Knowing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is the beginning of web development, not the end. This module picks up where the front end stops: the server, the database, and everything that connects them. Students build full-stack web applications, write server-side logic in PHP, manage data with MySQL, and confront the security concerns that come with taking user input seriously.
The throughline project is an e-commerce site, complex enough to require proper architecture, simple enough to stay legible. By the end of the module students have built something that could be deployed.
Why it matters
The skills gap in web development is almost always on the back end. Front-end developers who cannot reason about database schemas, session management, or SQL injection are constrained in what they can build and in what roles they can take. This module is designed to remove that constraint.
Security is not a final-week topic here. SQL injection, session hijacking, input validation, and OOP-based security hardening are introduced at the point in the curriculum where students are writing the code those concerns apply to.
Module design
The module opens with Bootstrap to give students a rapid path to professional-looking responsive layouts, then introduces PHP and server-side development, database design and connectivity via PDO and MySQLi, and user authentication and session management. Object-oriented PHP and security hardening arrive mid-module, once students have enough context to understand why they matter. The final sessions address AJAX and modern framework patterns, then project deployment and testing.
Syllabus
- Introduction to full-stack development
- Bootstrap framework fundamentals
- Bootstrap components and customisation
- PHP fundamentals and server setup
- PHP forms and data processing
- Database fundamentals and SQL
- PHP database connectivity: PDO and MySQLi
- Session management and user authentication
- E-commerce core features: cart and catalogue
- OOP PHP and security hardening
- Modern techniques: AJAX and frameworks
- Final project development, testing, and deployment
What students leave with
Students can design and implement a full-stack web application, write server-side PHP that connects securely to a database, implement user authentication, and reason about the security properties of the code they write. The project-based assessment means they leave with working software in their portfolio, not just completed coursework.