Course for the Laurea Magistrale degree in Computer Engineering, taught in English during the 2nd semester of the 1st year.
The objective of this course is to provide the student with the knowledge and abilities required for developing distributed applications, starting with the so called 'network programming', up to the programming of a web application, including the access to a distributed relational data base. In particular, the course aims at providing the basic knowledge and abilities necessary for evaluating the main design choices for the above applications.

• Knowledge of the socket interface in C, for network programming, including both IPv4 and IPv6 versions.
• Ability to apply the knowledge of the socket interface to implement distributed applications, including the case of dual-stack (IPv4 and IPv6) servers.
• Knowledge of HTML (including the main aspects of HTML5), CSS and Javascript.
• Ability to apply the knowledge of HTML, CSS and Javascript to develop simple web pages, including the interaction with the user using Javascript.
• Knowledge of web applications that use server-side programming (dynamic web pages) and interaction with relational data bases.
• Ability to develop web applications that use client-side programming (Javascipt), server-side programming (PHP) and interaction with remote relational data bases.
• Knowledge of robustness, security, interoperability, and performance issues and related best practices

Knowledge of advanced C programming, including the basics of process management and synchronization in Unix. Knowledge of database management systems and ability to describe operations on them using the SQL language. Knowledge of the main protocols for computer networks, with particular reference to HTTP, TCP, UDP, IPv4 and IPv6. As the practical part of this course is very important, good debugging skills are also required, and the ability to use packet sniffing tools (e.g. Wireshark).

• Introduction (0,3 CFU):
 distributed interaction models (client-server, peer-to-peer, 2-tier, 3-tier, ...)
 architecture of client-server applications and of web applications

• Network programming (2,4 CFU):
 the socket interface
 network programming in the C language with the socket interface
 handling concurrency and OS-specific aspects (in Linux)
 using binary data representation standards (XDR)

• Distributed applications based on the web paradigm (3,3 CFU):
 HTML and CSS
 scripting in the client side (Javascript)
 scripting in the server-side (PHP)
 managing sessions (cookies and other mechanisms)
 integration with data bases

In addition to lectures, the course includes a programming laboratory (21 hours) about the application of the presented techniques. During laboratory time, the students will discuss with the teachers about the solution of the assigned exercises.

The teacher will provide material (copy of slides and links to online resources) that will be available on the course web site.

Suggested textbooks:
• W.R. Stevens, B. Fenner, A. M. Rudoff, Unix Network Programming, Volume 1, 3rd Ed., Pearson, 2004
• R. Nixon, Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript, 4th Ed., O’Reilly, 2014

The exam consists of verifying the expected knowledge and skills acquired by the student by means of two practical tests followed by an oral discussion: a programming test on Network Programming (program to be developed in C with given requirements) and a programming test on Web Programming (web site to be developed using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, DB access, with given requirements). The two tests will contribute with the same weight to the final mark. The network programming test takes place in the lab in the date of the exam call while for the web programming test an assignment is given about 3 weeks before the exam call and the student develops the solution autonomously at home by the deadline indicated in the assignment. Only the students who have submitted their solution to the web assignment by the deadline are admitted to the network programming test.
In order to take the network programming test, it is necessary for the student to have solved all the network programming assignments given in the labs during the course.
The network programming test has a duration of about 2 hours. It requires the student to develop the code of some network applications by making some variations on the solutions of the exercises that were proposed in the labs during the course. These solutions must be loaded by each student in his/her personal area on the lab network disks, in the days before the exam. Each student can also load other electronic material in the same area (e.g. slides, pdf, etc) and access this material during the test, while no internet access will be possible during the test. Finally, during the test, each student can bring and use a single piece of paper material, that is, one set of bound notes or book.
The evaluation of the network programming test is based on automated tests, some of which are provided to the students during the test.
The web programming test solution is evaluated by the teacher together with the student, only if the network programming test has been passed, by means of manual verification of the web application functionalities and programming practices, according to a checklist not previously known by the stutend and dependent on the web assignment. The teacher also checks that the student has a puctual knowledge of the submitted code and can discuss the project with reference to the topics illustrated in the course.