set up the environments, the time that is taken between hitting Save in the studio, and viewing the updates to your project that is running in an emulator is not more than 20 seconds.

• Register PhoneGap Build Server:

You can register Phonegap’s build server for free.  To configure your build, go to Studio's File menu -> Deploy Project submenu -> PhoneGap Build, and then hit the Ok button. This will generate a build for you. Then you can upload the generated build at http://build.phonegap.com.

It will take only few minutes to upload your project to the build server. Once it is done, it would have generated iOS, Android, Windows Phone and other applications.

Building using Local Development Environments

Generally, when you test your applications, your server runs on localhost. To do effective testing, you need to ensure that your test device can access your localhost server, or use Emulators that are running on the same machine.

You can do this by simply connecting them to the same wireless router, editing config.js, and then setting wm.xhrPath to have the IP address of your computer to the wireless router.

Debugging
You can able to install a debugger onto your computer. The debugger allows you to use an entire webkit debugger that helps you to debug your application when it is running on test device or an emulator.

Error Messages

1) When launching the application on an Android device.
Error message: The connection to the server was unsuccessful.
Solution: You have to move the loading of remote resources out of index.html and also into your application where it will fail gently.
2) http://build.phonegap.com, IOS build
Error message: You must provide a signing key first
Solution: Start reading https://build.phonegap.com/docs/ios-builds.
3) http://build.phoengap.com, Blackberry build
Error message: Too many files in www directory
Solution: Buy a phone from someone else
Resources/Links
• To use the PhoneGap API, use this link: http://docs.phonegap.com/
• To log into the PhoneGap build server, use this link: http://build.phonegap.com
• To configure your PhoneGap build server app, use this link:  https://build.phonegap.com/docs/config-xml
• To use the PhoneGap API natively within a browser, without using a PhoneGap build, then use this link: http://phonegap.com/2012/07/09/phonegap-and-dolphin-browser-garage-api/

What are the benefits of using CodeIgniter framework?

Nowadays, you have so many open supply platforms that enable you to develop websites for gratis, but, only a few of them like CodeIgniter allows a hassle-free website development, as it provides various features in a suite to support quick and efficient development.

CodeIgniter is an open source rapid application development framework that is used to develop dynamic websites with PHP. However, CodeIgniter is not a perfect PHP substitute; it is a PHP driven framework that includes a grab-bag of plug-ins, libraries, modules and other resources to support complicated PHP procedures and functions.

CodeIgniter is a very simple and elegant toolkit that comprehensively serves you with many benefits:

• As CodeIgniter is an open source framework, it is really simple to configure
• It is easy to learn, adopt and deploy
• It allows you to easily do customization for your own requirements
• It simplifies the PHP syntax
• It makes coding in PHP very simple, quick and easy to use
• It is a brilliant framework used to learn more about how PHP works
• It allows you to streamline the code underlying your web pages easily
• It is built on a linear and easy-to-use folder structure
• It is a depiction of straightforward solutions
• It supports easy, hassle-free migration from server hosting to server hosting
• You can apply a new functionality that doesn’t affect the customization at all
• It provides suppleness and effortless management with an MVC based framework
• Active Record Implementation is outstanding and easy to remember
• It provides simple configuration and also customization of configuration files
• It facilitates easy working with different kinds of developers
• It consists of a good collection of possessed libraries
• Excellent documentation of the user guide that helps coders to use the entire framework easily
• It enables to integrate its own existing scripts and develop core libraries for the system
• It is lightweight and widespread Thai user base
• With the help of CodeIgniter, you can make synergistic, spontaneous, interactive, and proficient websites in no time
• As CodeIgniter provides an extensive compatibility along with standard hosting accounts, configuration and typical coding rules are not needed
• CodeIgniter uses a direct approach while handling models. The workings of CodeIgniter are very clear as well as open, hence it is easily understandable what is happening and therefore it is simple to use
• It underpins the MVC approach to website development, i.e., a good practice philosophy that must be adhered by all developers
• Using CodeIgniter, You can construct your own cleaner URI lines

How does augmented reality works?

