The topic of our research project is Web Development, meaning developing a web site to exhibit various information so that anyone who has access to the Internet can see the information.

The Internet has its roots laid up since 1960’s. It began with four sites around the country, and was named Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the father of the modern day Internet. In 1982, TCP/IP, referred as the rules of the road, were established so that those different networks can communicate. The growth and advancement of networks continued, and in the early 1990’s produced the World Wide Web. Since then, the Internet has gone from being a new way of communication, to the most popular way of communication. As of today, the growth of Internet users is exponential. Because of this, innovation of new technologies and capabilities for the future is required, and this is where Internet2 enters the picture. Internet2, a project involving more than 140 universities along with partners in industry and the government, is a collaborative effort to develop new technologies and facilities that will be eventually adopted by, and deployed in, the current Internet and commercial sector. It is not a separate physical network that will replace the current Internet. The Internet brought Web Development, and Internet2 will bring forth the revolution in Web Development by enabling users to create digital libraries, virtual laboratories, etc. with rapid transfer of the information.

HTML, the original language of the World Wide Web, was developed in 1989 with SGML as the template. HTML documents consist of text surrounded by angle brackets <>, known as tags. The most important feature of HTML is that any type of computer can be used to display an HTML document. However, HTML is a presentation language, as opposed to full-blown programming language, and in consequence, has many limits. On the other hand, SGML, developed by International Standards Organization, is a powerful programming language from which HTML is derived. SGML does not have limits like HTML, but is too complex for many applications and many users.

DHTML is an improvement of HTML with better standards and techniques. The main feature of DHTML is that it allows a document to re-flow itself. DHTML mainly focuses on object models to create interactive Web applications. JavaScript, a script language from Netscape, does the same thing. It uses HTML pages as the user interface and is a bit easier than Java. Java, programming language, created by software company Sun Microsystems in 1995, is a much powerful language than JavaScript. It is accepted as the programming language of the Internet, and the principle use of this language is to write an interactive application, not to design a Web page. Also, Java is a good platform for an increasingly used new language called XML.

The group called W3C, designed XML as a compromise between the simplicity of HTML and the flexibility and complexity of SGML. Even though XML was developed in 1996, its emergence as the favored language for exchanging data over the Web has been recent. It offers advantages like formality and extensibility, which are extremely beneficial for e-commerce and other industrial applications. However, unlike other languages, XML competes with HTML, and the question asked is, "will it replace HTML?"

The popularity and support towards XML shows us that XML is here to stay. However, it will not be able to replace HTML at least for the next few years. The reason is that XML needs a presentation language and currently, HTML is used for that. For DHTML, it is safe until HTML is around. A Java and XML combination is very powerful, and JavaScript is also used comfortably with XML.

The two classes of tools used are text editors and WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) tools. Text editors give you word processor kind of control over your document; however, you have to know the languages to actually use it. On the other hand, WYSIWYG tools are for people "alien" to HTML and other languages. They are for the inexperienced users. As more people use the Internet, the amount of inexperienced Web developers is also increasing. Hence, web tools will become more user friendly, time saving, and more accommodating in the near future.

The use of web browsers it to view web pages published on the Internet. The first graphical browser was called Mosaic, which later transformed into the very popular Netscape Navigator. Microsoft and Netscape dominate the field of browsers through their products, Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator respectively. Until recently, the trend for development of browsers has been to make them more user friendly. However, criticism attracted by the latest version of Communicator and Explorer proved that this trend needs to be changed because of their incompatibility. The trend now is to make them more compatible with various available technologies and W3C standards, and Gecko, the new engine developed by Netscape is an example of this trend.

Every web page also contains its own unique URL or address that allows different users to obtain that page on their browsers. This address tells browsers where the host is and where all the files for that page are located. These files are transferred to web servers via FTP-File Transfer Protocol. FTP servers are also needed to transfer image files with JPEG and GIF as extensions.

This part of the project is done from two perspectives. It analyzes companies and their products related to the domain of Web Development, and gives cost analyses for the users of different web tools.

Netscape is one of the largest companies in the current web market that offers many different products for its consumers. Communicator is Netscape’s most popular product that includes a browser named Navigator and an HTML editor called Composer. This package is used by approximately 55 percent of users of the Internet. FastTrack, an entry-level web server is the other HTML editing product that they offer.

Microsoft, the other software giant, also offers many products related to web development. Their biggest product is the browser called Internet Explorer, which comes second after Netscape’s Communicator. FrontPage is their version for the HTML editor to create web pages. This product is more popular than the Netscape Composer, but it is not part of Explorer. Microsoft also has FrontPage Express and Explorer5.0 available through the Internet.

This is a relatively new company making a huge impact on the web market through its product called ColdFusion. Allaire also offers an HTML editor named HomeSite. Their products are only for sale through the company, and can not be downloaded for free.

Other companies like Myth Breakers and MSS Internet are consultant companies that develop and maintain web sites through contract. Geocities and Lycos are the other companies that provide spaces for web site.

History of Web Development

In the 1960’s (during the cold war) the Department of Defense (D.O.D.) was worried about a nuclear war. It came up with the idea to connect some computers across the country with no central authority, so if one were to be destroyed, the rest would remain intact. Initially, four sites were connected. The sites connected were located at UCLA, Stanford, University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah [11]. This connection was named ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). This was "the father of the modern day internet" [14:lesson1.htm].

By 1971, ARPANET grew to 15 nodes and in 1973 added nodes in England and Norway [11]. During the early 1970’s, other networks were being created. The only problem was that these networks were incompatible with one another, where communication was concerned. In 1982, TCP/IP network protocols were established. TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol. TCP/IP refers to the "rules of the road" for communication between the different networks, so they can communicate.

During this time period, more and more nodes were being added through TCP/IP, and the "Internet was truly born" [14:lesson1.htm]. Later, in 1983, ARPANET was split into two networks, military (MILNET) and research (ARPANET). By 1986, ARPANET was being replaced as the "backbone of the internet" by a new network called NSFNet that was established by the National Science Foundation [14:lesson1.htm]. In 1990, ARPANET was dismantled without any part of the internet being affected. At that time, there were about one hundred thousand internet hosts, and now, since that number is growing exponentially, the total is probably somewhere in the millions [14:lesson1.htm]. By the early 1990’s, the World Wide Web was developed at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research. The World Wide Web is an "Internet facility that links documnents locally and remotely" [13: www]. It is just one part of the Internet. Web sites are used to post information so anyone with internet access can see that information. This brings us to the topic of web development. In order to create a web site, an underlying language must be used.

