Dynamic HTML is one of the most promising Web technologies ever. It offers precise positioning of page elements, more flexibility, more font choices, and a wealth of other benefits. Alas, acceptance of dynamic HTML has been postponed by some very serious browser implementation problems.
October 27, 1997
As I have chundered on at great length about this subject in my current Perpend column, I shall not discuss the issue here. Of course, we all expect the problems to be ironed out eventually, and it is certainly not too early to begin learning how to use these powerful new tools. Instant Dynamic HTML, from Wrox Press, is a great book that can help you learn the language, and remain on your bookshelf as a reference.
This book comes in two editions, Instant Netscape Dynamic HTML, and Instant IE4 Dynamic HTML. They contain much of the same material, but each edition addresses the peculiarities of its respective browser, as Netscape Communicator 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.0 implement dynamic HTML very differently.
My aforementioned Perpend column, "Dynamic HTML - So Near and Yet So Far," provides an overview of the benefits of dynamic HTML, so I will not repeat that material here either. The book covers all the major topics in great detail, with plenty of example code. There is a companion Web site where all the examples can be seen. Style sheets, dynamic fonts, positioning HTML elements, working with scripts, and other hot topics are all explained in a clear and systematic way.
The first half of the book is organized as a step-by-step tutorial, and the second half consists of reference material. Included are lists of dynamic HTML tags, properties, methods and events, and other useful reference information. One difference between the two editions is that, while both discuss Javascript, only the IE4 edition discusses VBScript.
I found this book well written and well organized. It is appropriate for anyone with a basic knowledge of HTML.
Instant Netscape Dynamic HTML - Table of Contents:
Introducing Dynamic HTML
Style Sheets and Dynamic Fonts
Positioning HTML Elements using Style Sheets or Layers
