What's Changed in the Fourth Edition
The recent evolution of HTML allows you to build documents with which a user can interact, not just view. In the fourth edition, our goal is to help you stay on top of all these changes:
- We've updated our coverage of HTML to include the latest and greatest HTML standards (HTML 4.0).
- We've reorganized the content so that information is easier for you to access.
- We've added an entire part covering Dynamic HTML, which includes topics such as the object model, scripting, style sheets, Web fonts, and more.
- We've added a part covering Web casting for both Internet Explorer 4.0 and Netscape Netcaster.
Aside from the more dramatic changes we've made to this edition, each and every chapter has gone through more subtle changes. We've updated each chapter with new tips. Outdated information has been replaced with new information. Each chapter has been updated with the latest versions of each program.
How This Book Is Organized
Special Edition Using HTML 4.0, Fourth Edition, provides comprehensive information about HTML and related technologies that you can use to build great Web pages. The new edition has eight parts, 46 chapters, four appendixes, and an index. Each part is dedicated to a particular concept, such as Web programming or objects. What follows is an overview of topics you find in each part of this book:
- Part I, "Publishing a Web Site," gives you a brief history of the Internet, World Wide Web, and HTML. In this part, you also learn about an approach to designing and implementing Web pages and how to publish your site to the Internet.
- Part II, "Creating Basic Web Pages with HTML 4.0," introduces you to HTML. You learn how HTML documents are organized and formatted. You also learn how to add frames, forms, and imagemaps to your Web page, as well as a number of other advanced techniques.
- Part III, "Creating Advanced Web Pages with Dynamic HTML," contains some of this book's biggest enhancements. You learn about Dynamic HTML, including the object model, scripting, and style sheets.
- Part IV, "Serving Multimedia Content," shows you how to use a variety of multimedia objects on your Web pages. This part covers topics such as streaming audio and video; graphics files, and animation.
- Part V, "Pushing Content," shows you how to push content and applications to the user's desktop. This part covers technologies for both Internet Explorer 4.0 and Netscape Netcaster.
- Part VI, "Scripting on the Web Server," introduces you to some of the most exciting technology available for creating dynamic Web pages. You learn how to write CGI scripts, for example, or how to dynamically serve content using Active Server Pages and LiveWire Pro.
- Part VII, "Managing Your Web Site," shows you how to manage your entire Web site. You learn how to get your pages onto the Internet. You learn how to manage the files on your Web site, get your Web site noticed, and secure your Web site, too.
- Part VIII, "Learning by Example," contains a variety of real-world examples that reinforce everything you've learned in this book. You find examples such as an intranet, an online magazine, and a personal Web site.
