3 ms·

How to Make a Web App

2 points by charlesrach 2y ago

So basically I’m a student in university and i coded an app in javafx as a personal project to make creating a schedule each semester automated. As in i dont have to go through all the different time slots for each class my program just makes all the possible combinations and i just choose the schedule that works best for me. The problem im having is i also want to put this program onto a website so that my whole university can use it and maybe charge a dollar or 50 cents per use and help pay off tuition haha. But i dont know how to get started or even all the tools i need to consider and just everything like reprogramming and stuff like that. If anyone can help that would be great :)

calebjosue 2y ago
Take a deep dive at https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/2020/weeks/ https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/2020/weeks/ Enroll through edx.org (It's free) You already have The prerrequisites From What You are saying. If You are in University, listen to Leslie Lamport: University is a time to edúcate youtself, You learn The job on The job.
eamag 2y ago
You can try https://www.fastht.ml/ https://www.fastht.ml/
aristofun 2y ago
Ruby on rails is the smoothest ride into serious web dev for beginners
- mattbrewsbytes 2y ago
  I would second RoR. Its object oriented, like Java, it has ActiveRecord which is an Object Relational Model, it has an opinionated file structure strongly aimed towards MVC (model, view, controller) that gets you going with building the end product and not bike shedding on where files go. Lots of batteries included stuff with Rails. Taking a single user application to multiple users does have some extra work. Just going to ask some thought starter questions: - Do you have an integration with the school's SIS (student info system) or are you web scraping their site? - How would you keep your system updated for things like classes filling up, times changing, etc. - How would users login to this application to pull up their schedule & classes? - How are you updating the school's system, if at all, with schedule changes? - Does your application consider major or graduating requirements in how to choose what classes? Some schools system provide this.
  - solardev 2y ago
    May I ask side question, please, not directly related to the OP? > Its object oriented, like Java, it has ActiveRecord which is an Object Relational Model, it has an opinionated file structure strongly aimed towards MVC (model, view, controller) Sorry if this sounds ignorant (it is, because I never had a formal CS education), but why are these things important? When I first started learning programming, OOP was all the rage, as was MVC, but it seems like in the last few years, the web dev world has largely moved towards React's "function soup inside HTML templates" model. I was about to start learning Ruby and Rails for a job, but your post has me curious and also a little worried. "Batteries included" is nice, but does Ruby force you into a particular coding style/paradigm, and is that going to cause any readability/maintainability issues, especially when paired with a JSX frontend?
    - aristofun 2y ago
      Ruby is the best thing you can ever get from a dynamically typed language. Its syntax as intuitive ad you can possibly get. Anything beyond that would already be a plain English. On top of that it has a decent and friendly to beginners community promoting good code style and practices. RoR is just a superior choice on many levels. Doesn’t mean that it is perfect all weather tool (far from it) but its a solid beginners choice to avoid any regrets looking back.
    - mattbrewsbytes 2y ago
      Rails doesn't force anything, you can change default batteries out for different ones (this analogy, like most falls down pretty quickly). Ruby itself allows a lot of coding style freedom with the creator of Ruby stating the goal being developer happiness. What causes readability and maintainability issues are the people writing/maintaining the code, no matter what language its written in. Regarding "function soup inside HTML templates" I think you should strongly consider Rails Hotwire [0] (in Rails 7+, add-on for 6.1) and having the server, well, serve the HTML. Rails is a full stack framework and Turbo/Hotwire can do a lot of the heavy lifting for dynamic applications. [0] https://hotwired.dev/ https://hotwired.dev/
    - authorfly 2y ago
charlesrach 2y ago
Thanks everyone for the answers I’ll look into all of them :)
frompdx 2y ago
Learning to create a web app is a fine endeavor, however, if you already have something that works and you want to sell it to other students why not focus on that? For example, what if you sold it on itch.io to other students? That way you have a sense for whether or not people are willing to buy it before you decide to rewrite your app into a web app.
journey2s 2y ago
To create a website, you can start with something free like wordpress.com. For tools to consider, you'll find most of them out along the way, but you should also begin your research right from the start.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
wruza 2y ago
Don’t change horses completely, that’s the way to the mud. If you’re good at java, get a java web fw/lib from a “simple web1 but practical” category and after few key experiments you’ll see your app-to-web migration roadmap. For styling take Bulma or Bootstap (or any of “most popular css frameworks” except Tailwind), they work right out of box and require little knowledge.

