QUESTION: Describe the difference between an XML Sitemap and a HTML Sitemap. List the benefits and disadvantages of using each.

An XML sitemap is designed for search engines to crawl a site and are machine readable, whilst a HTML sitemap appear as webpages, and are readable by humans. The benefits for an XML sitemap include listing all URLS from your site, allows for faster indexing with search engines, and can categorise the content of the site. Some disadvantages of using a XML sitemap is that competitors can view your site, creating surges in competition. The benefits of an HTML sitemap is it allows you to organise large websites and expand your website, helps increase the visibility of the website through search engines, and helps skip most of the work of crawlers. Disadvantages of HTML sitemaps is the complexity of the html docs since all the tags are strictly required to be correct and if one tag is incorrect, the entire html doesn’t work.

Evaluate three IDE’s (Integrated development environments) and provide a brief summary on the positive and negative aspects of each. Also, in your own words include how it would suit an entry level trainee code developer.

Atom is a text editor built with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Node.js support and is mainly used by web designers and editors. The benefits of Atom include it’s flexibility for customisation as a text editor and being very beginner friendly. However, there are some drawbacks when using Atom. When it comes to opening files greater than 2mb, it can require some time to open, and Atom can crash occansionally if a non-core package is corrupted. Overall, because Atom is very beginner friendly, it is suitable for an entry level trainee code developer. Visual Studio is an IDE created by Microsoft that can be used to build, edit, and debug code. It is the built in code creator when using programs such as Unity. Visual Studio has many benefits such as support for multiple programming languages such as C++, C#, and Javascript. It is also available on all platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Mac. The downsides to Visual Studio however, is that the installation and updates that take time and can be costly if purchasing the enterprise or proffesional versions. Visual Studio is a very good IDE and is suitable for an entry level trainee code developer because of it’s flexibility and variety of programming languages it supports. PyCharm is an IDE used in computer programming, and is only compatible with the Python programming language. Using Pycharm has several benefits as it is easy-to use, can facilitate faster code development, and the ability to view the Python source code all at once. Whilst PyCharm is a good IDE, it is costly if using the paid version and isn’t suitable for Python beginners. Whilst PyCharm is recognised as one of the better IDE’s, it isn’t suitable for an entry level trainee code developer as many of the features help introduce them into the IDE.

QUESION: Provide a brief history on web browser development and the issues encountered by web developers, specifically, the adherence to web standards.

The first Web Browser was created by Berners-Lee on a Next computer, where he wrote up the browser known as Nexus. However, Berners-Lee realised that the web browser could only be used on Next Computers. Mosaic is another of the first browsers to ever exist, and was created by Eric Bina and Marc Andreessen. Whilst Mosaic had no issues, it did lose market due to other browsers taking over it. Opera was then developed as well as Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Over time, web browser creation became easier and had less issues. The early web browsers supported HTML and CSS as recommended by the World Wide Web Standards.

QUESTION: What are website testing methodologies? Your answer MUST cover browser compatibility, and website functionality.

Web testing methodologies is the practise of testing the functionality of a web application to ensure that it is good quality. Web testing can also reveal bugs. One of these testing methods is browser compatibility testing which focuses on aiding a website’s features and functions to be supported on different browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera. Another testing method is website functionality testing which focuses on determining if the software is acting in line with the required specifications. Functionality testing helps test the softwares functions with the required specifications.

QUESTION: What are the endorsed requirements of accessibility for all NT Government webpages?

The endorsed requirements of accessibility that the Northern Territory Government aims to meet with all of the NT Government webpages is to meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliance authorised by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). To achieve this, the NTG is implementing the National Transition Strategy (NTS) to make webpages more accessible and usuable in the web environment.

QUESTION: How do you think it’s best to organise all the assets used for a specific webpage? Think locally on your computer AND within the root folder of the website.

The ideal way for organising the assets used for a specific webpage is to have a project (Root) folder containing all the other files and folders. In this project folder, all HTML files should be directly in this folder and not in a separate folder. As for CSS, a folder should be created in the project folder to contain all the .css files. The same concept goes for Javascript, as all .js files should have a separate folder in the project folder. Images will also have a specific folder in the project folder.