Topiary : re-designing end-to-end web application development

Abstract

In this thesis, I built a tool for end-to-end web development, named Topiary, which experiments with a multi-table design to model the interactions between user interface components and the backend database. The main features of Topiary include a flat relational data model, a multi-table view with support for inter-table dependency, data compartmentalization via separate developer and user views, as well as flexible styling options. The frontend programming language is Javascript and in particular the React library, whereas the backend database is Firebase. Multiple sample apps have been built with Topiary to determine how powerful the tool is in building general applications for daily use.