Internet Website
Tutorial
PART 2
(For complete Beginners)
& New Standard Price List
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Java Servlets --
Java Servlets are Java Applets only used on the Server (Server - see "Site Hosting"). Java Servlets (unlike Java Applets) are extremely popular even though they are the exact same thing as Applets!!
Why? For one reason more powerful things can be done on the "Server-Side"(on the Big PC where your website is stored - see "Site Hosting") than can be done on the "Client-Side"(in this case "Client-Side" means: your PC).
And the other technologies used before Java came along weren't "platform independent, robust and portable" (as flexible and able to squeeze into all the little places, and get along fine with all types of computers like Java can). So people are happy to invest more programming energy on the "Server-Side" because the return is greater.
Java --
Java is a relatively new programming language that is both "compiled"(means: the written code is checked for errors and changed by a very fancy program called a "compiler" into another form [in the case of Java that "other form" is a special kind of code called "Byte Code"]) and "interpreted"(means: the code is looked at line by line by a less fancy program called an "interpreter" that gets a general idea of what each line should do and performs that task).
The "bytecode" used by Java is "Platform-Independent" (means: it can run on any computer- [Dell or Compaq or IBM and so on] or in any Operating System- [Windows 95 or 98 or NT or 2000 or XP are Operating Systems]) as long as the machine has a Java capable Browser (both MS Internet Explorer and Netscape are Java capable which probably covers 98% of all browses used).
CGI --
Common Gateway Interface is a set of "protocols" (rules) that are followed to allow the Server to "interface" (interact with, execute, run and so on) with different "applications" (programs like a big fat database).
CGI specifications are used to write "Server Side" scripts or "Gateway scripts" that are written in any number of programming languages (C, C++, or preferably PERL / Practical Extraction and Report Language).
The whole idea behind "Server Side" interfaces is a higher level of "interactivity" (interactive means: you can get a [more intelligent] response back right away when you type in something or click on something) you can have long fancy forms for people to fill out or they can access some large database to buy something from you and so on.
Custom Logo Design --
Custom Logo Design is probably the most sensitive area of all for two main reasons:
1. Because the Logo that represents your Company is so important that most people will want a lot of thought and creativity put into this one effort. It goes without saying that larger companies may easily spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or more on just a company logo and
2. Because the Logo which has to represent your Company (unlike other fancy flashing artwork, that once created, can possibly be reused on other sites) has to be (or should be) solely and completely the property of your company and once created cannot be reused for any other purpose (which would add to the cost).
Data Base Development --
Databases are (or can be) one of the most "heavy duty" of all the applications that can be accessed from the Server using "Server Side" interfaces. A database is (for example) your phone book which is information (Names, Address, Phone numbers = data) arranged in a particular order (usually in alphabetical order).
Now let's say we put your phone book's information into a computer and further arrange the "order" of things so that each related item (the Name, Address and Phone #) is "tagged"(given an ID number).
Picture taking each name (written on a small piece of paper) and placing the first name (full name) on the first top left hand square of a checker board (or chess board), then place the second name on the second square (going DOWN the board not across) and so on.
So now you have the Names in the first "column"(up and down [vertical]), do the same thing with the "Addresses" on the next "column", and the same thing with "Phone numbers" on the third column (to keep it simple lets say you only have five people listed in your phone book for now).
If you did it right (in your mind's eye) on the first row (going across horizontally) you have the Name, Address and Phone number of the first person you started with. Now imagine you label each "column" A-B and C (the first column is labeled A, the second column is B and so on) and label the "rows" 1 to 5 (label the first row 1, label the second row 2, label the third row 3 and so on).
BAM !!! What you just created (in your mind, using only the power of thought) is a simple yet powerful database (really more like the "seed" of a powerful database).
If you think about it you can see how if I gave you the "Phone number" on row 3, column C (row3, col C) and asked you for the corresponding "Name" you would just slide your finger (across row3) from column C across to column A (to row3, col A) and BINGO you have the correct name for that number.
Multiply this by 5000 or 50,000 or whatever and let the computer slide it's finger, add to this more columns, row, relationships and so on and I (if I worked for the NSA [or was a very, very good Hacker]) could tell you what you paid for dinner, what you ate, at what restaurant, and when (assuming you used a credit card) on any date, at any time, at any place any where in the world !!!
Powerful stuff? Be impressed by the first database not the second (the database you created between your ears) the power is between your ears, if your reading this I'm talking to YOU!!! You have the power.
Flash --
Macromedia Flash (which some people call Flash Media) is one of the most innovative developments to hit web design in its short history (Macromedia is a company and "Flash 5" is there product).
When it comes to graphics and animation they have no equal (I'm a bit jealous I didn't develop it myself, but the day is not over yet). Macromedia Flash 5 has grabbed the future and made it backward compatible with the present. (For future typing purposes MMF = Macromedia Flash 5)
MMF works well with the present ubiquitous (means: the vast majority of people already it, like a telephone or TV set.) 56K modem and will work even better with high bandwidth. MMF is proprietary (means: it belongs exclusively to a company) software and is fairly expensive and has a moderately steep "learning curve" (can take a little while to learn).
