This brief guide to Dynamic HTML (DHTML) focuses on what you can do with DHTML rather than the history and evolution of markup languages. Author Jeff Rule has compiled his knowledge from his work on the Discovery Channel Online site into a quick reference that lists ways to spice up your Web pages.
The book begins with a very quick overview of the various technologies and standards that comprise DHTML and a peek at the Netscape, Microsoft, and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Document Object Models. Rule then explains cascading style sheets (CSS), with a welcome focus on how they work in today's browsers. The book continues with a series of chapters devoted to the various tricks you can perform with DHTML: navigation effects, transitions and filters, resizing graphics, and pull-down and pop-up menus. Throughout these chapters, the author provides links to example Web sites, including his own comprehensive site.
Animations, drag and drop, timelines, and sequencing are also covered with a balanced discussion of the Netscape and Microsoft approaches to each. The author then devotes a chapter to the ActiveX multimedia controls in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and another to the sticky issue of font management. The book concludes with explanations of how to utilize push technology, a preview of the version 5 browsers, and thoughts on the future direction of the Web. If you want to skip the lengthy tutorials and dive right into DHTML, this is the book for you.
--Stephen W Plain
Customer Reviews & Comments
After seeing all the five star reviews I thought this must be the book I needed - how wrong I was. I'm a seasoned web developer needing a really chunky tutorial on DHTML, and this book ain't it. Jeff kicks off with a general intro to CSS and the DOM - ok but not brilliant, better info exist on the web. Then things go downhill. All his DHTML applications are mundane at best (image rollovers, weedy pull downs) or downright obscure at worst (MS channels). Code is NOT explained line by line and you are not left with the feeling you can do it yourself. As long as you want to add Jeff's example into your pages then you're golden, if you want to learn the underlying principles and then develop your own stuff...forget it! And despite the blurb it ain't cross platform, its two scripts and some detect. Shame on you.