Augmented Reality or AR is a cutting-edge technology that enables a digitally enhanced view of the real world. It is alive, either direct or indirect, view of physical and real-world environment in which elements are improved by computer-generated sensory input such as video, audio, graphics or GPS data.

The possibilities of Augmented Reality are nearly endless. It enhances one’s current perception of reality. Using Augmented Reality, the artificial information about the environment as well as its objects can be overlaid on the real world.

The main objective of Augmented Reality is to build a system in which the user cannot be able to find out the exact differences between the virtual amplification and the real world. Hence, Augmented Reality is used in almost all industries today.

Now, let’s take a look at how augmented reality actually works. This will give you a pretty knowledge of why and where we are with Augmented Reality applications, and what is going to take this technology up to the next level.

To understand the process clearly, we will break the process down into the necessary components that make Augmented Reality possible.

There are different options, such as a projector that can be placed on the top of the surface you want to augment, or the another common one, a monitor or television that provides a clear view of reality through a remote camera, and also the power to display graphic information based on the things that are added by the production team in their broadcast studios or your computer hardware.

Also, you have some other devices for other senses like a glove or earpiece that could provide more information to both the sense of touch or hearing. Whatever may be, something must be there in between your organic senses to allow them to transform an unseen stimulus into something that you can able to detect.

Window on the world: 

The first and foremost thing that you need for Augment Reality is absolutely some reality. If you have some reality, then you can possibly create an exclusive virtual world. So, the main thing that you need for Augmented Reality is a window on the world. Either a remote view through a video screen, or the location with which you want to augment, you need the canvas of reality to add information. If there is no reality, there is no Augmented Reality.

Augmented Reality display device:

After getting your background environment, you need to think about the way of displaying the augmentations. The main idea of Augmented Reality is to provide information about your environment, that is, otherwise not detectable to your naked senses. So, to make this to work, you need a method of exhibiting those annotations that would not normally exist. Most often, an effective frame is needed through which you can look at the world. The typical examples are mobile phones, head mounted display like a visor or glasses, heads up display, or tablets.

The second option is the Internet, which is the great source of freely accessible data. For example, Wikipedia, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc., are some of the sources where you can able to retrieve data such as photos, telephone numbers, status updates, likes, dislikes, and so on.

Connection: 

No matter wherever you retrieve information, you need a live connection to that information for Augmented Reality to work. You need to use high-speed cables to have a direct and flawless connection between the computer and your windows on the world, i.e., your Augmented Reality display device. For consistent Augmented Reality experience, the user must rely heavily on coverage and speed of the Internet connection.

Application:

The hardware is in place; however, there is a lot of reality out there and a huge amount of information on the Internet for your Augmented Reality display device to connect to. Now, you need some software to recognize what is coming into your device from the outside environment, call up the needed information according to that, and then instruct your mobile device or HMD to display and overlay the data flawlessly.

However, you will require some graphics processing hardware that works appropriately for the initial recognition part of the process and also having the capacity to generate the augmentations for the users to view. Moreover, all of these have to be done in real-time for it to work.

The initial recognition part includes using GPS to track the user’s location instead of having to rely on the software to perfectly identify the user’s environment based on a view of information through the lens of your mobile device.

Perhaps one of the difficult tasks of all is nothing but tracking the virtual objects and render them perfectly in 3D, so that the users can able to move through their environment while still receiving perfect annotations of what they view.

It might be possible for an application to pull in 3D information of absolutely everything in a scene. Hence, it is significant to have something that is both selective and self-effacing as well. This is nothing but augmented reality, and both the augmentations and the reality are just as imperative as one another.

Conclusion:

These are the elements that made Augmented Reality possible. If you manage to complete that chain from one end to another, then you can have a system that works well, and is hopefully useful at the same time.

Recent trends in internet technologies 2014!

Today’s life is definitely dominated by the prevailing technology of the internet. Every phase of our life is either directly or indirectly connected with various existing internet technologies such as the internet of electronic things, wearable devices, augmented reality, big data & machine learning algorithms, mHealth technologies, 3D printing, Intraday delivery, mobile payment & virtual currencies, electric cars, and e-learning.

Almost all electronic devices are now connected to the internet. Initially electronic devices, such as personal computers, notebooks, tablets and mobile phones, were the only things connected to the internet, but later on, some more have been added such as televisions, cars, glasses and watches.

Subsequently, the things like refrigerators, electric meters, hoovers, and many more will also be connected in the future. However, these smart devices are not only just connected to the internet, but also will provide contextual relevance and a smooth experience to the users.  So, these devices are expected to have higher adoption rates, linking every part of our lives.

Next, wearable technology is going to be a big buzz in the year 2014. Some products like activity bands, smart helmets, smart clothing and Google Glass are all equipped with interconnected devices powered by the internet. While wearable watches are already available in the market even they have very limited functionality.

And, Google Glass is getting closer to the consumer, introducing a new trend in the market, where web-based information is directly integrated into our daily activities. The launch of Google Glass in the year 2014 will definitely lead to a greater growth in the market. This will shorten the distance between the technology and the users by allowing them to augment their day-to-day activities such as buying products by merely scanning them from a magazine, watching a video on the cover of a newspaper, taking photos and videos, etc.

Furthermore, it is expected that the technology is going to merge with clothing too. For example: Smart Shoes from Adidas will be having an integrated accelerometer, Bluetooth and a gyroscope, which will motivate the user to do exercises.

Another new technology that is having great impact in this modern world is the augmented reality, i.e., the apps that connect the physical world and the virtual world. It is the assimilation of digital information with live video or the user’s surroundings in real time. It is predicted that the market for augmented reality mobile apps is going to grow rapidly during this year. According to the report given by Juniper Research, the revenue will expected to reach $5.2 billion by the year 2017.

However, traditional analytics has become outdated, and the future of technology is going to be shaped by machine learning algorithms, i.e., the algorithms which can be learned from the data they process and trained to advance as they process huge amount of data.

Due to the exponential growth of data, simple data analysis is no longer valuable today. Machine learning has become very important in our lives, as it helps in filtering spam emails, providing appropriate searches on the top pages of Google search, and so on. Machine learning technologies always provide you the information that you want when it is required.

With the proliferation of mobile phones at low costs in the up-and-coming economies, mHealth technologies have possibly improved the lives of millions of people all around the world, and also making healthcare more customized and effectual. Based on the analysis, it is expected that the global mHealth market is going to be worth $11.8 billion by the year 2018.

The ingenious dimensions of the latest technological possibilities are enormous, ranging from architecture to interior design to art & education. On the other hand, technology also plays a vital role in manufacturing. Now it is not necessary to store spare parts in large warehouses, and send them over thousands of kilometers. Instead, you can print them whenever and wherever they are really required.

Also, the new technologies in e-commerce have changed the way we do online shopping. For instance, one-day delivery service model has entirely disrupted the business models of traditional logistics and transport companies. This model has important consequences, even though air traffic control and buzz safety and usage system are there which prevent rapid proliferation.

Another internet technology with a huge impact on the world is the mobile payment. Not only the number of mobile phones has increased, but also the payment methods have significantly increased. Various payment methods, such as PayPal’s new wireless payment solution, NFC-enabled devices, digital wallets and Beacon, etc., have been progressively reaching the mass market, enabling people to pay an amount without using any wallet or cash.

Applications that provide flexible payment options are Google Wallet app, Apple’s iBeacon technology, etc. Google Wallet app allows users to send money using only their mobile devices, and Apple’s iBeacon technology not only just provides various payment options but also provides indoor mapping as well as personalization.

In 2014, many vendors including traditional car manufacturers have launched electric cars. Unlike traditional cars, the electric cars will be equipped with wireless connections, computers and sensors. This allows the cars to know more information about the drivers, which could be very helpful for the manufacturers. Even though few issues are there with the batteries and charging, some enhancements and adaptations are expected to be done in the coming future.

