As well as ensuring all client side code is cross browser compliant (for the CSS, javascript and XHTML), I worked on various bug fixes resulting from a very large growth of the site in a very small amount of time. This culminated in overseeing the successful integration of a brand new database into the site.

An additional wordpress theme was setup for me to start writing a tech blog, in order to better articulate and demonstrate my technical skills and depth of knowledge.

As well as the redevelopment work, I was tasked with implementing commercial takeovers. These happened on a weekly basis across various pages on the site. I implemented a timed system so that these could go up and come down automatically. The CSS (as well as any necessary javascript and html) was then produced and tested by the client before the takeover went live. Examples of takeover implementation are shown below.

I was also the technical help on the Sugarscape webchats for the games channel, where celebrities such as Alesha Dixon, Miley Cyrus and The Veronicas had webchats with the site users. This involved ensuring that the webchats themselves went smoothly for both the celebrities and the site editors and also ensuring the webchat transcript was displayed as soon as possible after the end of the webchat.

The design of the site uses CSS heavily to match the design brief originally created. By using AJAX, user are able to see the nutritional value of recipes they create while they produce them. Once recipes are produced, they are stored in a MySQL database where other users can view them, rate them and add them to their favourites. An amazon a-store was added to the site to provide an easy way of purchasing juicing solutions, such as books or juicing machines. The a-store utilised the basic amazon template which then had CSS applied in order to match the style of the main sections of the site.

An extensive pubs database was created by crawling the web for addresses. The completed listing allows users to search, browse and view pubs in their area. They can then create pub crawls which are immediately viewable in map form along with the venue details of each pub. The techniques and code used for the solution are object orientated to allow the base classes to be used on a more extensive mapping site currently being developed.

The main aim was to design and develop a site with a corporate colour scheme and layout that increased coherence between the divisional intranet site, and the county intranet site. It needed to be easy to use and also easy to update, as the people updating the site may not be skilled in web-based development. The updates will be made through Microsoft FrontPage and so the site needed to be maintainable through this. Due to the large amount of content on the site, the structure of it required re-developing and also a lot of new content needed to be added.

The site was redeveloped using templating to ensure future updates to the appearance of the site can be made quickly and easily. CSS was used in order to develop the styles within the site and ASP and PHP were used in order to provide dynamic content. ASP was used on pages which users would need to update, since PHP could not be displayed in an understandable format for users maintaining the site using Microsoft FrontPage. Where possible, index pages were automatically written at runtime to ensure updates to the site are automatically referenced elsewhere within the site. Finally the structure of the site was re-developed to ensure that the site is much more maintainable, expandable and usable.

Year 1

• Programming Languages and Software Construction This was an practical, programming unit based on the Java programming language.
• Fundamentals of Information Systems This unit looked at the Systems Development Lifecycle with a particular emphasis on the early stages of analysis and design.

Year 2

• Data Structures and Algorithms For this unit the foundations of data and storage structures were looked at, in particular different storage structures for holding data were considered. Practical work in this unit involved the use of Java to implement the structures considered in Lectures.
• Software Development Tools This unit was practical based and used several different programming languages. Both C and C++ were considered and aspects of these covered included file handling and loop structures. The use of Java was then considered in creating Graphical User Interfaces for applications.
• Internet Technologies This unit was an introduction to internet based technologies and on the practical side concentrated on HTML and JSP to create web sites. Other web languages and technologies looked at for this unit were XML, Javabeans and Servlets.
• Systems Analysis In this unit the early stages of the Systems Lifecycle was covered in detail along with tools and techniques used. The Feasibility, Analysis and Design period of the lifecycle were covered with topics looked at including investigation methods, file design techniques and Human Computer Interface design.
• Database Systems For this unit the emergence and use of databases was considered. On the practical side of the unit SQL was used as a way of creating and manipulating database data and EER diagrams and normalisation was used as a way of designing databases. Finally Java was used in order to create standalone database applications using the JDBC interface.

Year 3

• Introductory Computer Graphics This unit was based on 2D computer graphics and covered the basics of computer graphics using C++. Topics covered included line drawing algorithms, raster graphics systems and computer fonts.
• Systems Development for the Internet Age This covered further the topics of JSP and Servlets considered in the Internet Technologies unit and also introduced Enterprise Java Beans as a way of constructing distributed web-based business solutions. The unit also considered the design and implementation of distributed server-based systems.
• Comparative Systems Development In previous units the Systems Development Lifecycle was considered as a methodology to construct computer-based systems. This unit considered other methodologies which can be used. The main methodologies looked at were the: Soft Systems Methodology, Rational Unified Process, Dynamic Systems Development Model, Jackson Systems Development and the Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology.