Underlying technologies

The web technologies which Dreamweaver allows you to manipulate with its visual tools fall into three main categories. Firstly, we have HTML the basic component or raw material of a web page. Secondly, we have those technologies which enhance HTML: dynamic HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Flash... Thirdly, we have the server applications: PHP, ASP, ASP.Net, ColdFusion and JSP.

HTML

HTML is the main fabric from which web pages are made and in learning to create web sites, it is logical to begin by familiarising yourself with the creation of sites containing mainly HTML content. Dreamweaver allows you to manipulate and create HTML content by using intuitive visual tools or by editing code.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

The HTML 4 specification recommends the use of CSS for the formatting of web page elements such as text and tables, as against the use of embedded tags such as FONT.

CSS is being increasingly used for page layout as well as for formatting page elements. It allows developers to separate the layout and formatting of pages from their code, making pages faster to load, more accessible and search engine friendly.

Dreamweaver offers an easy-to-use and sophisticated panel for working with CSS.

JavaScript

JavaScript is a simple programming language which enables the creation of scripts that can be embedded into an HTML page to add functionality and interactivity. Typical uses of JavaScript are rollover effects, pop-up windows and form validation. JavaScript is client-side code, i.e., it is executed by a visitor’s browser instead of the server, thus conserving server resources.

Dreamweaver has a number of useful built-in JavaScript functions which are accessed through the Behaviors panel.

Server-side pages

Unlike static HTML pages, server-side pages are actually scripts which are executed by an application running on the web server. Dreamweaver allows you to develop such pages using the most popular applications: PHP, ASP, ASP.Net, ColdFusion and JSP. It's implementation of these technologies focuses on connecting to databases, setting up search and results pages and user authentication.

One of the most satisfying features of Dreamweaver is the way in which it attempts, wherever possible, to handle both complex and basic aspects of web development using the same simple visual techniques. Once you have mastered the creation of basic web pages and you move on to look at more advanced tasks, such as the creation of search and results pages, your familiarity with Dreamweaver's core features makes these tasks that much easier to master.