Group 37
Overview Requirements Development Prototype Testing Logs Meta
Overview:
Overview
Our Project
Version Control
Requirements:
Requirements
MoSCoW
Use Cases
Development:
Background Research
Technical Research
Architecture Research
Developing Solution
User Interface
Prototype:
Design Guide
Form Renderer
Dashboard
Visual Report
Testing
Logs:
Design Guide
Form Renderer
Dashboard
Visual Report
Meta:
Project Management
Bi-weekly Reports
Plans for Term 2
Updated: 20/01/17

Technical Research

Below are listed all of the libraries / components / languages or any other relevant solutions we have researched. They are separated into corresponding projects. Click on any to see further research.


Design Guide


List of researched libraries

  • Bootstrap : open source responsive frontend framework, that provides components and templates to make front end development more efficient.

  • Material UI : a set of React.js components that implement Material Design, a design language created by Google to create consistent style across a website.

  • PURE.CSS : lightweight responsive frontend framework made up of css modules.

  • ReactJS : open source JavaScript library that facilitates flexible and efficient UI creation.


    • Final Solution

    The team will use Bootstrap to provide the framework for development on the website, primarily as this has the greatest number of users, which will aid greatly in development. Moreover, we are to use Bootstrap 3 rather than 4, as 4 is still in alpha stages, therefore is relatively untested. Bootstrap was also be used by the mockup design guide site developed for the client previously. By using Bootstrap, we can build on top of this initial structure. Additionally, we will also be using Middleman to allow for faster prototyping and ensuring a responsive and quick user experience. Lastly, we have chosen to use ReactJS as the component framework for the simplicity and "tightness" of the it.



    Form Renderer


    List of researched libraries

  • BeautifulSoup : a Python library designed for web-scraping / screen-scraping.

  • NodeJS Request : NodeJS library that works as a simplified HTTP request client.

  • NodeJS Cheerio : jQuery library designed for use on server-side used to parse XML or HTML documents, can be used in conjunction with Request for web-scraping.

  • Electrode : a development platform that enforces standardisation of React/Node.js applications, assisting not only current work, but also with future development.


    • Final Solution

    Both BeautifulSoup and Request+Cheerio were trialled as a means to pull data from markup documents.Both were remarkably easy to set up and learn how to use. Given that Request and Cheerio work with Node.js and the fact that this project is likely to incorporate the use of Electrode (has native Node support), this would seem the sensible choice.



    Dashboard


    List of researched libraries

  • D3.js : a javascript library that allows ready integration of dynamic and interactive data displays.

  • Google Charts : an API written in JavaScript that allows easy creation of static charts and allows them to be embedded in a web-page.

  • ChartJS : a lightweight JavaScript library that allows easy creation of basic chart types.

  • N3-charts : a javascript library designed to be used with AngularJS, built upon D3. Allows creation of simple, elegant and integrative graphs.


    • Final Solution

    The team will use Bootstrap to provide the framework for development on the website, primarily as this has the greatest number of users, which will aid greatly in development. Moreover, we are to use Bootstrap 3 rather than 4, as 4 is still in alpha stages, therefore is relatively untested. Bootstrap was also be used by the mockup design guide site developed for the client previously. By using Bootstrap, we can build on top of this initial structure. Additionally, we will also be using Middleman to allow for faster prototyping and ensuring a responsive and quick user experience. Lastly, we have chosen to include ReactJS as the component framework for the reasons described below.



    Visual Report

    The priority for Visual Report part of the project has been largely reduced. At the moment of experimenting, our team was asked to switch to other, more important tasks such as Design Guide and Form Renderer. Therefore, our further research and development does not involve any mention of Visual Report application. Use this link to know more about the project, and this link to read about our initial research.


    Tags

    design guide prototype form renderer prototype dashboard prototype plans for term 2 use cases moscow