SGML

The main language used to create web sites is HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML is a "simplified form of SGML [Structured Generalized Markup Language]" [9: p.4]. SGML was originally developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and was adopted by the D.O.D. (Department of Defense) as a "means of standardizing the technical documents created by all defense contractors and suppliers" [9: p.4]. Like HTML, SGML is a "neutral formatting language that annotates a document to provide formatting instructions, hypertext links, and definitions for the documents components" [9: p.4]. These formatting instructions are called markup codes or tags. This is an example of tagged text:

<tag> text surrounded by tags </tag>

This is what the ‘M’ in HTML and SGML stands for because the text/information is be ‘marked up.’ The G in SGML stands for Generalized because its applications are almost limitless [2: p.3]. SGML is mainly used for "marking up documents for both print and online publication" [8: p.9].

There are many benefits to SGML, which would be a reason why it was chosen as a template for HTML. The benefits include the facts that it is system independent, it is non-proprietary, it separates the content from the format, and it is designed to operate on any computer platform [2:p. 5]. SGML became a standard in 1986, used by many software companies as a standard for their software [9: p.5]. By the 1990’s it became a popular solution to publishing needs, in that editors could use SGML to edit published materials [2: p.5]. The main programming language used to create web pages is HTML, which came from SGML.

HTML was created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. He decided to use hypertext technology and thus did away with the "typical linear approach to published material" [8: p.6]. Hypertext is a "linkage between related text" [13: Hypertext]. Ted Nelson originally coined this concept as a way for the computer to react to the way humans actually think [13: Hypertext]. Hypertext is the most powerful part of HTML in that it has the ability to embed hypertext links in documents [8: p.6]. HTML is actually a presentation language as opposed to a full blown programming language [13: HTML]. As stated earlier, SGML was used as a template for HTML. The tags used in SGML are also used in HTML to format the text and information on a web site. Many of these hypertext documents can be created and linked together using HTML [3: p. xxii]. Another language used for web development is Dynamic HTML (DHTML).

Dynamic HTML is another form of HTML. With regular HTML, the computer has to wait for something new to come over the modem before it can update the page. Thus that page is static. With Dynamic HTML, at any time the page can change. The Dynamic HTML pages contain "information that tells the page how to interact with the user" [6: p.8]. Thus, the information is customized for each user [13: Dynamic HTML]. For instance, when visiting a web site, and the mouse is passed over a word, the word may change colors. That is an example of dynamic HTML. Dynamic HTML is based on a concept that "allows HTML tags to be dynamically changed via JavaScript or some other scripting language" [13: Dynamic HTML].

Java

In 1995 the Java Programming language was created by the software company Sun Microsystems. It is the "new object-oriented programming language developed … to solve a number of problems in modern programming practice and to provide a programming language for the Internet" [12]. With Java, there is an "ability to write ‘applets’ to add dynamic behavior to the client side of the Web" [7]. Java programs can be "called from within an HTML document or can be launched stand alone [13: Java]. As opposed to HTML, Java is a complicated, full blown programming language. Although their names are alike, Java and JavaScript are linked together.

JavaScript is a language that is a bit easier to use, but not as powerful as Java. It is a script language from Netscape that uses the HTML pages as the user interface [13: JavaScript]. The JavaScript applets are maintained in the source code. This is an example of JavaScript code:

This bit of code tells the browser that when the mouse is placed over the words ‘Place your mouse here!’, it is to put a message in the status bar in the bottom of the browser. The message that appears in the status bar is ‘Hi There.’ JavaScript can also be used in a similar way to make the color of the word the mouse is over change color. Javascript has many other functions as well, including buttons on the web page. In order for the browser to know that it is looking at JavaScript, a <SCRIPT language="JavaScript"> tag must be included in the beginning of the code and a </SCRIPT> must end the code. The use of Java and JavaScript have greatly changed the way we view webpages and have made those web pages more interesting.

Another language used in web development is XML, which stands for eXtensible Markup Language. It was designed "as a compromise between the simplicity of HTML and the flexibilty of SGML" [10]. This specification was developed by a group called the World Wide Web Conference (W3C) in 1996. XML defines the structure of the data rather than describing its presentation (which is what HTML does) [5]. The developer of the page can define her/his own tags giving more control. This also allows web pages to function as database records [13: XML]. XML is used mainly for e-commerce (electronic commerce). So, when you go to a website like Amazon.com and place an order, XML was used to allow you to do that.

There are two classes of tools used in web development. There are text editors and WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) tools[15]. Microsoft Notepad is an example of a text editor. Text editors "give you word processor-like control over your HTML code" [15]. The user first edits the code, then looks at it through the browser to see the editions. The user has to toggle back and forth while creating the web page.

WYSIWYG, on the other hand, lets the user modify the page and see exactly what the page will look like in the browser [15]. Netscape Composer and Microsoft FrontPage are two of the more popular WYSIWYG tools for web development. These tools are great for the inexperienced user because that person manipulates the screen to look the way he/she wants it to and the application writes the underlying HTML code for the user.

Once the web page is designed and developed, there must be a way to view the page. This is what browsers are used for. The first graphical browser was called Mosaic. It is thought of as the "grandfather of the modern Web browser" [1]. Mosaic was co-developed by Marc Andreessen and released in early 1993. Andreessen co-founded Netscape and transformed Mosaic into Netscape Navigator [4]. Netscape Navigator is one of two popular browsers on the market now. The other one is Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Both of these browsers have the composers that come with them. As discussed above, the composers are WYSIWYG tools. Netscape has Netscape Composer and Microsoft has FrontPage. These tools make building web pages very easy for the inexperienced user who does not need to know any HTML to create a web page.

In order for the browser to find the web page, each page has what is like an address. This unique ‘address’ is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). A URL normally is in this form:

Current Environment

How to create an HTML document using a word processor.

If you have ever used a word processor to type a paper, letter or any other type of document then you’re on your way to creating your first HTML document. HTML in its rawest form is just text. Any text editor or word processor can be used to create an HTML document. Some computers come with word processor programs installed on them. For example Microsoft Windows 95 comes with a text editor built right into the system. To get to this text editor you would click on your "start" button--then choose "programs"--then choose "accessories"--then lastly click on the word "Wordpad". Now this is just one example of a word processor that can be used but any one will do. Some popular word processors and text editors are Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Notepad, Wordpad, Vi, Pico, and Emacs, among many others. Choose the word processor or text editor you are most comfortable with, and open up a blank document the same way you regularly would if you were going to type a term paper or a letter.

