Coding Principles - AEDMM4

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  • Coding Principles - AEDMM4
    • Intro to Programming Languages (2.1)
      • HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
        • Used to show static content such as headings, paragraphs, images plus additional information to assist search engines to understand  the content on the page.
        • HTML is just providing content which you can see but not interact with instead of clicking links (STATIC)
      • CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
        • Used to style elements on web pages inserted using HTML. For example, HTML would insert a page heading, CSS would indicate what colour and font the title is.
      • Javascript
        • This adds functionality to web pages enabling them to become "dynamic" instead of "static". Therefore, you as a web visitor can choose certain elements such as dates on a booking form or certain results from clicking on a web button
        • Javascript enables functionality to take place (DYNAMIC)
    • Intro to Web Principles (4.3)
      • Why is it important?
        • to understand what underlying factors  play a key role in the success of a digital marketing strategy
        • to understand what may be responsible for critical malfunctions which will be have a  material impact on employer's reputation
      • What is the Internet?
        • A network or infrastructure enabling communications to take place
        • The "World Wide Web" is a component part of this, not the Internet entirety
        • Important to understand there are different governance groups and communities in existence that are concerned with applicable standards and experiences people have on either one specifically.
        • The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is one organisation that is concerned with how the Internet operates whose mission is to:
          • "Produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better.  These documents include protocol standards, best current practices, and informational documents of various kinds."
      • What is a protocol?
        • A set of rules and conventions.
        • The Internet is similar to a road; it allows data to go from one direction to another instead of  cars/lorries.
          • In a similar way to the highway code; there needs to be a set of technical rules and regulations in place to ensure all data being transported reaches it's destination in the best way possible, without impacting too greatly on other web pages, files emails, applications needing to use the internet at the same time.
      • What is the World Wide Web?
        • The World Web operates on thee Internet  with lots of websites and underlying web pages available on connected computers.
        • These computers can be a mixture of devices and consist of clients and services.
        • When you want to view a web page you will use your web client  hardware device, i.e. laptop and client software, i.e. web browser to request the ability to view a website which is stored ready for you to see and provided to you via a web server.
        • The website could need to be coded using whatever languages are most relevant, there are 3 which are prominent on the vast majority of sites; HTML, CSS, Javascript.
    • Key Internet Protocols (4.1)
      • HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
        • This protocol sets rules and conventions about how communications between a web browser (client) and a web server are formatted and transmitted (requests sent and responses received).
        • the information being transferred across the Internet to you and more importantly, any personal or sensitive data you enter into forms can be hacked and easily read!
        • Web browsers such as Google Chrome are specifically highlighting pages which use the HTTP protocol without any additional security measures applied, the image below provides an example of this:
        • Securing the transmission of website requests, pages served and any personal information provided is the responsibility of the person or organisation who created the website in the first place
      • HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure)
        • Website creators can apply for an SSL certificate to be attached to their website therefore encrypting anything sent to and from the web server for the site in question.
        • An encryption process means turning readable information into a format where symbols are readable but you can’t understand what is being said!
        • This “mess” is called Ciphertext and it is, of course, possible for those with appropriate permission to be able to unravel the mess and read what has been sent.
        • SSL certificates can be purchased by website creators for a fee and applied to their website to encrypt any data in transit between web browsers requesting sites built by the creator in question.
        • Whilst not fully confirmed, it is being mentioned that search engines such as Google will give preference to HTTPS websites with encryption applied when determining search engine results in future as this will provide a more secure and safer browsing experience to those trusting Google to provide search results.
      • SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/ Transport  Layer Security)
        • These abbreviations stand for the encryption method applied in order to make a website more secure whilst travelling between your web browser and the relevant web server providing you with a view of the website in question.
        • SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer”, this was upgraded but instead of it being called “SSL v10” or a sequential indication, the name and therefore its abbreviation was changed to become “Transport Layer Security”.
        • Proof of whether or not a website has been secured in terms of data being encrypted can be seen very evidently within web browsers such as Google Chrome where a padlock appears next to the web address entered and a confirmatory message
        • An “SSL certificate” is only one form of so-called “certification” online
    • File Formatting Compatibility (3.2)
      • Why is this function important to digital marketers?
        • Posting, sharing or sending files in a format that is not compatible can frustrate your customers which in turn can damage the reputation of an organisation.
        • You can also risk the overall quality and/or the desired visual impact of your designs, videos and audio content by choosing the incorrect file format!
      • PDF (Portable Document Format)
        • Since 1993 there have been multiple versions of PDF (Portable Document Format) specification created, the initial version 1.0 enabled a limited set of features to be present including text, images, hypertext links and bookmarks so PDFs resembled early versions of webpages in terms of functionality.
          • The initial goal of PDF files were to "capture and review rich information from any application, on any computer, with anyone, anywhere."
        • When using them online, PDFs located on a search engine results page (SERP) or present within a website generally open up within your browser window, however, this is not the case with Microsoft Edge in Windows 10.
        • Software exists within Adobe's Creative Cloud suite of applications to create advanced PDFs with multiple features.
