Rhonda's Recipes

Q1 Describe the difference between an XML Sitemap and a HTML Sitemap. List the benefits and disadvantages of using each.
HTML Sitemaps aid in making a website user friendly, XML Sitemaps help search engine spiders. HTML Sitemaps can make websites more organised and easier to navigate, including by adding internal hyperlinks. HTML Sitemaps don’t do much for search engine optimisation however. All major search engines utilise XML Sitemap protocol, which helps them understand website structure better.
Q2 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.

Visual Studio Code

Commonly referred to as VS Code, this program is available on Windows, Linux and macOS. It has features to support debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion and more. It allows for customisation of theme, keyboard shortcuts, preferences and extra functionality can be installed. It has been ranked as the most popular development tool and is very commonly used to learn coding. VS Code has lots of features that make it easy to use and understand for beginners, so it makes an excellent choice for trainees. It’s also free.

Eclipse

Primarily used for Java, Eclipse can also support other coding languages through plugins. Like VS Code it can be used on Windows, Linux and macOS. Eclipse is free and provides a framework where plugins are used to add features. This means Eclipse isn’t fully featured on download, and requires some setup. As a result, while it wouldn’t be difficult to setup, Eclipse isn’t as immediately ready to use as other IDEs. This is minor but is still a factor for trainee developers.

PyCharm

PyCharm is an IDE for Python. Some features include a graphical debugger, integration with version control systems, code analysis and more. It can be used on Windows, Linux and macOS. There are two versions: Professional edition and Community edition. Community edition is free but has fewer features, while Professional edition must be purchased but has more extensive features. For this reason, as well as being primarily focussed on just the Python programming language, PyCharm is less friendly to trainee code developers than the other IDEs evaluated here.
Q3 Provide a brief history on web browser development and the issues encountered by web developers, specifically, the adherence to web standards.
Once computer networking became commonplace and the sharing of information via networks started to really take off, developers began working on ways to make this information sharing more user friendly. Gopher was the software originally used for information retrieval, but it was quickly discarded when the creators decided they wanted to charge people for usage. In its place a number of web browsers were developed and two in particular became very popular: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Netscape Communication Corporation’s Netscape Navigator. Among all these competitors there was constant battle to add new features and entice both users and developers to one browser over its competitors. This resulted in difficulties for developers trying to put their websites up on multiple browsers, as they had to essentally rewrite their websites from scratch for each browser they wanted to support. Eventually efforts were made to create standards for website development, with numerous organisations (like W3C and WaSP) making recommendations and trying to push those recommendations on web browsers. It took some time, but gradually each browser came to support the same standards, allowing developers to build websites according to HTML 5 and not have to worry about incompatibility with different browsers.
Q4 What are website testing methodologies? Your answer MUST cover browser compatibility, and website functionality.
Website testing methodologies are ways to check your website design and ensure it is compatible with the most common web development standards and can function across most browsers and devices for as many users as possible (This is especially important for users with disabilities). There are a number of websites that will test your code for you and help to determine if there are any areas that need improvement, such as validator.w3.org and wave.webaim.org.
Q5 What are the endorsed requirements of accessibility for all NT Government webpages?
The Northern Territory Government endorses the W3Cs External Link IconWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 and the Australian Government's Web Accessibility External Link Icon National Transition Strategy.
Q6 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.
Have the HTML documents for the website stored at the root level of the folder for the website, with additional folders for CSS files, JavaScript files and Images.