Sams Teach Yourself HTML 4 in 24 Hours

By Dick Oliver

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Put Your HTML Page Online Today
  • I. Your First Web Page
  • Hour 1. Understanding HTML and XML
  • Hour 2. Create a Web Page Right Now
  • Hour 3. Linking to Other Web Pages
  • Hour 4. Publishing Your HTML Pages
  • II. Web Page Text
  • Hour 5. Text Alignment and Lists
  • Hour 6. Text Formatting and Font Control
  • Hour 7. Email Links and Links Within a Page
  • Hour 8. Creating HTML Forms
  • III. Web Page Graphics
  • Hour 9. Creating Your Own Web Page Graphics
  • Hour 10. Putting Graphics on a Web Page
  • Hour 11. Custom Backgrounds and Colors
  • Hour 12. Creating Animated Graphics
  • IV. Web Page Design
  • Hour 13. Page Design and Layout
  • Hour 14. Graphical Links and Imagemaps
  • Hour 15. Advanced Layout with Tables
  • Hour 16. Using Style Sheets
  • V. Dynamic Web Pages
  • Hour 17. Embedding Multimedia in Web Pages
  • Hour 18. Interactive Pages with Applets and ActiveX
    • The Old Way
    • Internet Programming for the Rest of Us
    • Strong Java
    • ActiveX Controls
    • Using ActiveX to Embed a Video
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 19. Web Page Scripting for Non-Programmers
  • Hour 20. Setting Pages in Motion with Dynamic HTML
  • VI. Building a Web Site
  • Hour 21. Multipage Layout with Frames
  • Hour 22. Organizing and Managing a Web Site
  • Hour 23. Helping People Find Your Web Pages
  • Hour 24. Planning for the Future of HTML
  • VII. Appendixes
  • A. Readers' Most Frequently Asked Questions
  • B. HTML Learning Resources on the Internet
  • C. Complete HTML 4 Quick Reference
  • D. HTML Character Entities

Q&A

1. What exactly is the difference between "scripting" and "programming" anyway?

   Usually, the word scripting is used for programming in relatively simple computer languages that are integrated directly into an application (or into HTML pages). However, the line between scripting and "real programming" is pretty fuzzy.

2. I've used Visual Basic before, and I heard I could use it in Web pages. Is that true?

   Yes, but only if you want to limit the audience for your pages to users of Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3 or later. So far the rest of the world is sticking to JavaScript. Visit the Microsoft Web site (http://www.microsoft.com) for details about the differences between VBScript and Visual Basic.

3. I've heard about ActiveX scripting and ActiveX documents. How are these different from ActiveX controls?

   In Microsoft-speak, ActiveX scripting means VBScript or JavaScript linking to a page as an ActiveX control. ActiveX documents are HTML pages that use an ActiveX control to view a word-processing document or spreadsheet within a Web page. (Career tip: If you want a job at Microsoft, consider listing your first name as "ActiveX" on the application form. They like that.)

4. Most of the Java applets I find on the Internet have two files, one ending with .java and one ending with .class. Which one do I put on my Web page, and what do I do with the other one?

   Put the file ending with .class on your Web page with the <applet> tag. The .java file is the actual Java source code, provided in case you are a Java programmer and want to change it. You don't need the .java file to use the applet.

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