CNMA 301 New Media Production Assignment 6

CNMA 301 New Media Production

Assignment 6: Introduction to LAMP Infrastructure

In the beginning of the World Wide Web web pages were static and much like a published book or magazine and the whole World Wide Web was more like a library. Every web page was hardcoded as html in a text file and each visitor saw the same content as every other visitor. One web advantage over publishing was that the pages could be consumed in any order of choice by clicking links.

With the development of the LAMP infrastructure during the 1990s, the web moved into its next phase when web pages became dynamic or interactive. Dynamic web pages allow a web page to be customized by user preferences. Facebook is an example. Everyone can go to facebook.com and see a similar layout but the content is different (dynamic) for each user.

The two most important developments that made dynamic web pages possible were databases capable of storing large amounts of information and Hypertext Pre-Processing (PHP) that could create custom html code on the fly using the information in a database.

For decades databases were the purview of banks, insurance companies and government agencies. Databases were complicated to maintain, required powerful computers, smart technicians and were just plain expensive to buy and operate.

Personal computers though eventually became powerful enough to run smaller databases but while the average computer user is not interested in creating databases they sure are interested in using databases.

Please review the slides on databasesfor the fundamentals of database design which is collecting information in fields, organizing fields into records and then combining records into tables. Multiple tables are combined to create a relational database.

Apple was a struggling computer company in the late 1990s. But Apple revolutionized the mp3 music industry with the iPod not because the iPod mp3 player was particularly better than other mp3 players but that it came with an easy to use database to organize and buy digital music called iTunes. It was iTunes that sold iPods. It was the database that set their product apart from other mp3 players. Apple went on to create several easy-to-use databases that supported the sales of their new computer the iMac. iPhoto, Calendar, Contacts, Mail, iWeb, iMovie are other examples of databases that are used on the local computer. These databases contributed to the resurgence of Apple in the late 1990s.

Please read the following short articles on LAMP.

LinuxRead the first two sections “What is Linux” and “Why use Linux”.

ApacheRead the first two sections “What is the Apache HTTP Server Project?” and “How Apache Came to Be”.

MySQL

PHPRead the first section

To Receive Credit for this Assignment

First make a list of databases that are important to your daily life. It might help to realize that many of the apps on your phone are simply an interface to a database. (Facebook and all other social media, maps, email, photos, YouTube, etc.) You can stop when you get to 20.

Second reflect a few moments on the impact of databases on your life. One of the biggest changes in society in your lifetime is the ability to cheaply store massive amounts of information in open source (fast and free) databases like MySQL. These can be databases on your computer (iTunes etc.), mobile device (Contacts, Social Media Apps, etc.) or that you access on the Internet with a web browser (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) or that are maintained by others on your behalf (MyBiola, DMV, etc.) Briefly summarize your thoughts (200-300 words) on this recent phenomenon how LAMP is fundamentally changing information expectations of your generation. Also comment on the dangers of storing so much information on individuals.

(My theory is that over time history will view LAMP as radically changing society just as the printing press, automobile, etc. are seen as forever changing society and its expectations.)

Hand in your written report on Canvas as a document you upload or a link to a Google Doc.

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