Etude de cas : PHP – MySQL
Case written by Dushmantha – Senior Software Engineer
The client was a leading business consultant operating in Belgium that provided business data processing systems/solutions for large companies.
The speciality about our client was his tendency to incorporate cutting edge technology to all his tools, thereby providing pioneering solutions for his patrons. Hence we too have enjoyed working with him many times because he makes sure that the best of technology is used to create a product that is not only hassle-free but is also efficient and strategic.
Most of the web solutions provided by us to him were developed using PHP coupled with the all-time favourite MYSQL database. Given below is the case study of one such project that was developed for him using PHP and MYSQL. This project is a clear demonstration of groundbreaking solutions that are produced by web masterpieces that are developed using PHP and MYSQL.
The Project
The requirement in the simplest terms was a web portal dedicated for pet owners in Belgium. This website that was to be owned by a pet food manufacturer/supplier was meant to give its buyers the value added service of monitoring their pets’ growth. The pet food buyers who would use the system, would periodically enter their pets weight (against the age) and the system would collect the information and display a graphical chart that elaborates the growth pattern of the said pet.
Client Objectives
- Gather information and maintain a database of the customer who buys their product
- Collect information about Customers’ pets (Number of pets)
- Keep a track of the pets’ growth (Age and weight)
- Provide customers with a VAS through the growth monitoring chart
Challenges
- The project had to be delivered within a short period of time
- The web portal had to be bilingual (English/French)
- User interface needed to be simple and easy to use
Development
The development was carried out by two developers who worked hand in hand to meet the short deadline. PHP and MYSQL were utilised to develop the back-end of the project. The use of this combination had its galore of benefits giving us the freedom to mingle with other technologies such as Flash and JSON without a hassle.
Flash was used to beautify the dynamic graphic areas of the website while JSON (JavaScript data objects) was used for asynchronous data communication. The bilingual functionality was powered through a unique template rendering engine. The option to develop our own template rendering engine proved fruitful as it saved us the excess time that would be spent in configuring an advanced template rendering generator. Considering the short deadline and scale of the project this implementation gave us anticipated positive outcomes.
The project was open to the client even through the development period, enabling us to be open to his feedback at all times. Utmost effort was taken to retain the predictability and flexibility of the architecture of the project thereby giving us the freedom to accommodate changes, upgrades and modifications that would be proposed in the future.
All HTML/CSS templates for the front-end and the translated text were provided to us and they were moulded and modified by us to complement the technical requirements. Communication of the project was carried out via Skype voice/text chats continuously leaving minimal room for miscommunications.
Successful Outcome
All our strategy and hard work paid off as we published the project on the World Wide Web within 21 days. The web tool was an easy-to-use system that gave the pet food manufacturer anticipated results. As a giant operator, the facility to have direct access to a database of their customers and watch their buying patterns was of benefit indeed. A system that was both advanced and user-friendly was launched and it soon became the central interactive point of contact between the discerning pet owner and pet food supplier.