Finally, e-learning has changed the face of education and learning system forever. Several novel online learning platforms and portals have also been disrupted the traditional education models. Initially, these platforms and portals were introduced to provide high-quality education, but later the consequences have been unexpectedly high. This technology has made the classrooms an interactive and inspiring learning environment, and also made knowledge accessible to everyone easily.

If there is one segment in Information Technology that had an enormous amount of innovation and swift development in the past 10 years, then it is internet technology. So, it is important to have a better understanding about the changing trends in internet technology in today’s competitive business world.

What to do to differentiate your Ecommerce Business?

Just imagine that you could be able to sell your products or services online at very good prices, and also have your customers be excited to pay the amount whatever you charge for your products or services. This sounds good! Yes, it is utterly possible if you use proper methods and strategies in your e-commerce business.

To make your e-commerce business different from your competitors and steer miles ahead of them, then these are the ways that help you to achieve your goal:

• One of the best ways to separate yourself from your competitors is through absolutely exceptional customer service. Offering an outstanding and unique customer service is easier said than done. As an e-commerce business owner, you have to analyze and decide on what would appeal to your customer base. It could be quick delivery, packaging, and may be shipping options. Find out the unique ways of serving your customers in a better manner, and stand out from your competitors.
  
• Personalization and customization are the most popular aspects in e-commerce business. Personalization involves modifying your e-commerce website to suit your customer’s preferences by using cookies. For example, if a customer is buying a product from your website, you need to list out the similar products of interest on your homepage when the next time the customer login. On the other hand, customization helps you to empower the users by providing them tailor-made solutions based on their requirements.
  
• Enrich the user experience when the users come to your e-commerce website for buying your products or services. Creating a memorable and exciting experience for the users not only brings satisfaction to them, but also guarantees repeat business. Even for first-time visitors of your website, the novelty of the user experience immediately sparks their interest, draws them into your online store, and keeps them do more online purchases from your website.
  
• Harnessing technology and social media into your e-commerce business is very important to beat your competitors. If you are innovative, you can always harness the latest available technologies and integrate them into your e-commerce website to grow your online business. On the other hand, given that social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and so on, has turned out to be a tidal wave, hence it is mandatory to accord it a special place in your e-commerce strategy.
  
• Offering attractive or competitive price is obviously one of the best ways to attract more customers. You can sell your products or services at lower prices as compared to your competitors by following various options such as managing to source your products or services at affordable prices, or being able to cut down or reduce the shipping expenses, etc. Indeed, lower price can be a formidable competitive advantage. So, price is undeniably considered as a strong way of differentiating your e-commerce website.
  
• Offering a guarantee on your products or services shows your customers that you are assuming the risk, because your customer satisfaction is your primary concern. Apart from providing best customer service and amazing user experience, you can put your customers at ease with a splendid guarantee. Offering guarantee speaks volumes about your e-commerce business, and how firmly your business stands behind your products or services.

Ecommerce is obviously a promising realm of opportunities for ambitious business owners, and the only way to outdo the competition is by daring to be absolutely different. Apart from the above mentioned strategies, there are also some other strategies available to differentiate your e-commerce business, and also it all depends on your ground-breaking and passionate approach.

Comparison between web 2.0 and web 3.0 standards

World Wide Web or WWW was first introduced in the year 1991. But, later, as the technology advanced, new versions of web standards in the form of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 came into existence. However, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 are obviously considered more advanced and easy to use when compared with Web 1.0. But, most of the people are confusing with the changes and the evolution that have taken place. This article aims to be clear out the difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0.