Saving your HTML document.

If you have saved a document with your word processor before, saving an HTML document is done the same way. The only difference is you are going to have to change the extension of your file to .html. An example could be: index.html. When you save your very first HTML document you should save it with the file name: index.html. When someone types in the address to your page this will be the first file that is loaded into the web browser.

Saving this file is done the same way in just about every text editor or word processor. At the top of the word processor or text editor choose the menu item: "File" then "Save as...," in the area that says "File name" or something to that effect. Erase what is there (if there is something there) and type in the file name: index.html . Before you choose the "OK" button to exit you need to select the area the file is going to be saved to. All word processors and text editors do this differently so you will have to do this on your own. If you do not know how, then use your word processors or text editors help section.

Tags are special instructions within HTML that are surrounded by angle brackets< >. Most tags have opening and closing tags that enable the instructions to be executed. The opening tag is denoted with open brackets < > while a closing tag is denoted by a slash </> .There are four main types of tags:

1. Document structure tags allow users to construct the basic structure of the web page.
2. Format tags permit users to change the appearance of text.
3. Link tags allow users to select highlighted text or an image on a web page. These tags tell the browser to go to another page on the web.
4. Image tags allow users to add images to a web page.

The tags in HTML documents inform the web browser about the structure of a document, but are not responsible for the way the browser displays the document. Therefore, each web browser may interpret HTML tags differently. The same HTML documents may not look the same in all web browsers. It is standard practice to capitalize the commands inside of tags. It should also be noted that tags must be closed in the opposite sequence of which they were opened, when placing one tag inside of another. For example when tags are opened like this: <CENTER><I><B> they must be closed in the reverse order, like this: </B></I></CENTER>.

To get a better understanding of how HTML works, it ‘s best to use an analogy. Many of us refer to creating a web page as building the page. This is in fact a great way to look at it. When building a house, there are numerous tools that are required: hammers, nails, screws, cement, wood, etc. Sometimes you need a screw to hold things together and at other times you need a nail. That’s is exactly how a web site is constructed. The tools needed to construct a web site are referred to as tags. Every house starts with a foundation, and the same applies to a web page. Every single page must have the following at the top of the page: <HTML> (This creates the web document.) <HEAD> (This is used to set off the title and other information that isn’t displayed on the web page itself.) <TITLE> (This is the text that will appear in the top bar of the browser window.) </TITLE> (This puts the name of the document in the title bar.) </HEAD> (This "closes" the head.) <BODY> (This tag contains the background color, text color, link color, visited link color, active link color, and if there is a background graphic that is to be used on the site. The text inside these tags (<BODY> </BODY>) is the text that will appear on the web page.)

Here is an example of <BODY> tag usage:

< BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text= "#000000" link="#AA1177" alink="#ee0000" vlink="#00BB00">

What does this code mean?

• bgcolor="#FFFFFF" -- This determines that the background color will be white. Anytime you want something to be white through HTML programming, the Hexadecimal code that represents white is #FFFFFF

• text="#000000" -- This determines that the text within the Web page will appear

• link="#AA1177" -- This determines that all live links will be pink. "#AA1177" is

the hexadecimal code that represents this shade of pink.

• alink="#ee0000" -- This determines that the link, when being clicked on, will

appear red. #ee0000 is the hexadecimal code that represents this shade of red.

• vlink="#00BB00" -- This determines that after the link has been visited, it will

appear green. #00BB00 is the hexadecimal code that represents this shade of green.

All these tags don't have to be within the body tag, but if you'd like all the various text and links, alinks, and vlinks to be one particular color, the body tag is where it will be universal.

</BODY> This tag closes the body

</HTML> This tag closes the html document

There are various tools and composers that are out there in the market. Two of the best-utilized tools are Visual Café for Java and Web Express.

Visual Cafe for Java 2.5 by Symantec, has power and versatility that make it essential for anyone interested in doing serious work with Java. The best thing about the tool is its aggressive approach to programming. This tool is not for beginners, Visual Cafe assumes the user is a Java intellect, and therefore, cuts out the tutorials and heads straight for its interface with command buttons, lists, windows, and fields. Although it may appear crowded at first, this setup allows easy access to nearly every major function of the program with a single click, and lets you monitor applications in code form as well as visually while you work. Visual Cafe tightly knits together the visual and code aspects of writing Java applets, making it easy to create and edit new applications. The automatic code generator produces efficient, easy-to-read, and easily editable code, speeding up the entire process of creating an applet. The package also comes with a wide variety of specialized Symantec classes, which help improve the look of your applets and make programs easier to create. The highlight of this tool that is of note is the Beans class, which lets a programmer write code that is fully integrated with Visual Cafe. This open application programming interface structure makes it easy to customize to the environment of your choosing. As it is with any product, Visual Cafe has some shortcoming in its features. The onboard language library offers only brief descriptions of the Symantec classes and their methods, and the accompanying books aren't much better.

The program seems to encounter problems saving work, and even more difficulty it fails short in notifying you if your work has been saved. The minimum system requirements listed (a 90-MHz Pentium with 32 megabytes of memory) doesn’t seem realistic. Despite these drawbacks, Visual Cafe seems pretty impressive for anyone who truly understands the language and is looking for a great development tool. Visual Cafe for Java 2.5 is currently priced at $300.00

WebExpress 3.0 is another Web development tool on the market that is produced by MicroVision Development. WebExpress lets you create fairly simple Web pages quickly in a WYSIWYG environment. WebExpress is relatively fast and easy to use. The tool offers the ability to create style sheets to accompany documents. WebExpress also lets you insert frames, tables, and images easily, though trying to align images with nearby text can be difficult. Once you get the flow of adding files to your work, the project organizer is excellent. WebExpress lets you insert JavaScript, but not Java applets. The onboard Image Mapper gets the job done, though it is a bit difficult to start. Throughout the program, there are small, time-wasting errors that can frustrate a Web developer who needs speed. Another setback is the very idea of a WYSIWYG Web-page developer. The smartly laid-out page will be torn apart by any viewer using a different-sized monitor or a different Web browser. The biggest problem with WebExpress was its lack of depth. The absence of applets, CSS classes, and some of the more interesting HTML abilities was disappointing, as is the interface design. It seems to take longer to learn WebExpress than it does to learn HTML. That option, though not as fast, offers far more versatility.

WebExpress would be useful for anyone interested in creating very simple pages, but Web developers looking for real power should look elsewhere. WebExpress is currently priced at $69.95.