As good as MMF maybe it is still only a tool and cannot make a site great by itself, two things (maybe three) are greatly needed to go along with it:
1. Real creative design skills and
2. Reasonably good technical prowess.
I have seen very many MMF sites and have seen only a very few that have even come close to impressively utilizing the power of MMF. The reason cannot be because of the lack of the first two but certainly there can be a lack of a third and rare commodity and that is artistic & creative FREEDOM.
From my extensive past experience servicing PC and
heavy duty Server Hardware I have been "on the inside"
of hundreds of F500 Server rooms
CLICK HERE
to check out a "partial" list of companies I have personally serviced while with the companies INACOM and VANSTAR.
it seems always to be that managers who have direct authority over technical and creative people not only have absolutely NO technical or creative knowledge, skill or experience themselves but in some cases seem to enjoy crushing, frustrating and smothering the intellectual creativity of those "know-it-all-geeks".
But that will hopefully never happen at this company anyway back to MMF, MMF is not cheap but the Flash that we produce (because we have all three components to create great MMF) will be without equal.
CSS --
Cascading Style Sheets are a new way of adding multiple style sheets to the same Web page, which gives designers more control over, how certain Web components (text, colors, typefaces, links and so on) appear.
The specifications are still evolving and some specifications may not be fully supported yet (by the major Web Browsers).
DHTML --
Dynamic Hyper-Text Markup Language is HTML using Java Script and CSS.
ASP --
Active Server Pages technology is a hot new Microsoft thing that seems to be a powerhouse player in the "Server Side" interface world.
In other words ASP does some of the same things that CGI/Gateway scripts and Java Servlets do and in some cases more if (to use ASP you have to have special Microsoft Software both on the developer end and installed on the Server) your Server runs Windows NT 4 or Windows 2000.
So ASP only works in the Microsoft world (of course that is most of the world) from the Server-Side standpoint but will work on most any Client-Side Browsers (all the action that ASP does is on the
Server-Side any way and is sent to the Client).
By now you should understand some of this Client/Server
Mumbo-Jumbo without constant explanations.
On the surface ASP is very simple and easy to learn but then as you begin to plug-in all the other Microsoft component architectures (SSI, ODBC, ActiveX, COM, DOM, DNA, MS-SQL and so on) it begins to get much more complex and expensive (both in software and in "learning curve" terms).
From what I can see the big F500 (Fortune 500 [of course]) companies are jumping up and down excited about ASP In 2001 (if you not developing Web sites in ASP you might as well not be developing at all).
But in 2002 and 2003 the new HOT superstar will be XML and they will be jumping higher and the hype and excitement will be much greater.
XML --
Stands for eXtensible Markup Language and is the new
"Super-Language" (so they say) and even has the great
Bill Gates jumping up and down.
The programming world, the computer world, the business world, the international financial community world wide are all being worked up (or working themselves up) into a frenzy of excitement over XML.
Basically XML is a language used to create languages that are lightweight, can move and function over the Internet well and most importantly can be easily interfaced with each other.
So every powerhouse group (all the accountants in the world, Bankers in world, mathematicians in the world, Business in the world and so on [also using any language in the world] can create their own "flavor" of XML (called an XML application) and all these different languages will be able to easily "mesh" with every other XML based language.
Even large companies or even individual persons (programmers) can create their own language (XML application). As we speak groups large and small are frantically developing XML applications (that they hope will become the world standard) for their group.
Some examples are:
VoiceXML (very HOT), ebXML (electronic business XML), XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language), MathML, CML (Chemical ML) not to mention XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language), XSLT
(T = Transformation), XLink, XPointer and so on.
XHTML --
A type of HTML that conforms to the strict rules of XML. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium -- a group of geeky guys who dream-up and set the rules for all this stuff) just released the official version of XHTML as an XML application.
It is very possible (in the not to distant future) that XHTML (or even XML itself) will replace HTML as the primary foundation for Internet, intranet and extranet website development to conform to the up and coming new XML compliant Browsers and flood of XML applications.
This means that most websites across the world today will have to be "tweaked" and modified (some by programs but a lot by hand) to function in and conform with the new "paradigm" (wide spread new way of doing things) coming with "tidal wave" force.
The above definitions seem to be ok but the Super-Hype Hysteria over XML turned out to be totally unfounded.
The above opinions about XML where written back about 2001 and in retrospect XML has not turned the world
upside down. Today's date as of this sub-note is June 1, 2005 and XML has in my opinion had a great deal less impact on the world than
expected to say the least.
Disclaimer:
Although every attempt has been made to ensure the veracity (absolute correctness and so on)
of the above material, no responsibility is assumed for any use of the information contained herein. No guarantees of absolute correctness is stated or implied.
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