1. Name : MITHANGA KAMAU
REG NUMBER: CS382-D1-3370/2015
COURSE: ICS 3209
ASSIGNMENT: Project Proposal
For A course enrolment system
16th
October, 2015
2. A course enrolment system
Table of Contents
Preliminary analysis...................................................................................................................2
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................2
Objectives...............................................................................................................................2
Project justification ................................................................................................................2
General scope and application of the project .........................................................................2
System analysis, requirements definition ..................................................................................3
Resources ...............................................................................................................................3
Hardware ............................................................................................................................3
Software..............................................................................................................................3
Budget ....................................................................................................................................3
Schedule .................................................................................................................................4
System design ............................................................................................................................4
Code generation .........................................................................................................................4
Testing and integration ..............................................................................................................5
Database testing......................................................................................................................5
Front end application module testing.....................................................................................5
System implementation..............................................................................................................5
Maintenance...............................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6
3. A course enrolment system
Preliminary analysis
Abstract
With the advancements in technology and the current high rate in which the fields is growing,
then there is increasing need for not only a powerful but also flexible data management
systems in all fields such as business, engineering and even in personal entrepreneurs.
The success of any organization today is highly dependent on its ability to acquire both
timely and accurate data about its real-time data; managing these data effectively, using it to
analyse its activities and even predicting trends.
In this course I will be developing a course enrolment system. This system will be a web-
based system and will be developed by appropriate and effective application of internet
programming techniques.
Objectives
The purpose and primary objective of a course enrolment system is to provide real-time and
efficient registration for anyone who wants to join the course while at the same time
providing useful reports to the staff.
Project justification
Course or programme enrolment has always been a problem especially in tertiary institutions.
It is so discouraging that for a person to enrol in a certain course they have to physically be
present in learning centre. The course enrolment system will help both the staff and the
members joining various programmes. The staff can access data and info in efficient way
while members only need to have an internet connection and use the browser to access the
course enrolment system.
General scope and application of the project
The project is intended to cover the registration of courses in small learning institutions.
These are institutions that cannot be able to purchase expensive ERPs and Softwares to
manage their operations.
4. A course enrolment system
System analysis, requirements definition
Resources
The following are the minimum hardware and software configurations that my system will
require.
Hardware
CPU Pentium iv
RAM 512MB
Storage 40GB
Network connection 56 Mb Ethernet
Software
Operating system Windows 7
Database MySQL
Softwares Apache
Firefox browser
PHP (latest version)
Budget
I will be using my personal computer to carry out this project.
All the required Softwares are open source thus easily available.
5. A course enrolment system
Schedule
The following Gantt chart shows the schedule that I will stick to while developing the system.
System design
A design for both the database and the registration module will be done. From the
requirements gathered, an ER diagram will be developed and I will come up with the
database. Reference from Database systems by (Connolly & Begg, 2005), will be helpful.
The interfaces will be designed in an appealing and easier to use for all users. The system will
registering is required to check whether the course one wants to join is available, whether
there is a vacancy for new members and if the new member meets the requirements to enrol
in that course.
I will adopt the waterfall development model for my system. This model suggests a
systematic, sequential and linear approach to developing a system.
Code generation
Here the system code is written following the previously stated design and requirements for
the system. I.e. translating the design into machine readable form. PHP, JavaScript, HTML
and CSS will be applied in developing the system together with the knowledge of MySQL
database.
6. A course enrolment system
Testing and integration
Testing will be done to both the database and the application itself.
Database testing
Stress tests will be applied onto the database for stability and performance tuning. I will feed
the database with various data to check on its performance. Also I will make several types of
queries to check the consistency of the database and any other hidden problems.
Front end application module testing
This is the module that will be used in registering/enrolling for courses. To test these
modules, i will test some boundary cases such as time conflict courses and invalid input.
Moreover, we will use a dead link checker to test our web page to determine whether there
exist some mistyped addresses or dead links.
In addition, I will test the system on different versions of different browsers.
System implementation
Both of these modules will be implemented by using PHP, which is an object programming,
server-side, cross-platform, and HTML embedded scripting language. This programming
language can reduce the complexity of the server side system greatly. It is very complicated
to combine modules together that are written in different programming languages since code
reuse and management session will be involved.
Moreover, JavaScript and DHTML will be chosen to make page decoration and error
checking in the client side
The MySQL database server is the world's most widely used open source database. Its
ingenious software architecture makes it extremely fast and easy to customize. Extensive
reuse of code within the software and a minimalist approach to produce functionally rich
features has resulted in a database management system unmatched in speed, compactness,
stability and ease of deployment.
MySQL is available for free under the GNU General Public License (GPL)
Maintenance
An information system admin from the institution will be mandated with the task of ensuring
that the system is well maintained. Troubleshooting the system regularly, regular checks and
Reviews will be conducted and reports of the state of the system presented to the institution
management. Also a continuous evaluation of the system to determine its performance and
efficiency will be carried out after every 14 days.
7. A course enrolment system
References
Connolly, T. M., & Begg, C. E. (2005). Database systems: a practical approach to design,
implementation, and management (4th ed). Harlow, Essex, England ; New York:
Addison-Wesley.