Hypertext markup language or HTML, is a world wide computer language used to display information on the web or create web pages. HTML was developed from

a powerful computer language called structured generalized markup language (SGML). An HTML document consists only of text. The commands in HTML are surrounded by angle brackets < > known as tags. An HTML document that is created in either UNIX or a Macintosh computer has the .html extension (e.g. index.html). An HTML document created using MS DOS or Windows has the .htm or .html extension (e.g. index.htm or index.html). An HTML document can be displayed on any type of computer, such as Macintosh or IBM compatible. This means that you only need to create one document that everyone on the World Wide Web can view.

DHTML was created in order to fulfill the desire to combine the web’s portability and accessibility with better visual design and functionality which resulted in a group of improved standards and techniques as revolutionary as the introduction of the web itself. Collectively these standards and techniques are called dynamic HTML.

Under HTML version 3.2 and earlier, page design was a primitive thing. Even something as simple as changing the typeface was not possible without the use of proprietary tag (FONT) not supported by all browsers. Interactivity was supported only through the use of forms and this was limited. Multimedia effects such as sound and motion were possible only with the use of plug-ins, the programming equivalent of shims, which must be located, downloaded, and installed by users before they are able to view a web page’s content. The introduction of sun Microsystems’s Java programming language supported by some browsers made another option possible, but only if the Webmaster was willing to learn a new programming language. With the introduction of HTML version 4.0, much more was made possible by a host of new tags. Beyond what the new HTML makes possible inherently, other advanced capabilities can be called on through the use of the STYLE and SCRIPT tags that open the door to scripting. Thanks to DHTML technologies, web pages can not only be read over a network they can also look like an attractive paper based publication and act like an interactive multimedia application. As well they are faster.

What Is Java? Java is two things: a programming language and a platform. Java is a high-level programming language that is simple, architecture-neutral, object-oriented, portable, distributed, high-performance, interpreted, multithreaded, robust, dynamic, and secure. Java is also unusual in that each Java program is both compiled and interpreted. With a compiler, you translate a Java program into an intermediate language called Java bytecodes. The platform-independent codes interpreted by the Java interpreter. With an interpreter, each Java bytecode instruction is parsed and run on the computer. Compilation happens just once; interpretation occurs each time the program is executed. You can think of Java bytecodes as the machine code instructions for the Java Virtual Machine (Java VM). Every Java interpreter, whether it's a Java development tool or a Web browser that can run Java applets, is an implementation of the Java VM. The Java VM can also be implemented in hardware. Java bytecodes help make "write once, run anywhere" possible. You can compile your Java program into bytecodes on any platform that has a Java compiler. The bytecodes can then be run on any implementation of the Java VM. For example, the same Java program can run on Windows NT, Solaris, and Macintosh. The Java Platform, which is a platform that the hardware or software environment in which a program runs. The Java platform differs from most other platforms in that it's a software-only platform that runs on top of other, hardware-based platforms. Most other platforms are described as a combination of hardware and operating system. The Java platform has two components: the Java Virtual Machine (Java VM), and the Java Application Programming Interface (Java API).

Java VM is the base for the Java platform and is ported onto various hardware-based platforms. The Java API is a large collection of ready-made software components that provide many useful capabilities, such as graphical user interface (GUI) widgets. The Java API is grouped into libraries (packages) of related components. As a platform-independent environment, Java can be a bit slower than native code. However, smart compilers, well-tuned interpreters, and just-in-time bytecode compilers can bring Java's performance close to that of native code without threatening portability.

A browser is a program that allows you to view and explore information on the World Wide Web. Netscape Navigator is the most popular graphical web browser that is currently used, followed by Microsoft Internet Explorer, Sun Microsystems’s Hot Java, Mosaic, and Lynx. Netscape for example supports a text attribute that makes text blink on the screen. Hot Java on the other hand supports a 3 dimensional interface for 3-D objects. Lynx is the most widely used text based web browser, and is commonly found on UNIX systems at universities and colleges. Web browsers have four different features in common:

1. Bookmarks: The basic function of this feature is to store web page addresses that are frequently visited so you don't have to retype lengthy addresses.
2. Forward and back buttons: These features keep a record of the last few pages that have been viewed since you started the browser. It allows a user to explore information without worrying about how to return to previously viewed pages.
3. Turn off images: The purpose of this feature is to stop the display of images in order to save time, since images take a while to appear on the screen.
4. Reload and stop loading a web page.

The Web was originally created to speed communication between scientists. The language of the Web, HTML, allowed them to publish research papers electronically and afforded simple tags such as <H1> and <H2>, or <B> and <I>, to dictate a page's structure and some formatting. Other tags, such as the <A> anchor markup, allowed documents to contain links to other documents and planted the seed for interactivity on the Web. But hyperlinks fell far short of providing full two-way communication.

Before long, CGI and <INPUT> tags improved the quality of this communication, providing a means for users to pass data back and forth to a Web server. Although it was a major step forward, this form of communication has one big drawback: It's slow and often requires multiple data trips across the Web from user to server before a transaction is complete. The 3.0 versions of Internet Explorer and Navigator showed early signs of true user interactivity with added support for the <script> tag. Commonly referred to as client-side scripting, this innovation let web pages contain small programs written in JavaScript that, like CGI provide gateways between the user and the web server. But scripting also provides client-side support for error messaging via pop-up dialog boxes or messages in the browser's status line. Scripts can also contain special subroutines, called event handlers, which the browser automatically executes when a user performs a keyboard or mouse action. But client-side scripting has its own problems and limitations. Scripts can't access data stored on a server, so they can't perform data validation that requires access to customer or inventory files, nor can they modify a web page once it's been displayed. Microsoft thought it had solved that last problem when it enhanced IE with support for embedded ActiveX controls. These embedded controls can take over a region of the browser's window and display information within it, respond to user input and commands from scripts embedded in the web page, and update an assigned portion of the page almost instantly. Unfortunately, ActiveX is limited by a number of factors, including file size, Wintel platform dependence, security concerns, and lack of integrated support in Navigator. NCompass Labs' ScriptActive plug-in, however, can add ActiveX support to Navigator.

File Transfer Protocol or FTP, is a process by which files are transferred from a computer to the web server (electronic post office). For any single file or multiple files to be transferred a user must have the host name (electronic Zip code), a user ID, password and directory on the web server where files will be stored.

There are hundreds perhaps thousands of FTP programs in the world right now.