S.No	Web 2.0	Web 3.0
1	“The document Web”	“The metadata Web”
2	“The social Web”	“The intelligent Web”
3	Static	Highly mobile, three-dimensional or 3D
4	Controversial	Even more controversial
5	Writable phrase of the WWW	Executable phrase of the WWW with interactive services, dynamic applications and “machine-to-machine” interaction
6	Uses the read-write web	Uses semantic web
7	Google as catalyst	Semantic Web companies as catalyst
8	Google keyword search is used to find information	Databases with metadata are used to find information
9	Uses blogs, web applications, rich media and viral media	Uses drag and drop mashups and widgets
10	Focuses on Communities	Focuses on Individuals
11	Uses online knowledge community that entails people tagging of content and its categorization	Uses content management systems along with artificial intelligence
12	Facilitates interaction between web users and sites	Interprets information like humans and wisely produce and distribute useful content customized to the requirements of users
13	Abundance of information	Control of information
14	Sharing Content	Consolidating Dynamic Content
15	The key technologies developed during this stage of the Web include are Blogs (Blogger); Wikis (Wikipedia); Social Bookmarking (del.icio.us); Social Networks (Facebook, MySpace); Instant Messaging (Yahoo!, Google Talk, AIM); Mash-ups; Auction Web sites (eBay); and Professional Networking (Linked-in, Plaxo).	The key technologies developed during this stage of the Web include are Ontologies (YAGO, DBPedia); Semantic Searching; Thesauri and Taxonomies; Personal Intelligent Digital Assistants; and ·         Knowledge Bases.

Create a Facebook Page for a business now!!

Have you decided to create a Facebook Page for your business? Wondering how to get your Facebook Page started? This article helps you to set up a new Facebook Page for your business.

If you have a Facebook account, then you can able to create a Facebook Page within few minutes easily and quickly. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a web developer, web designer, marketing expert or tech savvy to create an enticing Facebook Page.

To set up a Facebook Page for your business, just follow the below mentioned steps:

• Log into Facebook: Don’t you have a personal profile set up on Facebook? First, create your personal profile rather than just creating a “business-only” Facebook Page. Your Business Page will be tied to your personal profile; however both the Pages are completely separate. No one can view your personal information, not even your name, from your Page.
  
• Select a Category: Open the link www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, and select any one main category that suits your business very well. Don’t select Local Business or Place if you don’t have any physical storefront. This is because Facebook will automatically turn your Facebook Page into a Place as well.
  
• Name your Page: Think well and provide your Facebook Page name carefully. If you have a clear brand name, then naming your Page is easy. Have keywords in your Facebook Page title, because this helps your Page to come up in Facebook search. Once you have provided the name, select the check box next to “I agree to Facebook Pages Terms” and click Get Started.
  
• Add your profile picture: Your profile picture will be appearing next to each and every post that goes into the news feed from your Facebook Page. So, add an image relevant to your business, for example: brand logo, as your profile picture. Once you have added your profile picture in your Page, then click Next.
  
• Add your basic “About” information: The About Page is the main page where you can briefly provide the information about your business. As this page is indexed in Google, make sure that you provide descriptive and keyword-rich content in this page. Also, ensure that you link your business website in this field, so that the visitors can able to easily find out your website. Here you can also add other websites that you want to direct the visitors to. Once done, click the Yes radio button and click Save Info.
  
• Like your own Facebook Page: Facebook allows you to give “like” to your own Facebook Page. You can give “like” to your own page if you want, else you can skip it.
  
• Don’t invite your email contacts: Facebook displays a page where you can invite your email contacts. However, until or unless your Facebook Page is updated a bit more, it is better to avoid inviting your email contacts. Instead, create your own email message and send it directly from the email service you use.
  
• Start sharing: Facebook allows you to share your first status update. You can either share your update now or you can skip this step. But, before you start inviting people to like your Facebook Page, you can have many status updates on your timelines, which makes people to see the types of things you are going to be sharing.
  
• Add a cover photo: Read the Facebook’s Cover Photo terms properly, and then add a cover photo to your Facebook Page accordingly. Before adding your cover photo, make sure that it meets all the guidelines. Then, click the Add a Cover button and select Upload Photo. Choose your photo, place it properly on your Page, and click Save Changes.
  
• Review your permissions:  Go to Edit Page, manage permissions from the admin panel and then review how your permissions are set up. Here, you may want to change the Profanity Blocklist to Medium, and also your Message button. Ensure that you monitor all the messages there, and also that you are making it easy for the people to send you messages in a different way.

Your Facebook Page is almost ready! It’s now time for you to get some likes on your Page!

What you need to do to make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly?

