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James Powell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Copyright © 1997

Preface

HTML Plus! is more than just a tutorial of the current and upcoming versions of the Hypertext Markup Language; it also provides hands-on tutorials for hypertext authoring, CGI programming, text search engines, Perl, Java, VRML, Acrobat and SGML. Each of these technologies coexist with and compliment HTML on the World-Wide Web, so HTML Plus! doesn't just gloss over them. You will build a search engine, a Web server, a half dozen Perl CGI scripts for processing HTML forms and presenting dynamic content, two Java applets and a VRML world. Whether you are an absolute beginner or a veteran HTML author, you will find HTML Plus! a valuable learning tool and reference. In addition to detailed tutorials, there are HTML tag and attribute summary tables at the end of each chapter, which will guarantee that your copy of HTML Plus! will become dog-eared in no time. HTML Plus! covers each type of markup, each programming language and each topic as if this were your first exposure to it. And it doesn't cut corners by presenting shallow examples. Most chapters include detailed projects with source code solutions included. The HTML projects range from building a simple home page, to a self-scoring HTML forms-based exam, to building a complex HTML 3 Web page for a fictitious travel company. Other projects include building a Perl/CGI-based VRML editor, an HTML search engine, a language translator in Java, and a model of the solar system implemented with VRML. Upon completing these projects you will have more than an idea of what these technologies are, you will know how they work and have working examples that you can modify and expand to suit your own needs.

HTML Plus! is divided into five sections:

Part 1 is an introduction to today's HTML: HTML version 2.0. These six chapters will teach you everything you need to know to create a basic Web page. You start out by learning what text markup is, what HTML tags, attributes and character entities look like, followed by an overview of the structure of an HTML document. Complete chapters teach you how to build a document header and body, fill it with headings and text blocks, tag phrases and text, make hypertext links and finally how to add images to your page. All of these topics are presented with an emphasis on building structured documents, not just glossy platform-dependent pages. In addition to these tutorials you will find information about image compression and the new Portable Network Graphics image format (PNG) designed specifically for delivering images on the Web. Plus there are handy sidebars that cover anchor and icon design do's and don'ts, projects that demonstrate each topic (including HTML source code), and complete tag and attribute summary tables.

Part 2 covers advanced HTML 2.0 markup including forms, image maps and browser-specific HTML extensions such as those developed by Netscape Communications and Microsoft. The remaining chapters in this section cover HTML 3.0. Entire chapters are devoted to HTML 3 document structure, the new Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) standard, HTML 3.0 tables and math, Netscape frames, and creating multilingual documents for the Web. Again projects are provided for each chapter and tag and attribute summaries provide valuable reference material that will help you use HTML 3 to its fullest potential.

Part 3 discusses issues related to contributing documents to the Web. It begins with a chapter that examines current practices related to building Web home pages. The next two chapters examine hypertext issues and hypertext styles that you can use to build large coherent collections of documents to teach, inform, or entertain. Other chapters in this section examine the problems and potential solutions for providing maximum access for users with physical disabilities, publishing HTML on CD-ROM and various classes of HTML editing tools you can use to manage large collections of documents.

Part 4 delves into advanced Web concepts and introduces several programming languages that have become as essential to the Web as HTML. You start out by building Common Interface Gateway (CGI) scripts to accept HTML form data and return responses, but this is only the beginning. The next chapter is a tutorial on the Practical Extraction and Report Language (Perl), followed by chapters devoted to search engines, building HTML documents "on the fly" from relational databases, and presenting hypermedia content on the Web. Two chapters devoted to the Java programming language round out section 4. These chapters do more than simply introduce Java. They cover the Java Development Kit, the Java API, introduce object-oriented programming concepts and demonstrate step by step how to build Java applets and embed them in HTML documents. You will create a Java-powered language translator that could easily be expanded to translate hundreds of words or even handle multiple languages, just like a hand-held translator, only embedded in a Web page!

Part 5 introduces other ways of publishing documents and information on the Web. Two chapters are devoted to the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). Among the topics covered are VRML browsers, editors, and the VRML language itself. Once again you are exposed to the inner workings of the technology as you build a complete model of our solar system in VRML without using a graphical design tool. The next chapter introduces Adobe Acrobat and the Portable Document Format (PDF) for distributing highly formatted documents in a platform independent manner. Finally, HTML Plus! ends where it began. The last chapter introduces yet another markup standard: the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) SGML application. This chapter not only introduces TEI but also shows you how to browse and publish SGML content other than HTML to the Web using the Panorama SGML document browser.

HTML Plus! closes with more material designed to make the book a valuable reference as well as a teaching tool. Appendix 1 includes a table of HTML character entities. Appendix 2 is a color code table for building Netscape and CSS style sheet color values. Appendix 3 presents Java keywords and a brief overview of the Java API. Appendix 4 contains a list of links that point you to essential documentation, software and resources on the Web, organized by chapter.

Whether you are a magazine editor using a Macintosh in New York, an architect using a Windows-based PC in Tokyo, or a biochemist using a UNIX workstation in Geneva, HTML Plus! will teach you all you need to know in order to evaluate Web technologies, and use those technologies to publish what you have to say. Many of the examples and projects in HTML Plus! are devoted to human languages. It cannot be emphasized enough that the World-Wide Web is a global phenomenon. By presenting projects that teach languages or attempt to overcome communications barriers, HTML Plus! is continually reminding you that when you publish on the Web, your audience is the world.

HTML Plus! Preface | HTML Plus! Contents