You can get one at any shareware site on the Internet just do a search for "shareware" at any search engine. Second, you will need to know your host name. Host name is a fancy word for the computer your going to connect too. Ask your Internet service provider for the host name. Third, you will need to provide a log in and password to get into the computer (host) you’re going to connect too. The log in and password are usually the log in and password you use to get your email. Once all of this information is in the FTP program you will need to press or "click" the "connect" button to connect to the computer you want to transfer your files to. Once you have been connected you will be taken to your home directory. This is like your own little area on the host computer. There will be a listing of files and directories from the host that are in your home directory. You will now need to switch to the directory where your HTML files are kept. If you have a graphical FTP program you can double click on a picture of the HTML directory. Usually this directory is named: public_html or www. This directory might not be named one of these, but instead look for one that has to do with HTML, or the web like WWW. Select the HTML files you made earlier and upload these files to this directory. Note: the process of uploading and switching directories is different for every FTP program so read the help files that come with the FTP program or go to the help menu in the FTP program. Read these help files thoroughly for a detailed description of steps necessary for uploading and switching directories. Finally after the files are transferred, open up your Internet connection, and your favorite web browser. Go to your home page and view what you have just created.

Images that you want to show up on your website must be in one of two formats. They must be either a JPEG or a GIF. GIF's are more common and tend to be smaller in download size. Jpeg’s are best used when posting photographs on the Web because they tend to preserve the colors of photos the best.

There are a number of restrictions involved with the Web and displaying colors on a computer. The highest resolution visible on the Web is 72dpi; therefore, it is useless to try to save an image any higher than 72dpi. This only increases the size and download time of the graphic and doesn’t improve its appearance. The other thing to keep in mind is that the Web is presently limited to a finite number of colors that can be displayed: 256. Therefore, if designing for the Web, you must use the Netscape safe color palette, which is limited to these 256 colors.

You must use HTML code that basically pulls the graphics onto the page. Below is the graphic "Images and Hyperlinks". Here is what the code looks like on this page:

<P>

ALT="Images and Hyperlinks" WIDTH="164" HEIGHT="18" BORDER="0">

</P>;

The first thing that is specified in the above HTML is the img src or image source. This is what the image is named. If you save an image as a GIF or JPEG, you must label it as such in order for it to appear on the Web. All graphics must have the GIF or JPG extension at the end of the file name. Adding the height and width tags is recommended because it increases the speed at which the image will be displayed. The Alt tag is not required, but it is recommended as well because many people browse with their images turned off. If that is the case, the text provided in the alt tag will appear in the image’s place. The border tag equals 0 telling the document not to display a border. You can also specify where the image will appear on the page with the image tag. This is good to use if you have a long article and would like to add a few graphics to enhance the article. By specifying the alignment of the image, you can have the text run along the right or left of the image.

There are some people who are obsessed with buying clothes of the latest fashion. However, what they do not realize is that the clothes they bought today may become old by the arrival of new clothes with new design and fashion. That is also the case with the computer industry. Advanced tools and software packages that are available today may become old and outdated the next day by the arrival of more advanced tools and software packages. Usually, according to Moor’s law, computer power doubles every two years. Therefore, it is impossible to know what will be the tools of the future and what they will do. In contrast, it is possible to know what direction and course they are following. These are future trends of the particular domain or subject, which lets us know what is coming and what is going to be important in the future. The domain of Web Development is the same way; it is a rapidly advancing field where a future trend of today might become current tomorrow and history the day after. It is constantly moving to make Web Development and use of the Internet more convenient for customers. At the same time, it is trying to accommodate tremendous increase in its customers. The domain of Web Development does this through progressing towards the future trends of sub-domains like the Internet, the languages used, Web tools, and other techniques. This chapter of this report is designed to explain the future trends of Web Development.

In the last decade, the Internet has gone from being a new communication and data-transferring tool to the most popular way of communication and data transferring tool. According to the Bell South chairman and CEO Duane Ackerman, it takes only 100 days to double the amount of data traffic over the Internet. Hence, availability of new technologies and capabilities are necessary to assist this rapid increase in Internet use, and this where Internet2 comes along.

Internet2 is a collaborative effort to develop advanced Internet technology and applications vital to the research and education. It is a project with the mission to facilitate and coordinate the development, deployment, operation, and technology transfers of advanced network-based applications and network services to further U.S. leadership in research and higher education, and accelerate the availability of new services and applications on the Internet. There are some 140 universities along with partners in industry and the government leading this project. As a project of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID), the Internet2 project is not a single separate network, but rather joins member network application and engineering development efforts together with many advanced campus, regional, and national networks.

One might assume by hearing the word "Internet2" that it is a separate physical network that will come in service. In reality, this assumption is false. Internet2 is not a physical network that will replace the Internet or run parallel with Internet. Instead, Internet2 is a project that brings together institutions and resources to develop new technologies and capabilities that can then be deployed in the global Internet. For the universities, they will still maintain, and continue to experience substantial growth in the use of existing Internet connections, which they will still obtain from commercial providers. Internet2’s job will be to develop technologies that will be, in the future, adopted by, and deployed in, commercial networks. This will be done easily because the commercial sector is also a full partner of the Internet2 project. Actually, there are over a dozen leading companies as partners in this effort, which certainly promises improvement for customers and users in the domain of Web Development.

In fact, the goals of this project, Internet2, are very beneficial to Web Development. The goal of this project includes enabling a new generation of applications, recreating a leading edge research and education network capability, and transferring new capabilities to the global production Internet ensuring the rapid transfer. These goals are beneficial to Web Development because through these goals we will be able create many new things on the Web, which is impossible to conduct on the current Internet. It will let customers and users of the Internet develop digital libraries, distributed computations, data mining, and virtual laboratories for fields like science, art, humanities and health care. Furthermore, it will ensure the rapid transfer of new network services, applications, and information sites with complex Web designs, to the broader networking community. This project will allow researchers, teachers, students and other users to collaborate and access information in ways not possible on the Internet today. Therefore, to support these benefits and necessities of the future, UCAID has established the key goal of this undertaking, as to accelerate the diffusion of advanced Internet technology, in particular into the commercial sector.

The federally led project called Next Generation Internet (NGI) is very similar to Internet2. In fact, they are complementary to each other, and they are already working together in many areas. These efforts to work together are essential to ensure the cohesiveness and interoperability of the technologies Internet2 and NGI are developing.

