Custom Stock picking portal for Investors with real time information, news, statistics and expert opinions and lots more! See More at: http://www.greymatterindia.com/custom-built-stock-picking-community-portal-for-investors

1. Client Requirements
Client required a site that will provide real time information, news, statistics and expert
opinions on the current happenings in the stock market. The site should be able to track picks
and pointers by professional analysts as well as financial experts so that users can compare
their investments, assess the reliance and benchmark their investments against those of the
experts.
The site should also contain features that allow users to share investment ideas and exchange
market research too. It should also enable users to participate in market polls and rate others
for their picks.
Along with the numerous features for business, the site should also enhance a user’s online
trading experience with features such as blogs, discussion forums, reports on market research
etc.
Challenges
The team faced the following challenges:
 3rd party API and RSS feeds needed to be incorporated for managing up-to-date
information, news, statistics and related data on the backend.
 Real time updates on website required the development of a robust and highly
dependable framework.
 The site should be able to handle millions of users without slowing down.
 Enhancing the networking experience of users by incorporating web usability principles.
 Maintaining load balance even while the numerous features simultaneously execute.
 RSS Feeds and 3rd
Party API’s integration required safe and secure transfer of data.

2. Technologies Used
Manpower
PHP (Server-side
Language)
A suitable managed code development environment for handling
the extensive project.
Red hat Linux Sturdy and stable operating system with high level functionalities
for online development.
MySQL Engine Versatile, low-maintenance database management system.
Cross-platform compatible database component of the LAMP
platform.
Microsoft Visio Integrated tool best suited for modular architecture and iterative
development of software.
Zend Studio Versatile web development tool with exhaustive support for CSS,
JavaScript, and various server-side scripting frameworks.
Subversion (SVN) Ideal application providing stratified storage and back up of code
files.
Symfony
Framework
Symfony is a full-stack framework, a library of cohesive classes
written in PHP
Project Leader 1
Developers 2
Designers 2
Quality Assurance Testers 1

3. Planning
To equip the site with the numerous functionalities and features, a four tier development
approach was adopted:
 Database Layer – Consists of MySQL database, tables and stored procedures
 Data Access Layer – consists of the Data Access DLL that accesses data from the
database.
 Business Layer – contains the business logic procedures for the various modules like
Offices, Properties, Maps etc.
 User Interface Layer – this forms the user facing Graphical User interface.
Development Highlights
PHP 5 and MySQL 5 was used for the development of this site to accommodate the social
networking nature of the website. Advertisers, Publishers, Banner Management and Payment
facilities modules were developed using PHP so that they can be directly executed using the UI.
An interface translating the object logic to relational logic was used to communicate with the
relational databases in an object oriented manner. This enabled effective access to the
database. The intermediary abstraction layer ensured ease of access of data from database.
Triggers, stored procedures and custom MySQL functions used for complex calculation of data
from multiple tables. Conditional syntax was used to ensure smooth functioning of the website.
The UI layer was isolated from business logic and images, apps and data was called from their
respective servers. Web usability guidelines were strictly followed and AJAX, CSS3 and HTML5
controls were used to make the site’s navigation more intuitive and user friendly. The site was
developed and fully functional within a span of 6 months.