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Course Descriptions

Currently accepting applications Apply now >> Next program starts: Autumn 2008 Program location: UW campus, Seattle Sign up to receive e-mail updates >> Contact a program representative >>   Program at a glance >>

The classes meet on the UW campus, Seattle. Participants earn three University of Washington credits upon successful completion of a course. Nine credits are required to earn the certificate.

Interested in taking a single class? Some courses (designated by a below) may be open on a space-available basis to professionals who are not seeking the certificate. See Single-Course Enrollment for details.

Preparatory Course

Introduction to Web Publishing

Schedule: Instructor-led, Web-based courses with online discussion; start anytime, three-month completion; $690; 3 credits.
Instructor: Zoe Holbrooks

Gain a solid grasp of the fundamentals to create, design and publish information on the Web.

This course provides an understanding of markup languages in the technological landscape of the internet and Web, and their role in making content available on the Web. Through a combination of lecture, demonstration and hands-on exercises, students learn HTML coding, including HTML hyperlinks, tables, forms and image techniques. Other topics: Web Accessibility Initiative, survey of Graphical User Interface (GUI) HTML editors, Web site publishing, and an introduction to HTML extensions, such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the Document Object Model (DOM), Dynamic HTML, and eXtensible Markup Language (XML). No background in markup languages is assumed. After completing this course, participants are able to:

• Explain the evolution of markup languages, including SGML, HTML, DHTML, XHTML and XML
• Prepare content for the Web with appropriate markup
• Assess pros and cons of markup technologies
• Keep current with SGML/HTML/XML Web standards as they develop
• Recognize the limitations of markup, and identify appropriate complementary technologies to accomplish design and delivery goals

Prerequisites: Experience with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), standard office software file management on a PC and any Web browser.

View Course Introduction

For information on how to register for this class, please see the UW Extension Classes section.

Autumn Course

Client-Side Scripting and Design

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 p.m., Oct.7 - Dec. 16, 2008; $690; 3 credits.
Instructor: D.A. Clements

Introduces the Web browser design environment. Lectures and assignments cover fundamental aspects of scripting languages, basic JavaScript syntax, use of the Document Object Model (DOM) via JavaScript, and the creation of dynamic HTML Web pages (DHTML) by combining these techniques with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). The basics of the client-server architecture model are also addressed. Principles of good page design are discussed in the contexts of technical feasibility and scalability, usability and accessibility. Participants learn to:

• Recognize advantages of the document object model (DOM), including object characteristics such as inherent properties, attributes, and methods
• Understand basic data structures in JavaScript
• Use JavaScript to present active content in an HTML page including graphics and user input
• Use JavaScript to control content in multiple windows
• Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create a consistent page design and, combined with JavaScript and HTML, to create Dynamic HTML (DHTML) pages
• Locate and implement available scripts that contribute to effective Web page design.

Prerequisites: Introduction to Web Publishing (see Preparatory Course above) or equivalent knowledge from similar course(s) or through practical experience and application. To succeed in this course, you should have familiarity with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), ability to handcode standards-compliant XHTML, basic familiarity with UNIX (including ftp, lynx, file permissions and file/directory management) and basic familiarity with XML. No previous programming experience is assumed.

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course

Winter Course

Server-Side Programming Using PHP

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm, Jan. 6 - Mar. 10, 2009; $690; 3 credits.
Instructor: Lincoln Mongillo

This is the first of two courses intended to build expertise in server-side programming for the development of data-driven Web applications using PHP and MySQL. It offers a broad coverage of PHP fundamentals, including operators, strings, conditionals, loops, arrays, functions and key Web development techniques, from file handling to validating user input with regular expressions. This course concludes with a general orientation to server-side programming with SQL databases, emphasizing PHP's interaction with the MySQL database system. The overview of MySQL's features and database connectivity basics—how to access MySQL databases through PHP scripting—serves as an important bridge to the following course in the series: SQL, Data Storage Technologies and Web-Data Integration.

After completing this course, participants are able to:

• Understand the server environment and architecture of data-driven Web applications
• Define the key activities required for the planning phase of a Web-based application
• Apply the basics of server-side programming using PHP
• Access MySQL databases through PHP scripting

Prerequisites: Completion of Client-side Scripting and Design (see course description above), or familiarity with similar content as a result of coursework or experience. To succeed in this course, you should have familiarity with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), ability to hand-code standards-compliant XHTML, basic familiarity with UNIX (including ftp, lynx, file permissions, and file/directory management) and basic familiarity with a programming or scripting language, such as JavaScript. Extensive programming experience or expertise is not required.

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course

Spring Course

SQL, Data Storage Technologies, and Web-Data Integration

Schedule: (10 sessions) Tuesdays, 6:00-9:00 pm, Mar. 31 - June 2, 2009; $690; 3 credits.
Instructor: Daniel Parshall

In this course you will learn the skills necessary to design and create your own database and then access it online using PHP. Initially, attention is given to finding reliable, systematic and organized ways to store information so that it can be searched, browsed and used to make informed decisions. From there, the course moves on to SQL basics for creating queries, retrieving data and writing data with MySQL. Coverage extends to session management and cookies, and MySQL's storage engines, datatypes, administration utilities, security features and data import/export facilities. The course concludes with a capstone project in which students integrate server-side programming concepts and techniques, database technologies, security and client-side scripting to design an implement a dynamic, database-driven web application using PHP and MySQL.

• Develop requirements to define the scope of a database design
• Use SQL to retrieve and modify data in a relational database structure
• Store, access and query a Web database using MySQL and PHP
• Define XML and how to leverage it as a data-storage technology for building and accessing unique data sets
• Address issues of Web security that relate to PHP
• Use PHP with MySQL technologies to create data-driven web applications

Prerequisites: Completion of Server-side Programming Using PHP (see course description above), or familiarity with similar content as a result of coursework or experience. To succeed in this course, you should have the ability to hand-code standards-compliant XHTML, basic familiarity with UNIX (including ftp, lynx, file permissions, and file/directory management), basic familiarity with XML and ability to use the PHP scripting language.

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course

Related Course

Mobile Web Design and Development

Wireless electronic communications have existed for nearly a century, but only with the evolution of affordable portable devices like cellphones, PDAs and PIMs, and handheld and laptop computers has computing become truly ubiquitous. Mobile content delivery requires an understanding of hardware, software and network constraints, global telecommunications issues, existing and emerging standards and protocols and savvy design skills. This course covers technical issues, mobile operating systems and browsers, markup languages, information architecture, the Mobile Web Initiative, development tools and more. Students design, hand-code and deploy a mobile Web site.

Prerequisites: Introduction to Web Publishing (see Preparatory Course at the top of this page) or equivalent knowledge from similar course(s) or through practical experience and application. To succeed in this course, you should have familiarity with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), ability to hand-code standards-compliant XHTML, basic familiarity with UNIX (including ftp, lynx, file permissions, and file/directory management), and basic familiarity with XML.

View course introduction

For information on how to register for this class, please see the UW Extension Classes section.