Since the birth of World Wide Web, HTML has been the language used by the Web developers. It is the original language of the Web. In the past decade, HTML has dominated both business and commercial aspects of the Internet. It is a successful technology, used by millions of people, that meets an extraordinary range of user needs while still being extremely easy to learn. Furthermore, its widespread support in browsers has made the Web what it is today. Because of these reasons, there is no real indication that HTML will be obsolete in near future. However, tremendous advancement in technology in the past decade has made limitations in this language really conspicuous. HTML provides very little control over precise document presentation and structure, and according to some pundits, it was never designed to provide layout facilities, which is true. With the ever-increasing amount of information on the Web and ever-increasing traffic, it has become really hard to search on the Web. If better structures, not possible via HTML, can be achieved than those kinds of documents can be indexed and searched more accurately. The problems associated with HTML have been there since its arrival. Nevertheless, this language became so popular because there has not been any other way. Over the past years, many solutions to these limitations came about, but none of them survived. One of these solutions was the use of SGML, a meta language or language used to define other languages, which has abilities to provide this better structure. However, SGML is too complex for many applications, and ease of use is an essential feature if any solution is to survive. This is where the XML comes into a picture.

XML "the Extensible Markup Language" is subset of SGML useful for the Web and its users. It is a simplified version of SGML that is made of three basic rules that defines the data structures. Even though XML was developed in 1996, its emergence as a favored candidate for exchanging structured data over the Web has been recent. The main advantages that XML offers are formality and extensibility. An enormous augmentation of E-commerce and growth in Internet use for business and industries is one of the reasons why XML has gained so much ground. This growth is due to XML’s ability to provide specialized languages for industries and applications. Many companies have been using XML as a packaging mechanism for distributing data, as a way to distribute news and financial data to desktop system etc. Consequently, most of the major software companies are pledging support for XML, and a growing number of IT shops are using it to integrate disparate data sources.

Momentum increase behind XML

Major software companies like Microsoft, Netscape, Sun, Merrill Lynch and IBM all have released or plan to release the software packages that support XML. Microsoft has already released its most advanced XML engine yet as part of its Internet Explorer 5.0 browser. Netscape is planning to add XML support to its E-commerce applications. Merrill Lynch is also experimenting with using XML to distribute data to handheld devices such as Palm Pilots. Moreover, IBM has also released Xeena, a visual interface for creating XML documents and vocabularies and is preparing to deliver many more products supporting XML. In addition, Sun is trying to go one step further through building an extension to Java that will let XML and Java pass data back and forth with XML. This is possible because both Java and XML are platform-independent and use HTTP to move data across networks. According to some people, XML and Java can make a powerful combination. However, this raises the questions, "why has Java not replaced HTML yet?" and "what is its role in this ever-changing domain of Web Development?"

Java is Sun Microsystems Inc’s new object-oriented programming language aimed at delivering bits of code securely over the Internet. The principal use of Java is to write interactive applications not to design a Web page. On the other hand, HTML is a language of World Wide Web whose main use is to create Web pages. Java was created to build Web sites integrated with this language to allow Webmasters to develop pages that "come to life". Its purpose is to create applications like animated graphics, cartoons, constantly updated stock tickers or sports scoreboards, etc. However, Java is very complicated language, and that is one of the reason why JavaScript was developed. JavaScript and DHTML both focus on using the object model to create interactive Web applications. DHTML is another form or HTML, which provides the ability to modify a document and have the document automatically re-flow itself, and JavaScript is an easier form of Java though not as powerful.

The popularity and support that XML has gained shows us that XML is here to stay. However, the question XML creates is, "how will it effect the other languages like HTML, Java, JavaScript, and DHTML?" For HTML, it seems unlikely that it will be replaced by XML as the language of the Internet, at least in the short term because of the challenges that XML faces. The XML, though very good at formality, which guarantees structure, and extensibility, alone is not all that is needed to replace HTML, since XML provides no presentation facilities and linking facilities. Other technologies will have to be adopted to solve these problems. For now, HTML is serving as a presentation language for XML; Java is also seen as the presentation language for XML, which is better, combined with XML than HTML. According to some pundits, an XML and Java combination is very powerful. There also needs to be an intersection between XML and DOM, which is core idea of DHTML. Similarly, JavaScript is also used comfortably with XML. Hence, for now, there is a future for all these languages. For HTML, if it is replaced by XML, it will take at least another five years though peaceful coexistence of HTML and XML is also a possibility. For Java, DHTML, and JavaScript, they may even have brighter future with XML than HTML. The point is we can not predict accurately what is going to happen in the future, but based on information available, it is certain that these languages, for another few years, are going nowhere.

The domain of Web Development also includes browsers that evolve constantly just as the Web does. Browsers are extremely important in the sense that they help users of Internet to surf on the World Wide Web. Hence, advancement in the field of browsers has significant effect on Web Development. Netscape and Microsoft dominate the field of browsers through their products, Communicator and Explorer, respectively.

Up till now these companies have designed their products according to their own standards; consequently, it has created many compatibility problems. Users of these browsers are tired of these problems, and demand browsers with more compatibility than the cool, user friendly, new browsing features. On the release of Communicator 4.0, one developer commented, "None of the browsing features improvement has anything to do with what I do for a living and what I need to do as a developer." He continued, "This release offers nothing in the way of an improvement in things like CSS and DOM that are vital for developers. In other words, the release of Communicator caused a bit of firestorm in the Web-developer community. Another developer said, "I cannot create a page in Dreamweaver-one simple, elegant little CSSP page- and have it render correctly in their stupid browser." The result of this serious criticism came just two months later, when Netscape released it’s new engine named "Gecko". In two months, Netscape scratched of it’s plan to make Mozilla 5.0 - which would be released as Communicator 5.0 - with old engine and decided to start from the scratch. The result was a browser that promises to be 100 percent compliant with Web Standards adopted by W3C – World Wide Web Consortium, and is smaller and much less painful to download. According to Brendan Eich, the Mozilla project’s director, the decision to switch the road map came about because the features like incremental layout with reflow, correct CSS, a Level-1 DOM, etc, demanded by developers were hard to implement on the old engine and would have made the engine really big. He continued that this is why they created Gecko, an engine that is smaller, faster, more efficient and 100 percent compliant with the Level 1 standards.

The latest addition of Microsoft family, Explorer 5.0, faces the same problems as the Communicator 4.5 faced few months ago. Some experts had said that IE5 will not be 100 percent compliant, but it will be very close to it. Furthermore, Microsoft promised full HTML 4.0, released by W3C in 1997, support in IE5; however, according to one developer, it has not even gotten close to HTML 4.0. For CSS, IE5 has failed to debug the problems of CSS1 and implemented specification of CSS2 that are least important. In short, IE5 from the developer’s point of view is thumbs down. On the other hand, Mozilla Milestone 3 from the Mozilla project of Netscape has gotten rave reviews from developers because of its really small size and outstanding DOM and CSS support.