          • This piece of software is called Adobe Acrobat DC.  One major advantage of Acrobat DC is the ability to "optimise" PDF files so their file size is greatly reduced but content maintains visual quality.  This is a form of file "compression" is a major factor when discussing the transfer and use of audio and video files online.
            • Whilst specialist software exists for advanced PDF creation and editing, to do nothing more than reading PDFs sent to you, a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader DC exists for download.  You can then save PDF files located online locally onto your computer and open using Adobe Acrobat Reader instead, the same applies to smartphones where there is an Acrobat Reader app available for installation.
        • It is common for graphic designers to provide their work as PDFs to commercial printers for specific printing jobs.  A graphic designer should always check with the printing company as to what version of PDF file they are happy to receive as multiple variations exist.
        • PDFs can be encrypted meaning a password is required in order to view them, therefore providing an extra layer of security if required.  It is also very easy to create PDF files from existing Microsoft Office documents such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint to make available to website viewers in order to complement their browsing experience.
          • When saving a Microsoft Word document (.docx) as a PDF file, users are asked what level of optimisation they prefer in terms of file size.  They can select "Standard" optimisation for tasks being used offline such as printing work or a "Minimum size" if the PDF is only going to be used online, therefore, file size is of paramount importance.
      • HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
        • HTML files are predominately used for creating webpages, attractive looking emails can also be compiled using HTML instead of them just being plain text.
        • The HTML coding language has been around since 1991, there have been various versions enhancing visitor UX as a result of advanced coding.  The latest version is HTML 5.2, the introduction of HTML 5 in 2014 was the first time in over a decade that this coding language had received a major upgrade.
          • Such upgrades to HTML versions can rule out existing elements, therefore it is important for web developers to keep up-to-date with which elements are unsupported in recent versions.
          • For example, the HTML tag is not supported since the launch of HTML 5 with web developers prompted to use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) instead to centre align headings and paragraphs.
      • Image Compression
        • When coding websites in HTML, it is almost certain you’ll be including images.
        • All image files uploaded to websites should be optimised in terms of image quality and file size as they have a material impact on page loading speed therefore UX.
        • 2 main types of image compression exist, these being “lossy” and “lossless”.
          • Lossy - once compression takes place you can’t go back to the original file’s standard.
          • Lossless - can be returned back to original state if desired.
      • JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
        • JPEG is one of the most commonly known image formats used online,
        • It is a 24-bit file format therefore it’s colour palette is 16,777,216!
        • JPEG uses lossy compression
        • JPEGs need to have a background therefore if using them and there is no specific background you’re left with a white box around the main image. This can look unsightly when pasted onto a PowerPoint presentation or uploaded to a website with a coloured background!
      • PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
        • PNG is another popular file format used for the web, it has a rich available colour palette similar to JPEG but this one allows for transparency, it is widely used due to its flexibility.
        • PNG uses lossless compression
        • The main reason why PNG or JPEG files are chosen is the transparency requirement and file size.
        • PNG files due to their lossless compression generally result in larger file sizes which would be a major consideration for image intensive website projects.
      • GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
        • Supports transparency similar to PNG..
        • GIF files have a much smaller colour palette only reaching 8-bit therefore 256 colours.
        • Lossy compression, this means that be taken similar to HTML files in terms of whether the level of compression applied is suitable.
        • The file type is commonly known as being useful for short animations that are often produced and shared on social media networks.
      • Video Containers
        • As videos contain a variety of elements such as sound, animations, potentially subtitles and of course the scenes themselves, video file types are classified as “containers”.
        • The most popular container types being:.avi., mp4, .mov (the default for videos created on an iPhone).flv, ,  wmv
        • codecs compress and then decompress a video file; using lossy and lossless compression.
        • H.264 can save files as .mp4 (container) and is used commonly, especially since the arrival of HD.  It’s regarded as having more advanced compression techniques allowing for lower file size but maintains a feasibly high level of video quality.
        • The MPEG-4 codec (Motion Pictures Engineers Group-4 Part 10) is used a lot for online streaming and is largely identical to H.264.
      • Audio
        • When it comes to online music, a key consideration is the streaming quality stated as Kbps or kilobits per second.  Higher Kbps represents a faster data transfer and clearer quality of sound.
        • Audio file types
          • .mp3 (Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio) :MP3 files compress to approx. 10% of the original audio file size whilst maintaining a similar quality of sound according to PC Mag (Links to an external site.). The same file size also meant small storage devices could maintain these files hence the launch and continuation of miniature music players containing potentially thousands of songs.MP3s have lossy compression.
          • .wav (Waveform Audio File Format):WAV format is commonly used in the music production process. Its uncompressed format results in no risk of audio quality loss.  However, it is no surprise to hear WAV files have a high file size making them impractical for use in portable devices.
          • .aac (Advanced Audio Coding):The AAC file format should be common to those who ripped CDs to play on their old iPods.  Apple’s iTunes and iTunes Music Store use AAC files as the default.  It is a lossy form of compression similar to MP3 and is recognised as being the same if not better quality than an MP3.
          • .wma (Windows Media Audio)The WMA format was created by Microsoft as a competitor to the highly popular MP3 method of lossy compression.  If using a Windows device, WMA files understandably won’t present much of an issue from a playback perspective, however, you may need to convert them again in order to play on other devices.

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