Introduction to E-Commerce and Web Development

E-commerce

  • Definition: E-commerce, or Electronic Commerce, involves buying and selling products/services via the internet.

  • Types of E-commerce:

    • Business to Business (B2B)

    • Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

    • Business to Consumer (B2C)

    • Consumer to Business (C2B)

    • Business to Government (B2G)

    • Consumer to Government (C2G)

Web Server

  • A web server is required to host an e-commerce site.

  • It serves content via HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol).

  • HTTP status codes include:

    • 200: OK (request successfully processed)

    • 201: Created (new resource successfully created)

    • 403: Forbidden (access to the resource is prohibited)

    • 404: Not Found (the requested resource does not exist)

    • 500: Internal Server Error (generic server error)

    • 502: Bad Gateway (server received an invalid response from another server)

    • 503: Service Unavailable (server is currently unable to handle the request)

Using Scripting to Generate Web Pages

  • PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) is a scripting language that embeds into HTML, allowing dynamic page generation.

  • A PHP program is executed by a scripting engine (like Apache), which evaluates requests, accesses stored data, and delivers responses to the browser.

  • The website should facilitate user interaction (e.g., creating accounts, placing orders, leaving reviews).

  • A dynamic website relies on a database:

    • Queries data via SQL (Structured Query Language).

    • Interaction with the database is hidden from users, allowing seamless operation.

DNS (Domain Name Service/System)

  • DNS translates human-readable domain names into numeric IP addresses (e.g., stevens.edu becomes 155.146.0.18).

  • Upon server setup, an IP address is assigned to the domain.

  • The process of purchasing a domain and linking it to an IP address is essential for website functionality.

  • Dynamic interactions occur on both the client (browser) and server (web server and database) sides, involving HTTP requests and responses.