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Course Descriptions

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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 course 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.

Students gain 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: 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.

View the course introduction

You may register online for Introduction to Web Publishing or register by phone with VISA or MasterCard by calling 206-897-8939 or 1-800-506-1325.

First Course

Client-Side Scripting and Design

Schedule: Instructor-led, web-based course with online discussion; start anytime, three-month completion; $660; 3 credits.

JavaScript, a computer language developed by Netscape Communications in collaboration with Sun Microsystems, allows you to create powerful forms and form-based applications, event-based activities such as menus that magically appear as you move your mouse over a specific link (flyout menus), and a whole emerging type of client applications described as "AJAX" (examples being GMail, Google Maps, or a host of other feature-rich interactive applications that predominantly run within the browser itself.) In this course you will learn fundamental skills in enhancing Web pages using JavaScript, as well as begin to understand the way the DOM (Document Object Model) works and how it relates to content that is presented on a web page. This course is intended for those with little or no previous programming experience; it is designed to provide basic skills in general programming techniques, using the JavaScript language as a basis. Participants will learn to:

• Identify and explain the differences between client-side and server-side processing, as well as the concepts of the DOM and AJAX.
• Embed pre-written Javascripts from other sources into existing Web pages.
• Use basic programming concepts such as variables, arrays, basic input and output, computations, and the concatenation of string data.
• Program simple Javascripts from scratch, using basic programming concepts as well as logical constructions such as if-then-else statements, for-loops, while-loops, functions, and performing data comparisons with Boolean conditionals.
• Use object-oriented language components to manipulate the browser window and document object from within Javascripts.
• Understand the hierarchy behind the DOM and how to manipulate it programmatically.
• Conceptualize the principles at work behind AJAX and work with sample applications.

Prerequisites: (1) Introduction to Web Publishing (see Related Course), completion of similar course(s) or understanding of web development using HTML, and (2) experience with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), Internet access, and a web browser. No previous programming experience is assumed.

View the course introduction

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course

Second Course

Introduction to SQL and Data Storage Technologies

Schedule: Instructor-led, web-based course with online discussion; start anytime, three-month completion; $660; 3 credits.

Databases have become an essential part of our highly data driven world. Many interactive, information-rich Web sites use underlying databases. This course focuses on the concepts and skills required to design and build databases useful for Web applications. The course introduces you to the basic principles of how a database must function before an interface to a Web site is made, including relational database design theory, data modeling, and normalization. Subsequent topics build upon this foundation by introducing Structured Query Language (SQL), the lingua franca of relational database processing. Client-server architecture and database access, both on the Web and across networks, are covered. XML is examined as a data-storage technology alternative. After completing this course participants will be able to:

• 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, popular and accessible open source tools
• Describe the client-server architecture, including the impact of HTTP on web application design
• Define XML and how to leverage it as a data-storage technology for building and accessing unique data sets
• Explain the architecture of web services, including servers, requesters and registries

Prerequisites: (1) Introduction to Web Publishing (see Related Course), completion of similar course(s) or working knowledge of HTML, (2) experience with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), Internet access, and a web browser, and (3) familiarity with office productivity tools, such as Microsoft Office. No previous programming experience is assumed.

View the course introduction

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course

Third Course

Server-Side Programming and Web-Data Integration

Schedule: Instructor-led, web-based course with online discussion; start anytime, three-month completion; $660; 3 credits.

This capstone course examines the architecture and technologies of middleware applications for the web. The course introduces additional concepts and technologies which, combined with the knowledge and skills gained in previous courses, provide the ability to design and build basic data-driven web applications. Individuals who desire to incorporate the power of servers to leverage dynamic web solutions will benefit from this course, whether their interest stems from a planning, project management or programming perspective.

After completing this course, participants are able to:

• Understand the server environment and architecture of data-driven web applications
• Apply the basics of server-side programming using PHP
• Use PHP with MySQL technologies to create data-driven web applications
• Leverage XML with PHP to create or produce flexible and extensible storage and display of content
• Address issues of web security that relate to PHP
• Integrate server-side programming concepts and techniques, database technologies, and client-side scripting to design and implement a dynamic web application

Prerequisites: (1) Introduction to SQL and Data Storage Technologies, or familiarity with similar content as a result of coursework or experience and (2) experience with a computer operating system (such as Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX/Linux), Internet access, and a web browser. As this course is designed for the non-programmer, extensive programming experience or expertise is not required.

View the course introduction

How to sign up for individual enrollment in this course