Chapter 13-Tools for the World
Wide Web
Overview
 Web servers.
 Web browsers.
 Web page makers and site builders.
 Plug-ins and delivery vehicles.
 Beyond HTML.
Web Servers
 The functioning of the Web involves communication
between a server computer and a client computer.
 A Web server is a computer that delivers a file when a
client computer sends a request.
 Web servers vary in strength and capacity for a variety of
platforms meeting the HTTP requirements.
Web Browsers
 Web browsers are applications that run on the client side
(user’s PC) on the Internet.
 They provide an interactive graphical interface.
 This interface is used for searching, finding, and viewing
text documents, sounds, and multimedia resources on the
Web.
Web Browsers
 Web browsers differ in features, performance, and cost.
 Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer are two of
the most popular Web browsers.
Web Page Makers and Site
Builders
 HTML documents are simple ASCII text files without any
formatting.
 Active Server Pages, ColdFusion, or PHP are the
programming environments needed for building dynamic
sites.
 HTML translators are built into many word processing
programs.
Web Page Makers and Site
Builders
 HTML translators export a word-processed document with
its text styles and layout converted into HTML tags.
 Many HTML editors and Web page-making applications offer
to shortcut HTML learning curves and working effort.
Web Page Makers and Site
Builders
 Dedicated editors are usually WYSIWYG (What You See Is
What You Get) word processors.
Web Page Makers and Site
Builders
 Adobe GoLive and Macromedia Dreamweaver MX are
WYSIWYG HTML editors.
 GoLive allows a user to create and edit text pages, import
images, and link to other documents.
Plug-ins and Delivery Vehicles
 Plug-ins allow end users to view and interact with new
types of documents and images.
 Helper applications (or players) display or run files
downloaded from the Internet.
Plug-ins and Delivery Vehicles
 Text.
 Images.
 Sound.
 Animation, video, and presentation.
Text
 Text and document plug-ins overcome the display
limitations of HTML and Web browsers.
 Adobe Acrobat provides special fonts and graphic images
embedded as data into the file.
Images
 Most browsers read only bitmapped JPEG, GIF, and PNG
image files.
 Plug-ins that enable the viewing of vector formats (such as
Flash) are useful.
 Vector graphics are device-independent. An image is
displayed at the correct size and with colors supported by
the computer.
Sound
 Digitized sound files in MP3, WAV, AIF, or AU formats may
be sent and played on a user’s computer from Internet.
 MIDI sound files are more compact, but they depend upon
the computer’s MIDI setup for quality.
Sound
 Speech files can be encoded into a token language that is a
shorthand description of the speech components.
 Sound elements may also be embedded into projects made
with various authoring tools.
 Some sounds can be multicast to allow multiple users to
listen to the same data streams without duplication.
Animation, Video, and
Presentation
 The most data-intense multimedia elements are video
streams containing images and synchronized sound.
 Video streams are commonly packaged as Apple’s
QuickTime, Microsoft’s Video for Windows (AVI), and as
MPEG files.
 The trade-off between bandwidth and quality is ever
present when designing, developing, and delivering
animations or motion video for the Web.
Beyond HTML
 CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a standard for
interfacing external applications with information servers.
 Web-enabled 3-D environments promise compelling and
interactive multimedia experiences.
Summary
 A Web server delivers a file when a client requests for it.
 Browsers are applications that run on a user’s PC to provide
an interface for downloading and viewing documents and
multimedia.
 Many HTML editors and Web page-making applications
require less HTML skills and working effort.
 Plug-ins allow users to view and interact with new types of
documents and images.