CST 3130 – Advanced Web Development with Big Data – Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website
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CST 3130 - Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website
1. Summary
Version: 1.0
Individual project
Weighting: 50% of overall mark
Deadline for project proposal: 16:00 Friday 15th October 2021 (end of Week 3)
Deadline for final submission: 16:00 Friday 10th December 2021 (end of Week 11)
2. Key Points
You build a price comparison website that displays products and their prices from several different
websites.
The user can search for products on the website.
Shopping functionality and customer registration/login are not required.
Your website provides links that enable users to navigate to the product on the original website.
You can propose a different type of project based on scraped data from multiple websites - for example a
property search website.
Website scraping must be done using Java.
You must use a SQL database to store your data. MySQL/MariaDB is recommended.
Several threads should be used to download data.
There are marks for using Spring, Hibernate and Maven.
The back end of the website must be implemented in JavaScript running on Node.js. No marks are
available for functionality that is implemented in other programming languages.
Your application includes a REST API. This can be integrated into your front end (via AJAX). Or it can be a
separate web service that enables third parties to access your data.
The front end must be written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You cannot write an app.
There are marks available for the quality and quantity of data that you have scraped.
Marks are available for code quality, unit testing and the front end of the website.
The final submission of your project will only receive a mark if your submission includes a video
demonstration.
3. What Needs to be Submitted
3.1 Project Proposal (Deadline: 16:00 Friday 15th October 2021)
Submit a zip file that contains:
1. Proposal document. This must contain:
Brief description of the proposed website.
Wireframe sketches of the website or screenshots of early prototype.
List of websites and URLs that will be scraped.
Diagram showing database design.
The proposal document must be in Word or PDF format.
2. Database SQL commands:
File containing the SQL commands that are used to create the database. This can be a dump of your
implementation of your database design or a text file containing the SQL commands that were used to
create the database.
Upload the zip file using the link in the Coursework 1 section of the course website.
CST 3130 – Advanced Web Development with Big Data – Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website
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We will use the project proposal to give you feedback about your idea and help you realize it in the time available.
You can reuse material from the project proposal in the final project submission.
The project proposal is worth 10% of the mark for Coursework 1.
3.2 Final Submission (Deadline: 16:00 Friday 10th December 2021)
Submit a zip file that contains:
1. Project report. This must include:
Screenshots showing all of the website’s key functionality.
Description of the website. You should explain the web scraping, the RESTful web service and how the
JavaScript displays the data.
Diagram showing the final database design.
Documentation of the tests.
The project report must be in Word or PDF format.
2. Source code. Your source code folder should contain the following files:
Maven build file (pom.xml).
Spring configuration file(s) (beans.xml). Not needed if you are using annotations.
Hibernate configuration file(s).
Java source code for web scraping.
Java source code for unit tests.
Java API documentation.
Node.js JavaScript source code.
JavaScript source code for unit tests.
Front end source code for website (JavaScript, HTML, CSS).
Other source files for website, for example. Vue files etc.
Please do not include the node_modules folder in your submission. It is likely to make your
submission too large to upload!
3. Database dump:
Dump of the database and data using mysqldump or a similar tool. No marks will be awarded for a
copy of the raw database files – your dump must be readable in a text editor.
4. 5-minute video demonstration. Video demonstrations are mandatory for the final submission. I strongly
recommend that you watch the talk on recording video demonstrations on the course website.
Upload the zip file using the link in the Coursework 1 section of the course website.
The final submission is worth 90% of the mark for Coursework 1.
4. Formative Feedback
Formative assessments do not directly contribute to the overall module mark but they do provide an important
opportunity to receive feedback on your learning. They provide an opportunity to evaluate and reflect on your
understanding of what you have learnt. They also help your tutors identify what further support and guidance can be
given to improve your grade.
We are happy to give you formative feedback about Coursework 1 in the labs and can also give formative feedback
about drafts of Coursework 1 that are sent to us more than 1 week prior to the deadlines.
CST 3130 – Advanced Web Development with Big Data – Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website
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5. Extenuating Circumstances
If you have personal problems that interfere with your studies, you can apply for extra time to complete coursework
without a mark penalty. You have to provide appropriate documentary evidence.
