Writing Cross-Browser Dynamic HTML (Paperback)

by Heather Williamson (Author)
Key Phrases: reverse text, avail width, avail height, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Place Hermes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
<p>Both Netscape and Microsoft have created their own versions of Dynamic HTML (DHTML). Incompatibilities between their browsers make it very difficult for web designers to use DHTML to add advanced user interface features to their sites. This is the first book that answers the question webmasters are asking more and more frequently: How can DHTML be used effectively, given the issue of incompatible browsers among users? <i>Writing Cross-Browser Dynamic HTML</i> focuses on answering this critical question without getting sidetracked into general HTML or XML issues. The result is a book that clearly and concisely addresses programmers' needs without overwhelming them with a cumbersome volume that tries to answer every possible question about DHTML.</p>

<p>Author Heather Williamson begins by introducing the fundamental concepts upon which DHTML programming is based: the Document Object Model, Cascading Style Sheets, and scripting languages. In each case, she cites the differences between the Netscape and Microsoft implementations of these features. You'll learn which features can be used safely, which must be avoided, and how to use scripting languages to overcome differences between DHTML implementations. </p>

<p>Williamson then moves into an in-depth discussion of how to use the knowledge of DHTML differences in real-world applications&emdash;specifically, as applied to a highly interactive professional website. She finishes the book by going beyond the purely technical issues to discuss how compatibility must be incorporated into the development process, especially when teams of developers are involved. </p>

From the Publisher
This is the only book that we know of that focuses on the key question of how to write cross browser Dynamic HTML. Without this information, web developers find themselves torn between supporting separate sites for each browser, or compromising on the capabilities of their sites. This book thus not only offers important technical information, but also the likelihood of significant timesavings for busy Web developers who adopt its methodologies.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 367 pages
• Publisher: Apress (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893115054
• ISBN-13: 978-1893115057
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,075,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great., January 29, 2001

By A Customer

This book is a good book. It contains all the necessary references you will need to do beginner to intermediate level DHTML development. However, it lacks anything beyond fairly superficial coverage. For the novice to intermediate developer, this book is probably for you. If you are an advanced developer you won't learn anything new (I was hoping for some nitty-gritty detailed stuff). I would have really liked to see a reference list that not only listed major version support/compatibility for DOM/CSS/JavaScript/Etc. but for all the minor version support. If I could pick 3.5 stars that's where this book would be.

Finally, I have to point out that some of her example web pages don't even work in IE5.5...which really turned me off, big time.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An enormous disappointment, April 4, 2001

By	W. Blinn (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading the first 100 pages of the book, I visited the Web site. Just about everything I tried on the site failed: The "openSesame()" function that was supposed to open another document gave me a "not found" error. Inspecting the code allowed me to open the intended page..., but text appears on top of images.

If this was intentional, the author knows nothing about design; if it was an accident, then I question the author's knoweldge of dynamic HTML. Neither of these possibilities caused me to be confident that the book would be able to help me understand and use dynamic HTML.

Even worse, JavaScript error after JavaScript error popped up. There's a "references" page, but every single link died with an "object expected" error on line 1, character 1. The most common cause of this problem is a misspelled function name or function all (something as simple as naming the function foobar() and then calling FooBar().

I gave up on the site.

I gave up on the book.

Too bad. I really had high hopes for both.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and obsolete - Update needed, April 19, 2001

By	Stig Nygaard "stig106" (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

In the year 2001, what would you expect from a NEW book about "cross-browser Dynamic HTML" ? I would expect a book showing me how to develop code that will work in Internet Explorer 4.x and up, Netscape Communicator 4.x, Gecko-based browsers like Netscape 6 and Mozilla, plus preferable a general implementation of (or at least a discussion about) "future-safe" DHTML based solely on the recommended W3C and ECMA standards. It is "alternative" browsers like Opera and Konqueror I hope to see support of through the pure standards based implementation (and it will proplably work with the Gecko-based browsers and the upcomming IE6 browser too).

Does Heather Williamsen book live up to my expections ? I'm afraid very far from... Heathers ambigition have been to support IE4-5, NS4.x and NS6. I guess this is allright as a MINIMUM, since it covers the browsers most people will use for some time. But at the time of writing the final version of Netscape 6 has clearly not been released yet, and wheather Heather hasn't done her homework good enough or if the specifikations of Netscape 6/Mozilla has changed during its development, I don't know, but it is a fact that none (or very little) of the DHTML-code pressented in the book will work in Netscape 6, Mozilla or other browsers based on the Gecko layout engine. The worst mistake is that Heather takes support of Netscape 4.x Layers for granted in Netscape 6. Layers is not part of the W3C standard, and this propritary Netscape 4.x feature is NOT supported in Netscape 6 or other Gecko-based browsers !

Off course you can learn something about generating DHTML that works in IE4-5.x and NS4.x in this book, but without (working) support of Netscape 6 I can never recommend this book to anyone taking webdevelopment seriously. I hope there will be some comprehensive corrections/updates to find on the Apress website soon, becourse if not this book has been a completely waste of money for me. Sorry about these hard words.

The day there is a good cross-browser DHTML book that lives up to my expectations mentioned first in this little review, please let me know ! (Why hasn't anybody written a review of "New Perspectives on Creating Web Pages with Dynamic HTML" [ISBN 0619019182] telling about its browser/standard support yet ? - No I'm not gonna buy it if I don't see somebody else reviewing it in a positive way. I aint gonna burn my fingers twice).