You have an e-commerce website for your online business. Well done. But, is it mobile-friendly? If no, then that may be the main reason why your website is not preferred by most users for shopping.

Because, in the recent past days, more and more people are turning to their handheld devices like mobile phones and tablets to access the web. So, it is important that your e-commerce website must not only be user-friendly but also be mobile-friendly.

Furthermore, the web design must be conductive in order to make the e-commerce portion of the website navigation-friendly, i.e., easily accessible for users. Always keep in mind that the users may not have enough patience and also may easily get frustrated. So, make sure that the users must stay on your e-commerce website, and they can able to complete the purchase or transaction in a timely manner.

So, are you ready to make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly? If yes, here are the three ways to go about achieving your goal.

• Keep everything simple: Never make the navigational system overly confusing; always make it simple and easy. Ensure that the users can able to view a clear and concise navigational path towards buying your products or services. Once your e-commerce mobile website is developed, imagine that you have never used the website and look out the website at your customer’s perspective. Then customize your website to meet all your customer’s requirements. Always make your website simple, fast and easy, and also make your navigational links obvious. If everything in your e-commerce website is concise, quick and smooth, then the number of purchasers using your site will be increased, which in turn increases your retention rate and profits.
• Make your e-commerce website responsive: A responsive web design is an approach in which the information from a website is converted to fit different types of devices such as mobile phones and tablets. To provide an optimal viewing experience to your users, make your e-commerce website responsive. When your website is responsive, it makes it much simpler for the users to access what they need from your website. The most important things, such as products, services and the e-commerce portion, have to pop right out at the customer, allowing them to have a quick and on the go access to the mobile commerce portion, and hence successfully complete their purchases.
• Use WordPress to build your website: WordPress is an open source blogging tool that provides a huge variety of plug-ins and enables you to build an effective mobile-friendly websites easily. For example, WP touch is one of the plug-ins that will make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly and accessible. That is, this plug-in allows the users to see a mobile version of your e-commerce website on their mobile phones. In case, if you don’t have WordPress, then you can still use other ways to make your e-commerce website mobile-friendly. So many methods and approaches are available to make an e-commerce website mobile-friendly. So, choose a best one for your e-commerce site to achieve what you need.

At K2B Solutions, our expert web design and development team can help to make your e-commerce website more mobile-friendly for your users. We set up WordPress through your e-commerce website to make the entire process simple.  Also, we make the navigational links simpler and concise, and thus make your e-commerce website responsive, which can help retain your customers and maximize profits for your online business.

What important technical details should a programmer consider before making the website live?

As a web developer or programmer, you need to concentrate on some vital technical information before making your website live. The foremost thing that you need to concentrate on is using an appropriate platform for your web development.

You need to make sure that the platform you’re going to use for developing the website must be stable, secure, high-performing and scalable. Also, it must meet all kinds of business goals such as less cost, quick development time, high Google ranking, and so on.

Next, you need to be more specific about using web standards for your website development. As a professional web developer, you need to have specific consideration on HTML, JavaScript and CSS over HTTP.

Before using any web standards, ensure that which web standards you are going to use, and also ensure that in what circumstances and why you are going to use those standards.

So, what important technical details you should consider before make your website live?

