Web application has been the most desirable environment to produce platform independent applications, because of the high scope of end user application that can deal with web applications, any web browser can handle that job and there are a lot of choices [1].

Data sources can be the key factor in the design and implementation of any application [2].

Windows application is also considered a good choice for developers. A Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app is a Windows experience that is built upon the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), which was first introduced in Windows 8 as the Windows Runtime. At the core of UWP apps is the idea that users want their experiences to be mobile across all their devices, and they want to use whatever device is most convenient or productive for the task at hand [3].

Platform independency is considered as a huge advantage for the web development industry, no limits for the expected clients [4].

From the other side: PHP is considered as the widely-used and open source scripting language, theirs scripts are executed on the server and is free to download and use [5].

MY-SQL is an open source Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), in July 2013, it was the world's second most widely used RDBMS, and the most widely used open source client server model. RDBMS, MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications [6].

PHP and MY-SQL

It's interesting, at this point, to see what the typical PHP and MySQL application development framework looks like. Usually, such applications are developed on the so-called “LAMP” (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) platform, wherein each component plays a specific and important role:

• Linux provides the base Operating System (OS) and server environment.
• The Apache web server intercepts HTTP requests and either serves them directly or passes them on to the PHP interpreter for execution.
• The PHP interpreter parses and executes PHP code, and returns the results to the web server.
• The MySQL RDBMS serves as the data storage engine, accepting connections from the PHP layer and inserting, modifying, or retrieving data [7].

Figure 1 illustrates these components in action.

Figure 1. LAMP Development Framework

Microsoft Access Database

Microsoft Access is a DBMS (also known as Database Management System) from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software development tools. It is a member of the Microsoft Office suite of applications, included in the Professional and higher editions or sold separately.

Microsoft Access stores data its own format based on the Access Jet Database Engine. It can also import or link directly to data stored in other applications and databases [8].

In this paper, the application used is a web application and the PHP scripting language has been used. PHP can handle many data sources, but which is the most appropriate and efficient?

Both Microsoft access database file and MY-SQL represent a good choice to build a database and to be used as a web based DBMS.

The main objective of the proposed study is to compare the performance and feasibility of both the data sources and which is the best couple (php-mysql or php-access).

To build both the systems, the following tools were used:

• Apache server version 2.4.9 [9]
• PHP version 5.5.12
• MySQL version 5.6.17
• Microsoft Access 2013 professional plus
• Three personal computers and two smart phones
• Wireless router
• 1,2,3 all combined in WAMP server version 2.5 [10]

The design consists of three parts:

• Server side: This side handles the connection with the DBMS source.
• Database side: This side represents the data sources used, for the first application a Microsoft Access database has been used, the other used a MY-SQL database.
• WAMP server that can handle PHP and convert a normal pc to a web server using Apache server.

To understand the workflow of the work, it is best explained with the following scenario:

• Design and implement both the web applications.
• Access both applications from different machines.
• Compare the responsivity and performance of both applications

• The server side: Two web applications were built from scratch, both using PHP as shown in Figure 2.
• The first application connects with a MY-SQL database on the same machine.
• The second application connects directly with Microsoft Access database file.
• Both application were designed and implemented under Windows 8.1 operation system.
• The implemented application are identical with minimal exceptions.
• Both applications make use of Apache web server which is included in WAMP server and can be accessed locally or from another network.
• The proposed application make benefit of the platform independency and had been tested through different operating systems and internet browsers.
• No client application was required because it is already there.

Figure 2. The Web Application Home Page

The databases used are:

Figure 3. My-SQL Table Creation Code using PHP Script

Figure 4. A Snapshot of the MY-SQL Table

• MY-SQL database which is similar to the above database and has been created by a simple code as shown in Figure 3 and a snapshot of the table used is shown in Figure 4.
• Microsoft access database which consists of two columns (id, balance), the simplicity of the database is intentional to focus of the actual web application as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Microsoft Access Table

The two web application proposed in this paper are very similar in the design and productivity and the work flow. The design is identical in both application but they differ if the workflow of data between the application and the database, where both applications have the same interface as shown in Figure 2. The application mainly consists of multiple actions that can be done to the database (search, view, copy to add, edit, delete).

To test the functionality and workflow of the proposed web applications, they had been accessed locally from different machines. The access time is as shown in the Table 1 and Table 2 (in seconds):

Table 1. The Response Time using Google Chrome

Table 2. The Response Time using Microsoft EDGE

The proposed application showed obviously that PHP-MYSQL couple still on top of the other competitor proposed in this study case.

The obtained results shows that, the design can easily enhance the whole application, in other words the data source is considered the key factor in such systems.

The browser has a great effect on the whole performance of the application, but the results shows a weird and ironic numbers for Microsoft. That is due to Microsoft access and Microsoft edge should be the perfect couple, but the numbers show another side of the story.

This kind of applications are a great addition to any institute or workplace because it replaces the normal and expensive DBMS's with an intelligent and platform independent and easy to use interface.