This tutorial is designed for students in Web Development classes at Pentecost University College. It assumes that the student already has familiarity with the eXtensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), basic programming skills, and with the rudiments of database design and Structured Query Language (SQL). Example scripts run under PHP 5, Apache 2 or IIS 6.0, and Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. XHTML output displays properly under current versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
Foundations of Web Design
Web Development Context
Many people are Web page "authors"; few people are Web site "developers." You are soon to join the ranks of the latter.
Web Page Authoring
Authoring Web pages is not a particularly difficult task now-a-days. Many standard deskop software packages come equipped with built-in features to convert word processing documents, spreadsheets, databases, and the like to coded documents that are ready for access across the Web. Special Web page authoring packages such as Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia Dreamweaver permit creation of Web pages with drag-and-drop ease. In most of these cases it is not even necessary to know or to be aware of the special HTML (HyperText Markup Language) coding that takes place behind the scenes.
If you know the XHTML language, then you can author your Web pages with a simple text editor, usually gaining a great deal more control over their structure and formatting than is possible with drag-and-drop methods. In addition, you have the ability to easily integrate existing XHTML code, Java applets, multimedia plug-ins, and browser scripting languages to bring a modicum of user interactively to your pages. Irrespective of the substance or sizzle of your pages, their purpose tends to be limited to presenting interesting or informative text and graphics for personal consumption. It is unlikely you can tackle the task of writing a major business system armed with HTML and a few