We provide a project development service from design through to implementation for both web and iPhone/iPad applications.

We understand that you may never have worked with us before and need reassurance that we can deliver on our promises. Therefore we offer a couple of flat fee services so you can try out our project process.

We take these two options as seriously as a full scale project and on completion will supply you with valuable assets that you can continue to work with, even if you decide not to continue using us.

With this option we:

• conduct a Brainstorming Session;
• create your application Storyboards;
• document the Application Patterns, Data Designs and UI Layouts;
• and build a prototype of your application.

At the end of this process we will have created the primary building blocks of your application. All this is obviously yours to keep. We hope that you will have built enough trust in us and our Project Process to be happy to continue the relationship into a full blown project.

Some applications are complex and take many development iterations before the requirements are sufficiently met. These projects are large undertakings and for this type of project we offer a 20 Day Process.

With this option we:

• provide everything from the 10 Day Process;
• conduct two full 1 week iterations of our Development Phase

This process allows more time for the application to get to a stage where you can make a sound judgement on the quality of the work that we have undertaken. With larger applications it is vital that not only are you happy with the Design and Prototype phases, but also with the way each Development Phase has been conducted.

If you wish to discuss how we can help you further, please feel free to contact us online; email us; or call our Director, Alex Kenney on +44 (0) 77 7557 8801. Yes we believe in direct communication right from the start!

We have extensive experience in the Design, Project Management and Build of Web based applications. It is where it all began for us. We have learnt that projects of this nature are destined for failure if there is not a clear architectural design right from the start.

If you commission us to build a Web Application for you, we start with our Web Application Architecture. We feel that it is a good balance between open web standards and proprietary programming language.

Of course there are many different ways to develop a web application, but we feel that our architecture allows for:

• a standards based User Interface catering to multiple platforms, devices and browsers;
• rapid development phases;
• a clean separation of the User Interface from the Application Logic;
• the ability to test independent of the User Interface;
• the storing of all Application Logic in one place; and
• the ability to use the Database of your choice

As part of our Web Application Architecture we also implement established architectural patterns such as the Model-View-Controller as we feel it is the best way of ensuring that the User Interface is correctly separated from Application Logic. This also allows us to more easily reuse logic if we subsequently build a mobile app for your web application.

We believe that by combining our Web Application Architecture with sound architectural patterns, we are able to concentrate on building well structured, concise applications for you.

So when we build applications using our Web Application Architecture, what is used in each layer?

We believe in a standards based approach to our User Interface. We ensure that our applications work on all the major browsers and a range of mobile device browsers.

No longer is it viable to test on Internet Explorer only, as has often been the case within the corporate environment. Users now access applications from work, home and mobile devices. Therefore the application has to work across many platforms, devices and browsers. We therefore stay away from proprietary technologies and concentrate on those that are supported by the major browsers.

We keep the User Interface clean. It is the View component of the Model-View-Controller. What we mean by this is that we don’t put Application Logic into this architectural layer. Many companies will insert javascript business rules for expediency, but this quickly gets out of hand and makes testing separately from the User Interface more complicated.

We use a concise set of proven web technologies to build your User Interface:

• Html – HyperText Markup Language. Uses markup tags to describe web pages. We use Html to describe the page, but not to style it;
• Html5 – as the major browsers begin to offer solid support, we are starting to implement this technology;
• CSS – we use Cascading StyleSheets to style and layout all our pages. CSS works in conjunction with Html to give you the core of the User Interface;
• Javascript – we have our own set of libraries that we use to provide the plumbing to the User Interface. Used in conjunction with jQuery it provides a powerful framework for interaction between the User Interface and Web Server;
• jQuery – is a fast, concise, library that simplifies how to traverse HTML documents, handle events, and add AJAX. We use this library as it is the most popular and well supported AJAX library with a wealth of resource on the web;
• JSON – is a lightweight data interchange format. This technology is a key component in the communication between User Interface and Web Server;
• AJAX – this is actually a group of technologies, that when used together, enables a more dynamic web based experience. AJAX is a trending technology at present and is therefore used a great deal, sometimes overly so. We use AJAX within context and where it will enhance the user experience

Our communication is kept to the standard Http verbs, we implement our applications using REST principles and stay away from proprietary add ons that can needlessly complicate the product.

With our architecture we need to find a balance between web standards and corporate requirements. We use IIS 7.0 as our Web Server of choice because it is also the server of choice within many corporations. However we try to use the server in a standard way. Our communication is kept to the standard Http verbs, we implement our applications using REST principles and stay away from proprietary add ons that can needlessly complicate the product.

• REST – Representational State Transfer is a style of software architecture for the web. It conforms to open standards and is technology independent;
• Http Verbs – we build all our applications around the central Http Verbs GET, POST and DELETE;
• ASP.NET MVC – we use this technology to allow us to implement the Model-View-Controller design pattern into our applications; and
• IIS 7.0 – is a flexible, secure and scalable Web Server. It is able to handle almost any task and is therefore perfectly suited to our architecture

The core of your business logic. All your controllers, models, business rules and plumbing for your application live in this layer.

If the User Interface wants to submit something to the Database, it does so via this layer. If there are business rules that fail, the Application Logic will pick this up and send it back to the User Interface.

This layer servers as the Model and Controller of the Model-View-Controller.

We use Microsoft technologies in this layer, but in as standard way as possible. There are many excellent server side languages out there, Ruby, Java, PHP and Python to name but a few. However we use this set of technologies for a few simple reasons:

• Our experience and knowledge has been built up using the C# language and the .NET framework, which we continue to build on;
• C# is a well maintained, scalable and a strongly supported language; and
• The IDE and working environment, especially for debugging and locating errors in your code, is second to none

We know that there are many different ways to build the Application Logic of your application, but we feel that rather than debate which language is best, the reasons listed above are more critical to ensuring we give you the best service possible.

We try to keep the Database Design concise and vendor independent.

Ensuring that the database is architected in a standard manner ensures that the maximum flexibility is maintained for the future.

Persisting data in your application is a critical component of the whole architecture. The vast majority of our applications utilise a Relational SQL Database to persist the data. We try to be agnostic to the relational database that is required. We feel the decision on which database technology to use is dependent on:

• the application that is being built;
• the potential size requirements of the database;
• your individual requirements; and
• your ability to support it in the future

We try to keep the Database Design concise and vendor independent. This is not always possible and we determine this when building the Data Design for your application. However ensuring that the database is architected in a standard manner ensures that the maximum flexibility is maintained for the future.