However, Microsoft and Netscape are not totally liable for the disappointing results of IE5 and Communicator4.5, respectively. In past years, when technology was not as improved as today, the trend for browsers was to quest for maximum user friendliness. IE5 and Communicator4.5 are results of this trend. In contrast, now it seems that users are saturated with these user friendly features; instead, they are demanding browsers that are compatible with greatly improved technology. They want browsers that are compliant to W3C standards. Therefore, the future of the browsers will be directed towards solving these incompatibility problems while listening to demands of consumers.

The future of Web tools mainly depends on two basic issues. The first one is user friendliness, which is not achieved totally yet. Tools like Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Fireworks, ColdFusion, Homesite, are successful because of the ease they provide in terms of Web Development. For instance, Dreamweaver became popular because of its flexible features like drag-and-drop design or hand-code on the same page. Furthermore, significant and rapid change in technologies also help this so called Web tools. This is because each and everybody use the Web around the world. There are people who still do not know HTML, or for that matter do not know how to make a Web page. Also, there are people who want to do more with their Web sites by adding animations and graphics. For these kinds of people, tools mentioned above are lifesavers because of their usefulness and ability to easily work with DHTML, JavaScript, CSS, DOM, XML etc. Hence, in coming years, Web tools will become more and more user friendly, time savers and more accommodating to the latest technology while making them more compatible to other browsers and products. To illustrate, in it’s soon to be released FrontPage2000, Microsoft is trying to accomplish something in all categories listed above. To make it more compatible, it is working on features like preserving HTML code created outside of FrontPage2000, creating a Web Site that works on any browser and server platform, improving ability to integrate databases, etc. Similarly, user friendly, time saving and technology integration features include creating a site with DHTML, JavaScript, CSS and e-commerce tools, managing and updating your site with only one application, and saving time using familiar office tools and office integration features.

Business Analysis

For the business analysis we looked at the products of three companies that are big in the current web market. The first is Netscape, a California based company selling web applications of all kinds. Another company researched was the software giant, Microsoft. They are based out of Seattle and are Netscape’s largest competitor with very similar products. The final company looked at was Allaire Corp. out of Boston. This company is relatively new to the market, but has revolutionary products that can spark small companies.

Netscape

Netscape, one of the largest web companies, provides its customers with many web applications. Its most popular application is by far Communicator, Netscape’s own web package. In this package, Netscape offers its customers one of the most popular web browsers called Navigator, as well as an HTML editor for creating web pages called Composer. Netscape also provides products such as FastTrack for creating web pages.

Communicator Summary Just as the web is constantly evolving, so too is Netscape Communicator. To meet the needs of its customers, Netscape is introducing Netscape Communicator 4.5 - a major enhancement to Netscape Communicator. This new version of Communicator provides next-generation browsing, email, calendar, and management features.

Features

-Smart Browsing with Netscape Navigator 4.5 - With Smart Browsing, Netscape Navigator provides users with new ways to access and make sense of the vast amount of information available today on the Internet.

-High-performance Internet messaging - Netscape Messenger delivers all the powerful functionality that users expect from a premier mail client. With dozens of usability improvements, it is one of the easiest mail clients to learn and use.

-Flexible roaming access - with Communicator 4.5, users get a range of support for roaming access to their Communicator environment.

-Superior quality - Communicator 4.5 includes more than 4000 enhancements to improve user experience, performance, and reliability, reduced download and install size.

-Directory-based centralized management - With Netscape Mission Control Desktop, IT managers can easily configure, deploy, manage, and update Communicator 4.5 from a central location.

Summary

FastTrack is an entry-level web server for building, publishing, and serving web pages and applications. It is designed for easy administration and architectured to grow with users' needs.

Features

-Allows users to set up a server and publish documents quickly.

-Provides a high-performance web engine that supports Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 1.1.

-Includes Netscape Communicator to compose, publish, and access documents.

-Includes LDAP support for centralized user and group management. -Enables building and deployment of crossware applications with server-side Java and JavaScript.

-Upgrades smoothly to Netscape Enterprise Server.

Allaire Corp. was founded and named after web pioneer JJ Allaire. According to Mr. Allaire, the main focus of his company was to give small companies as much of a chance as larger companies when it comes to the Internet. The main product that has made the company successful is ColdFusion. This product was designed to use dynamic web pages and applications that allowed a database to be integrated along with Internet technology. Another product new from Allaire Corp. is HomeSite. This is basically a web page designer that uses HTML.

HomeSite lets you build great Web sites in less time, while maintaining Pure HTML. Unlike WYSIWYG authoring tools, HomeSite gives you precise layout control, total design flexibility and full access to the latest Web technologies, such as DHTML, SMIL, Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript. HomeSite 4.0 is the only HTML editor featuring a visual development environment that preserves code integrity. The intuitive HomeSite WYSIWYN (what you see is what you need) interface puts the tools you need right at your fingertips. HomeSite's site management and quality control features -- Site View, HTML validation, spell checking, CodeSweeper, link verification, and more -- make it easy to control the quality of your entire site.

-High Productive WYSIWYN interface- HomeSite's WYSIWYN (what you see is what you need) interface increases user productivity by providing the developer the correct tools needed for the task at hand.

-Pure HTML- HomeSite generates "Pure HTML". Unlike many WYSIWYG tools, HomeSite does not add any code to the HTML page other than what is necessary for display through a browser. Extraneous code reduces performance, adds to page complexity, and hinders editing.

-One-step Deployment System- Allows easy one-step deployment of entire applications to multiple servers at remote locations.

-Customization and Extensibility- HomeSite users can configure HomeSite to their needs with custom toolbars, custom buttons, default browsers, and custom Help files.

ColdFusion is the leading cross-platform Web application server. ColdFusion gives you the fastest way to build and deploy scalable solutions that integrate browser, server, and database technologies.

-Integrated Development Environment- ColdFusion 4.0 optimizes developer productivity with a complete RAD environment that includes, visual programming, database and debugging tools.

-Team Development Services- ColdFusion 4.0 enables team development in large projects with developers and servers distributed across multiple locations.

-Tag-based Server Scripting- ColdFusion 4.0 provides a powerful, comprehensive server-side scripting environment (CFML) with a tag-based syntax that cleanly integrates with HTML and XML.

-Scalable Deployment- ColdFusion has already reached a point where it is being used to deliver very large volume sites and applications servicing tens of thousands of users. The 4.0 release provides powerful new features that significantly enhance scalability.

