You can catch a glimpse of my non-functioning website here.
For my site's shopping cart, users will be directed to a separate page where they wil be able to view their cart and edit the quantities they desire.
In the shopping cart, sessions will be used to store product data. Specifically, the quantity that the user wants to purchase. I will have my products categorized by product type so it would basically look like: { Plungers: [2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0] Air Fresheners: [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1] Toothbrushes: [1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 3] } Or something like that. With 6 products minimum required on each page, it will correspond with the correct place in the session quantity array.
The server will check for existing cookies for that user so it will know whether they have logged in or registered yet. When the user has not logged in or registered yet, they will not have access to their shopping cart. They will be redirected to the log in or registration page so they can either log in or register. When the user has successfully logged in, a cookie will be established for that user and only then can they access the shopping cart and therefore check out. A security concern would be someone gaining access to the user's account when the user is in a public space (a coffee shop for example) while they're using the restroom or something and they forget to lock their device. The established cookie will be set to expire after 5 minutes just in case the user is away from their device. Hopefully any suspects won't gain access to one's account in this time!
When a user successfully logs in, their data will be stored into a cookie. Then, they will be able to see their full name in the shopping cart, invoice, and thank you page after they checkout. Their email address will aslo be displayed in the thank you page.
I will not be working with a partner for Assignment 3.
With Assignment 3 I am making sure that I will start early, earlier than I did with Assignment 1 and 2 anyway. I will ensure that I tackle the assignment piece by piece, taking it slowly one day at a time as opposed to rushing during the end when it is due. I recall that for Assignment 3, that we can't turn it in late since it's toward the end of the semester and grades will be due immediately. So, I really have to get on it to get it in on time. Also, since the assignment will require us to use cookies and sessions to store data, I will have to shift my focus away from what I learned in Assignment 2 and bring in a fresh perspective when it comes to Assignment 3. Since it will be required to have 3 separate pages of products, I will need to change the theme of my store from just plungers to maybe a store full of bathroom products.