Sod & Sodfarm: [Web] Database Applications

Abstract

This is an experiential SIP. Instead of extensively researching and writing about some aspect of computer science, I took a position developing web database software. I had little prior experience with the tools that I used to complete the project and I had to teach myself as I went along, so research was still necessary, but it wasn't the focus of the project. Because of the nature of an experiential SIP as opposed to a research SIP, this paper will read more like a story and less like a research paper. The main points will be the issues I faced as a programmer. Theory will play a role in the paper, but it will serve as background for practical applications rather than be the core of the paper. Theory will be the "why" instead of the "what." The goal of this paper is to describe the development of the project while pointing out several interesting features of the tools used, and showing how these interesting features relate to more general issues in the field of computer science as a whole.