2 points by charlesrach 2y ago

calebjosue 2y ago

Take a deep dive at https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/2020/weeks/ https://cs50.harvard.edu/web/2020/weeks/ Enroll through edx.org (It's free) You already have The prerrequisites From What You are saying. If You are in University, listen to Leslie Lamport: University is a time to edúcate youtself, You learn The job on The job.

eamag 2y ago

You can try https://www.fastht.ml/ https://www.fastht.ml/

aristofun 2y ago

Ruby on rails is the smoothest ride into serious web dev for beginners

mattbrewsbytes 2y ago
I would second RoR. Its object oriented, like Java, it has ActiveRecord which is an Object Relational Model, it has an opinionated file structure strongly aimed towards MVC (model, view, controller) that gets you going with building the end product and not bike shedding on where files go. Lots of batteries included stuff with Rails. Taking a single user application to multiple users does have some extra work. Just going to ask some thought starter questions: - Do you have an integration with the school's SIS (student info system) or are you web scraping their site? - How would you keep your system updated for things like classes filling up, times changing, etc. - How would users login to this application to pull up their schedule & classes? - How are you updating the school's system, if at all, with schedule changes? - Does your application consider major or graduating requirements in how to choose what classes? Some schools system provide this.
- solardev 2y ago
  May I ask side question, please, not directly related to the OP? > Its object oriented, like Java, it has ActiveRecord which is an Object Relational Model, it has an opinionated file structure strongly aimed towards MVC (model, view, controller) Sorry if this sounds ignorant (it is, because I never had a formal CS education), but why are these things important? When I first started learning programming, OOP was all the rage, as was MVC, but it seems like in the last few years, the web dev world has largely moved towards React's "function soup inside HTML templates" model. I was about to start learning Ruby and Rails for a job, but your post has me curious and also a little worried. "Batteries included" is nice, but does Ruby force you into a particular coding style/paradigm, and is that going to cause any readability/maintainability issues, especially when paired with a JSX frontend?
  - aristofun 2y ago
    Ruby is the best thing you can ever get from a dynamically typed language. Its syntax as intuitive ad you can possibly get. Anything beyond that would already be a plain English. On top of that it has a decent and friendly to beginners community promoting good code style and practices. RoR is just a superior choice on many levels. Doesn’t mean that it is perfect all weather tool (far from it) but its a solid beginners choice to avoid any regrets looking back.
  - mattbrewsbytes 2y ago
    Rails doesn't force anything, you can change default batteries out for different ones (this analogy, like most falls down pretty quickly). Ruby itself allows a lot of coding style freedom with the creator of Ruby stating the goal being developer happiness. What causes readability and maintainability issues are the people writing/maintaining the code, no matter what language its written in. Regarding "function soup inside HTML templates" I think you should strongly consider Rails Hotwire [0] (in Rails 7+, add-on for 6.1) and having the server, well, serve the HTML. Rails is a full stack framework and Turbo/Hotwire can do a lot of the heavy lifting for dynamic applications. [0] https://hotwired.dev/ https://hotwired.dev/
  - authorfly 2y ago

charlesrach 2y ago

Thanks everyone for the answers I’ll look into all of them :)

frompdx 2y ago

Learning to create a web app is a fine endeavor, however, if you already have something that works and you want to sell it to other students why not focus on that? For example, what if you sold it on itch.io to other students? That way you have a sense for whether or not people are willing to buy it before you decide to rewrite your app into a web app.

journey2s 2y ago

To create a website, you can start with something free like wordpress.com. For tools to consider, you'll find most of them out along the way, but you should also begin your research right from the start.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

wruza 2y ago

Don’t change horses completely, that’s the way to the mud. If you’re good at java, get a java web fw/lib from a “simple web1 but practical” category and after few key experiments you’ll see your app-to-web migration roadmap. For styling take Bulma or Bootstap (or any of “most popular css frameworks” except Tailwind), they work right out of box and require little knowledge.