• Make sure that your website works reasonably well across all major browsers, because sometimes browsers implement standards inconsistently. Also, consider how browsers render your website in various operating systems, and how people might use the website other than from major browsers.
• Ensure that you deploy updates on the websites without affecting the users. Have staging environments(one or more tests) available to implement changes on the websites, such as modifying architecture, adding content, changing code, etc., and ensure that they are deployed carefully without affecting anything else in the website. So, always have an automated way of deploying changes to the live website.
• Never display unfriendly errors straight away to the users of the website. Also, never provide the user’s email ID in plain text as it may get spammed to death. 
• Learn how doing progressive enhancement, which helps you to deliver the best possible experience to the users.
• Always REDIRECT after a POST if it was done successfully. This helps you to prevent a refresh from submitting again.
• Make sure that you take accessibility into account without fail. Because, in certain situation, it is a legal requirement.
• Aware about Injections like SQL injection, and learn how to prevent them. You have to use hash passwords to prevent rainbow attacks.
• Use SSL/HTTPS for pages like login pages or the pages where sensitive data is entered.
• Avoid cross site scripting (XSS) and cross site request forgeries (CSRF). Also, prevent session hijacking and Clickjacking.
• Implement caching if necessary. To do this, you have to use HTTP caching and HTML5 Manifest properly.
• Learn how to deflate content and optimize images in the website.
• To reduce the number of browser connections, try to compress duplications among files by improving gzip ability.
• For performance profiling, use Google page speed with browser extension. This helps to optimize images in the website. You can use CSS Image Sprites for small related images like toolbars.
• Reduce the number of HTTP requests that are required for a browser to render the web page.
• Always remember that SEO or Search Engine Optimization plays a greater role in generating traffic to your website. So, make sure that you use search engine friendly URLs in your website.
• Make sure that you install Google analytics tool or an open source analysis tool right at the start. You can also use Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools to get a detailed report about the visibility of your web pages on Google and Bing.
• Never forget to have an XML sitemap in the website. This helps you to tell Google about pages on your website.
• Use XHTML/HTML and CSS according to the W3C specifications and also ensure that they authenticate.
• Learn how JavaScript is processed in the browser. If you use iframes, then learn how the JavaScript sandbox works. Also, consider using JavaScript frameworks that hide the browser differences when using JavaScript for DOM manipulation.
• To load frameworks, consider using a service like Google Libraries API. This makes a browser to use a copy of the framework it has already cached instead of downloading a duplicate copy from your website.
• Always set up a better error reporting solution, and document how the application works. Also, make frequent backups and make sure that the backups are functional.
• Use a version control system that helps you to store your files. Also, never forget to do your acceptance testing.
• Ensure that you have enough logging in place using frameworks. When logging, make sure that you capture both handled exceptions as well as unhandled exceptions. And analyze the log output regularly to find out the key issues in your website.

What is a framework? Why using frameworks to build Websites and Web Applications?

What is a framework?

A framework is mainly designed to help developers to build unique websites and web applications. It provides core functionality to almost all web applications such as user session management, template systems and data persistence. By using a proper framework, a developer can able to save a significant amount of time when building a website.

When should a developer use a framework? 

The necessity of using a framework can be measured based two categories. 1) The level of customization you need, and 2) The developers whom you employ.

Suppose, in order to drive innovation in your company, you want to improve social interaction among your employees. However, you don’t want to use the public social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, etc. So, you want to create a custom social network among your employees. Therefore, you will be considered a custom development done for this purpose. As this will be requiring more customization, you will be more likely using a framework.

However, if you are not going to do the website or web application development by yourself, you will be employing a developer to do the work for you. Even thought a huge number of developers use open-source frameworks, some developers prefer to use their own custom-built internal frameworks, and some never uses framework at all.

Like many of the communities that share their opinions, the developer community does so many aspects, such as using the actual language and design pattern, writing the code, and of course, various aspects are also there about using frameworks.

Why using frameworks to build Websites and Web Applications?

• Most popular frameworks in many languages are open-source or available to use for free. Some frameworks come with licensing, but that is not restrictive and, however, allows developers to create commercial products using such frameworks.

• A framework has either good documentation or good support or both at the same time. At times, good support will be a subjective issue. Generally, paid support will be faster and more concise; however, this also depends on the activity level within the framework.

• Efficiency is the main reason why framework exists. If you use a framework to build a website, then you will not be required to write a lot of repetitive code, which you will find being used in various web applications.  Example: Commenting Systems and User-authentication. On average, you can expect to build a website in much less time than would be built writing code without using a framework.

• Generally, a framework is built and tested by a large number of developers. So, it is extremely likely that various different security risks are addressed and tested when building a framework. Moreover, new security risks can also be addressed and fixed easily and swiftly. 

• Suppose, if you are developing any web application and you want to store some data, then you will be using a database. Similar to database, there are various other tools available to link to web development. While Frameworks make it much easier to link to these tools and also to communicate with them.