More information here: https://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/your-study/assessment-and-regulations/extenuating-
circumstances.
You must let the module leader know if you have been granted an extension.
6. Late Submission
We are very unlikely to give extensions to coursework and very unlikely to accept excuses. So we strongly
recommend that you hand coursework in on time.
Contact the module leader before the deadline if you run into problems. Zero marks will be awarded for
coursework that is received more than six hours after the deadline.
7. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Students that submit identical projects will be reported to the university. If
they are found guilty, they will have to resubmit their work, their marks could be capped or they could fail the
module.
We recognize that there is often a blurry line between copying and collaboration. People work together and help
each other to solve problems and apply the solutions to their own projects. We strongly encourage this kind of
collaboration. But it is not acceptable for students to collaborate on a project which they submit as individual work.
To penalize this, the mark for near-identical projects will be divided between the projects. So suppose a project gets
a mark of 60% and near-identical versions are handed in by 3 people. Each person will get 20%, instead of 60%. This
only applies to the marks for the parts of the project that are identical.
We are not going to police this and make detailed investigations. So if you allow your project to be copied, you will
be as liable for plagiarism as the person who submits it as their own work. Both the original and the copy will receive
zero or reduced marks.
Links to the relevant University regulations and additional support resources can be found here:
Academic Integrity Awareness Course: https://mdx.mrooms.net/mod/lesson/view.php?id=877307. (You will
have to log into to MyUniHub and then MyLearning to access the course.)
Section F: Infringement of Assessment Regulations/Academic Misconduct: https://www.mdx.ac.uk/about-
us/policies/university-regulations.
Referencing & Plagiarism: Suspected of plagiarism?:
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/c.php?g=322119&p=2155601.
Referencing and avoiding plagiarism: http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/your-study/learning-enhancement-
team/online-resources/referencing-and-avoiding-plagiarism.
The MDXSU Advice Service offers free and independent support face-to-face in making an appeal, complaint or
responding to any allegations of academic or non-academic misconduct. https://www.mdxsu.com/advice.
CST 3130 – Advanced Web Development with Big Data – Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website
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8. Assessment Methods
8.1 Project Proposal
We will read your project proposal, look at your SQL and give you feedback online and in the labs.
8.2 Final Submission
We will look at the code, read your report and view up to 5 minutes of your video demonstration. Your video
demonstrations should not be significantly longer than 5 minutes. Zero marks will be awarded for a final submission
of Coursework 1 without a video demonstration. I strongly recommend that you watch the talk on recording video
demonstrations on the course website.
The project will be given a mark out of 100. This will be scaled down to a mark between 0 and 50 that corresponds to
50% of the overall mark for the module.
9. Assessment Criteria
Feature Deadline Marks
Project proposal.
Must include:
A short description of the
website.
Wireframes of the design or
screenshots of an early
prototype.
List of websites and URLs that
will be scraped to obtain data
for the project.
Diagram showing database
design.
mysqldump file containing
implementation of your
database design or a text file
containing the SQL
commands that were used to
create the database.
Marks are available for the
quality of the proposal – for
example, writing, wireframe and
diagram quality.
16:00
15/10/21
2 marks. Description of the website.
2 marks. Wireframes or screenshots of website pages.
1 marks. List of websites and URLs that will be scraped to
obtain data for the project.
1 marks. Diagram showing database design.
1 marks. SQL file containing commands used to create
database.
3 marks. Proposal quality. Is it clearly written? Are the data
sources sensible? Do the wireframes clearly show the
website design?
Threads. Use of multiple threads
to pull data from several
websites.
16:00
10/12/21
5 marks. Two or more threads successfully used to pull data
from two or more websites.
Maven. Use of Maven to build
Java software. You can use other
build tools, such as Ant or Gradle.
16:00
10/12/21
2 marks. Use of Maven or similar tool to build Java software.
1 mark. Use of Maven or similar tool to run unit tests.
2 mark. Use of Maven or similar tool to build executable Jar
file that includes all of the dependencies.
CST 3130 – Advanced Web Development with Big Data – Coursework 1: Price Comparison Website