Special Edition Using HTML 4 clearly defines the HTML language in its present form. By honing in on the daily realities of site design needs, the superfluous elements of the language are set aside, and real-world solutions are provided in a clear and concise fashion. You will learn which tools are best, how to code HTML, and the basic principles of Web publishing and graphic design. You will also learn how to take your sites into the next millennium with highly interactive and competitive technologies, including secure transactions, databases, audio and video, and practical programming techniques.
Special Edition Using HTML 4, Fifth Edition delivers holistic coverage of the key discipline of Web-site design. Author Molly E. Holzschlag combines the technical aspects of HTML and assorted technologies with general design methodologies and concepts.
The book begins with the fundamentals but quickly moves on to cover more advanced concepts, such as cascading style sheets (CSS), JavaScript, Dynamic HTML, and XML. This coverage is not comprehensive but shows you the basics of these technologies and illustrates their importance. From here, the author takes you into the details of Web-page design, presenting the HTML language in context with overall design goals.
The author goes on to show how to embed streaming audio and video, Java applets, and other multimedia packages, such as Macromedia's Shockwave, Director, and Flash documents. The book also covers server concepts such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI), Active Server Pages (ASP), and database connectivity, and includes an entire section on the complete process of designing and implementing a Web site.
Additional resources include a comprehensive reference section on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and VBScript. The companion CD-ROM includes a number of demonstration versions of tools and browsers, including HTML editors and FTP utilities. --Stephen W. Plain
