((((((((((((((((( WEBREFERENCE UPDATE NEWSLETTER ))))))))))))))))) October 18, 2001
___________________________ Sponsors ________________________________ This newsletter sponsored by: Nanotech-Planet Fall 2001 & 802.11 Planet Fall 2001 _____________________________________________________________________
This week Meryl Evans reviews Molly Holzschlag's latest book, "XML, HTML, XHTML Magic." In today's alphabet soup of markup languages, Molly makes learning easy with a project-based approach. In other news learn how downsized dotcoms are coping, how IT managers are squeezing more data into less space, and how one senator is backing off on inserting backdoors into encryption products.
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New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:
1. BOOK REVIEW: XML, HTML, XHTML Magic 2. OTHER VOICES: * The 7 Habits of Highly Persistent Dotcoms * Taxonomy Software to the Rescue * Managing Web Development Strategies * The Data Squeeze 3. NET NEWS: * AOL 7.0 Ships With Broadband-Friendly Features * Oracle Delivers Content With Documentum * Senator Backs Off Backdoors
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. BOOK REVIEW: XML, HTML, XHTML Magic
Molly Holzschlag's latest book takes on the entire alphabet soup of markup languages. XML, HTML, XHTML, WAP, and CSS are all covered in a seamless 200-page book replete with projects and example code, so designers can get quickly up to speed on the building blocks of the Web.
The problem fledgling designers have is the overwhelming number of Web design resources that cover XML, HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP, and WAP. Reading all these sites or individual books makes it too challenging to find what you need to implement real-world projects.
That's where this book comes in. Remember your old science book and how it listed the problem, tools needed, and the steps to complete the experiment. Only in this case, it has fun projects you want to do. Each project begins with a problem and technical specs, and takes you through the basics to solve it.
The books recommends the reader be familiar with HTML and have some experience with CSS. Don't worry if you haven't used CSS. Chapter 1 covers the groundwork to get you started.
With the exception of the first one, each chapter is a project. Such projects cover updating a daily news site, showcasing a corporate identity, creating simple and complex community sites, setting up a storefront and even XML for the wireless Web for a total of eleven sensible projects that any Web professional can implement. A project begins by defining the problem, listing the technical specs, and then walking through steps, reviewing "to the point" explanations, and studying the visuals. At the end of each project, you can learn More Magic and also get suggestions for further challenging yourself.
Impressively, the book covers XML, HTML, XHMTL, DTD, CSS, SSI, PHP, JavaScript, Apache, and WAP. A book that included all of this would probably have a thousand pages and make it too difficult to apply to Web design projects. This sleek 200+ page book tells you what you need to know to work through the project and take your skills to the next level. Holzschlag and her team of expert co- authors, Martin de Vore, John Kuhlman, Christopher Schmitt, Jason Cranford Teague, and Steve Franklin, put together a resource that does "tell me, teach me, and show me" all in one.
The book guides a person who knows HTML to make the transition to XHTML, which in turn, makes learning XML easier. Frames are even included, but with a note of warning explaining why people have a love-hate relationship with frames.
Have you wanted to catch the blog wave? Here's your chance to do it with JavaScript, CSS, and a Blogger account. Project 5: Designing a Great Personal Site provides a brief account of Web logs, then shows you how to design your blog with staggered entries and JavaScript. The project closes with More Magic tips by sharing other blog tools and giving you a couple of things to consider when managing a blog such as what personal information to share and omit.
Moving toward the more challenging projects gives you the opportunity to install Apache and PHP to create a bulletin board. It's like installing software since it's done on a Windows machine rather than a UNIX machine and has fewer steps. The purpose of using PHP in the project is to see an example of how it can be used. I tested the Apache and PHP installation instructions from the book and it only took one hour to successfully run the test PHP file on my local computer. The book doesn't provide specifics on the PHP code.
The last project, building a wireless application, involves downloading and installing a WAP SDK (software developer's kit). After completing the project, you won't be a super-WAP developer. However, you'll gain a better understanding and determine if you want to learn more.
The book accomplishes its mission of showcasing how real people solve real problems and address issues in building Web sites by integrating markup, style sheets, and other technologies all the while conforming to Web standards. Because of its simple and clean presentation, along with its companion Web site, you can't help but try out the projects and put the book to good use.
More Magic: Read the Table of Contents and sample chapter (Project 2: Managing a Weekly Publication) to get a taste of the book at New Riders (http://www.newriders.com/books/title.cfm?isbn=0735711399).
XML, HTML, XHTML Magic By Molly E. Holzschlag New Riders, $34.99 ISBN: 0735711399
http://www.newriders.com/ http://www.xhtml-resources.com/magic
About the reviewer:
Meryl K. Evans (http://www.meryl.net) has written articles covering Web design, processes, handhelds and other exciting topics for A List Apart, The Dallas Morning News, WebReview. AbsoluteWrite.com, Geek.com, and PalmPower.com. If you see her at a bookstore, get her out before she ends up in the poorhouse. Feel free to interrupt her at meryl@onramp.net.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. OTHER VOICES: The 7 Habits of Highly Persistent Dotcoms, Taxonomy Software to the Rescue, Managing Web Development Strategies, The Data Squeeze
>The 7 Habits of Highly Persistent Dotcoms
What does it take for a dotcom to make it these days? For starters, there's grit, tightfistedness, agility, and a greatly reduced sense of grandiosity. http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,17421,FF.html Business2.0, Oct. 2001 Issue
>Taxonomy Software to the Rescue
One way to manage problems of information overload is by using taxonomy software. Simply put, taxonomy can be described as an effort to incorporate a "categorization" mechanism that allows functional search and retrieval to extend beyond keyword results. http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=649 Online Journalism Review, Oct. 12, 2001
>Managing Web Development Strategies
The fourth article in a series by Strata3 on Web projects. This article addresses practical issues for managing Web development teams and strategies. http://www.sbpost.ie/story.jsp?story=WCContent;id-28858 Sunday Business Post, Oct. 16, 2001
>The Data Squeeze
With IT managers under pressure to hold down spending, they can't afford to have huge amounts of unused disk or tape space laying around. http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO64711,00.html Computerworld, Oct. 15, 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. NET NEWS: AOL 7.0 Ships With Broadband-Friendly Features, Oracle Delivers Content With Documentum, Senator Backs Off Backdoors
>AOL 7.0 Ships With Broadband-Friendly Features
Small improvements and new functions are designed to please users of all levels. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,66164,00.asp PC World, Oct. 16, 2001 >Oracle Delivers Content With Documentum
Software giant, Oracle Corp. announced Tuesday the launch of an integrated enterprise content management solution based on Documentum 4i eBusiness Platform and Oracle9i Application Server. http://www.internetnews.com/asp-news/article/0,,3411_905291,00.html Internetnews.com,
>Senator Backs Off Backdoors
Sen. Judd Gregg has abruptly changed his mind and will no longer seek to insert backdoors into encryption products. A spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican said Tuesday that Gregg has "no intention" of introducing a bill to require government access to scrambled electronic or voice communications. http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47635,00.html Wired, Oct. 17, 2001
That's it for this week, see you next time.
Andrew King Newsletter Editor, WebReference.com aking@internet.com
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