4.01B Authoring Languages and Web Authoring Software
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4.01B Authoring Languages and Web
Authoring Software
4.01 Examine webpage development and design.
Authoring Languages
Used to control the appearance and
functionality of webpages when displayed in
a browser
Examples include:
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
XHTML (eXtensible HTML)
HTML 5
HTML
HyperText Markup Language
First and still primary
language for developing
webpages/sites.
Uses codes, or tags, to
instruct the browser how to
display text and images.
Is platform independent.
Example of HTML code
<html>
<title>Student Website</title>
<b>Welcome to my website!</b>
</html>
XML
eXtensible Markup Language
Describes data types to
facilitate data processing
Designed to carry data, not
to display it
Allows the author to define tags
to identify each data entry so
that the data can be easily
imported into other applications
Metadata—data about data
Example of XML code
<weather>
<city>Atlanta</city>
<state>Georgia</state>
<temp>75</temp>
</weather>
XHTML
eXtensible HyperText Markup Language
Combination of HTML and XML
Allows the designer to mix HTML and XML so that browsers can
display and manage data correctly
Originally intended to replace HTML as dominant authoring
language
Places restrictions on HTML tags so that code is cleaner and
can display data as the author intended
Requires all HTML tag sets be closed
Requires lowercase tags
Many devices can’t interpret bad HTML code (mobile phones,
PDAs)
HTML 5
The latest revision of HTML.
It has been adopted by the W3C as the next
HTML standard.
It merges some of the features of HTML and
XHTML.
It is still being developed.
Website Enhancement Tools
Style Sheets
Describe how browsers should present or display
information on a webpage.
Give web developers more control over layout
and page formatting.
Scripting Languages
Lightweight programming languages used to
create interactive webpages.
Applets
Short programs written in Java code that can be
embedded into webpages.
<html>
<head>
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
Separates content from
appearance and gives
web authors more control
over layout and page
format
CSS code instructs the
Web browser how to
format each item.
<style type="text/css">
h1 {color: #00ff00}
h2 {color: #dda0dd}
p {color: rgb(0,0,255)}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>This is header 1</h1>
<h2>This is header 2</h2>
<p>This is a paragraph</p>
</body>
</html>
Pros and Cons of CSS
Advantages
One style sheet can
control the formatting for
multiple webpages.
An entire website can be
reformatted by editing one
CSS file.
Styles can also be set
internally. The CSS code
is keyed in the header
section of the html
document.
Disadvantages
May alter the ability of
some devices to
accurately read and
display information.
Not all browsers
recognize style sheets,
especially older
versions of browsers.
Many browsers do not
recognize all the styles
in CSS.
JavaScript
An object based
scripting language that
allows creation and
execution of
procedures within a
webpage.
Does not require plugins (additional
programs for the user
to install).
Widely supported by
most browsers.
The JavaScript below
displays this dialog box
in the browser window:
<html>
<head>
<title>JavaScript Example</title>
<script type="text/JavaScript">
var foo="Greetings,
visitor!"alert(foo);
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Java Applets
Short programs written in Java code
Added to basic HTML and XHTML
Used to add multimedia, animation,
gaming, and other interactive elements
to webpages to make them more
interesting.
http://java.sun.com/applets/
Web Authoring Software
There are several web authoring software solutions available for
authoring and managing websites.
Text Editors – allow developers to write code in plain text.
Examples: Notepad and Wordpad
Web Editors - provides a graphical user interface with menus
containing commands to make webpage creation easier for
developers. Examples include:
Adobe’s Dreamweaver
Microsoft’s Expression Web
Kompozer – open source software
Seamonkey – open source software
Website hosts also provide proprietary web software authoring
solutions for managing pages stored on their sites.