-High Performance Application Delivery- ColdFusion 4.0 delivers high-performance Web applications that will scale to meet the needs of the most demanding sites.

-Server Cluster Deployment- ColdFusion Server 4.0 can be deployed on multi-server clusters with native load balancing and fail over, to deliver highly-available large volume sites.

-Flexible Server Administration- ColdFusion 4.0 includes a remote Administrator and cluster management console that give server managers the tools they need to manage deployment.

-Open Integration- ColdFusion offers unparalleled integration with server systems including database, mail, Web servers and directories. With the 4.0 release, the integration has been extended to support the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and additional enterprise technologies.

-Advanced Database Connectivity- ColdFusion 4.0 offers the most advanced database connectivity available for creating complex database applications.

-Internet Technology Integration- ColdFusion 4.0 is tightly integrated with the full range of Internet protocols and technologies making it straightforward to use these technologies in applications.

-Enterprise Extensibility- ColdFusion 4.0 is extensible with a wide range of technologies, including enterprise object standards, to support new functionality or connect to legacy systems.

-Complete Security- ColdFusion currently provides a secure environment for development and deployment. The 4.0 release extends the security features to enable a much greater range of flexibility and control over security.

-Secure Development- ColdFusion 4.0 team development services provide the infrastructure for secure remote development across intranets and extranets.

-Secure Deployment- ColdFusion 4.0 provides a complete set of services for building and deploying highly secure applications on intranets, extranets or the Internet.

The Software giant, Microsoft, has many applications for programming and web use. Two of these main products are FrontPage and Explorer. Frontpage is Microsoft’s version of an HTML editor to create web pages. Explorer is Microsoft’s browser, which comes packaged in the latest releases of Windows.

Microsoft FrontPage 98 is a quick, effective way to create and manage professional-quality Internet or intranet sites without programming. It makes it easy for new users and professional Web developers alike to build and maintain great-looking, professional-quality web sites in no time. Users can manage their web sites their way and integrate the sites with what they already have.

FrontPage allows the user to create WYSIWYG framed pages and draw HTML tables in the WYSIWYG FrontPage Editor. They also can drop in sophisticated, interactive functionality using FrontPage components. Comprehensive management tools let you quickly build and maintain well-organized web sites. With automatic hyperlink maintenance, you never have to worry about broken links. Plus flexible collaboration features let you work with others on your web site. Seamless integration with existing content and with desktop applications you already have makes you productive from the start.

Microsoft® Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 4.0 is an open, integrated suite of Internet software. The end result is a dramatically easier and more personalized way for people to get the most out of the Internet.

Internet Explorer 4.0 makes finding information on the Internet easy. Built-in webcasting features in Internet Explorer 4.0 give users the content they want--when they want it. Internet Explorer 4.0 delivers a complete and integrated set of tools for every type of user, from basic services like e-mail to exciting conferencing, broadcasting, and web-authoring capabilities.

The Financial Analysis

Internet software can normally be downloaded for free from the manufacturer’s website. One can purchase the software, which is not too expensive. Nescape Communicator Pro 4.0 can run around $24.95. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, on the other hand, can be $35.

The cost of web development tools varies depending on the quality and complexity of the tool being used. One the companies mentioned above was Netscape. Their web development tool, Netscape Composer, can be downloaded for free when downloading Netscape Communicator, which also includes Netscape Navigator [1]. Another web development tool, from Microsoft, is called Frontpage. Depending on the version, it can cost $131 or $149 for version 98 or 2000 respectively [2].

Allaire on the other hand, distributes two different web tools. The first, Coldfusion 4.0, can cost $1,295 for the Professional version or $3,495 for the Enterprise version. Coldfusion 3.1 though, can cost about $359. The other tool manufactured by Allaire, Homesite 3.0 and 4.0, can cost about $85-$95 [3].

The above are examples of some expenses related to web development. However, there are also costs associated with developing a web site through a consulting company. The cost and services vary per company.

Myth Breakers can develop a web site for about $200 an hour. A simple web site will require about five hours of work while a more complex web site may require ten to fifteen hours. Those prices are just for the consultation. Then there are five main categories and prices. The first costs $1,750 for the initial setup of ten hours and any time over that would be $175 an hour more. Then there is either a monthly fee of $100, a quarterly fee of $275, or an annual fee of $925. The second site costs $875 for the initial setup of five hours and $200 extra per hour. The additional fee is either $50 a month, $130 a quarter, or $450 yearly.

The last three types of sites are more basic. To have a resume posted costs $450 to setup, and then a fee of either $20 monthly, $60 quarterly, or $200 yearly. A very basic site costs $25 to setup and an additional $75 to maintain. For an advertising banner/site, setup is $250 with a $250 quarterly charge or a $925 yearly charge [1].

Another consulting company is MSS Internet. Their rates vary according to different services. For page setup and rates online they charge $995 a year. To link to a search engine is $495, e-mail is $1000, and advertising is $450 a quarter. The total costs for setting up a page can range from $2000 to $8000 [2].

In deciding whether to hire someone to make a web page or to buy/download a package to help create a site, many things have to be taken into consideration. Time is an important factor. If one does not have the time to learn to use the web tool then it may be worth it for him or her to just hire someone to take care of everything for the company. Also if a person is not very comfortable using a computer but needs a web site for business reasons, it also may be better for the person to look into using a consulting company. Other factors include how much money is allowed in the budget for creating and maintaining the site, if someone would be able to maintain the site, etc

Although on first glance it would seem as if free web site providers would make a lot of money due to advertising and web commerce, but in reality they are losing money. Geocities reported in 1998 a net income loss of $11,343,000 [1]. Their gross profit was a positive $3,050,000 for 1998 though [2]. The Lycos corporation, which owns Angelfire, reported a net income loss $9,284,697 as of January 1999. Their gross profit as of January 1999 was $24,112,375 [3].

History….Sources used:

1. Dynamic HTML for Web Masters (Tom Dell) 1998 pages, xii, xv.

3. The web page design cookbook( Horton, Taylor, Igncio, Hoft) 1996

5. James, Stephen N., & Tittel, Ed. (1997). HTML For Dummies. Foster City: IDG Books worldwide.

6. Creating Web Pages Simplified. (1996). Foster City: IDG Books Worldwide.

Future Trends (Mehul)

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Business Analysis Sources (Sashi)

1. Information for Netscape products taken directly from http//:www.netscape.com
2. Information for Allaire Corp. products are taken directly from http//:www.allaire.com
3. Information for Microsoft products taken directly from http//:www.microsoft.com.

Business Analysis (Devorah)