A programming laboratory for electronic commerce

With support from NSF DUE CCLI, Weaver, AC (2001), we developed a programming laboratory to provide interactive experience with the tools, techniques, and principles of e-commerce. The first lab explored the wide range of Web innovation, the last lab was a mock patent infringement trial, and the eleven other labs were chosen from a set of independent modules on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, CGI, regular expressions, SQL, ASP, PHP, Flash, XML, and C#. The first lab offering used weekly, three-hour physical labs; students enjoyed the material but rejected the fixed time weekly format. The next offering is the transition to the course to utilize virtual labs that will better align the programming experience with the 24/7 nature of the Internet and e-commerce.