Research & Strategy
Research & Strategy
Research & StrategyWebsites are often judged by their usability and appearance but the seemingly invisible technical components are just as important.
Web applications dictate what a website can ‘do’, and how it does it. You access web applications via a web browser through the internet or an intranet. They have many functions and are used by programmers to make each site work in the way the designers intended.
Shift can:
- develop scalable, robust web applications that work within your operating environment
- draw on the expertise of our technical team to create custom solutions that support the goals of your site and users
- create databases to store the information that feeds into your site, in ways that gel with existing systems.
How web applications work
A web application is structured in three tiers. A web browser is the first tier, an engine using dynamic web content technology such as PHP, Coldfusion or Java is the middle tier, and a database is the third.
The web browser sends requests to the middle tier, which runs queries and updates against the database and generates the user interface.
Shift uses web application technology to design interfaces that are clear, elegant, and give users a sense of control.
Application development
We develop web applications on a broad range of platforms. We know what different applications are capable of, and their limitations. Knowing the technology inside out is crucial for the development of reliable solutions that deliver what they promise.
Web applications don’t have to be complicated. Simple software solutions like FrontPage and Dreamweaver can quickly and easily get a small site onto the web.
But larger, more complex sites need tailored solutions that could involve a range of programming languages, servers, operating systems and databases.
Shift’s technical team keep up with all the latest advances in the web development field. We have vast experience in the following:
- Operating systems – Windows NT Server, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2003 Server, Linux/BSD (Red Hat 9.0) and Fedora 2.1
- Databases – MS SQL Server 2000, MS SQL Server 2005, MySQL, PostfressSQL
- Web servers – Microsoft IIS, Apache
- Programming languages – Coldfusion MX 7, PHP 4 and 5, Ruby, Python, .Net and Java.
Open source solutions
Open source software is software that’s code is freely available for anyone to use, copy or modify.
A philosophy of knowledge sharing, accessibility and transparency underpins the concept. Many people believe open source is the way of the future on the web.
Open source solutions are not right for every development, but they do have many benefits. In New Zealand, government agencies are among those showing a particularly strong interest in open source for its potential to keep development costs down in larger projects.
Shift has extensive experience with open source. We used open source content management system Mambo when redeveloping Gold Coast Tourism’s site. PHP-based open source content management systems are also now in place for sites we designed for the New Zealand Institute, Sir Peter Blake Trust, 5CrossRoads and the Northern Alliance Gateway.
Interactivity and community
The steadily rising demand for interactivity and community-based sites depends to a large extent on continuing innovation in the web design and development field.
Continually pushing the limits at the technical end is just as important as understanding the user and what they want to achieve. Our approach is always to fit the appropriate technology to the user and client requirements.