BKNSHTEX.RVW 960531
"New Netscape and HTML Explorer", Urban A. LeJeune, 1996, 1-883577-91-8,
U$39.99/C$55.99
%A Urban A. LeJeune lejeune@charm.net lejeune@acy.digex.net
%C 7339 East Acoma Drive, #7, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
%D 1996
%G 1-883577-91-8
%I Coriolis
%O U$39.99/C$55.99 800-410-0192 +1-602-483-0192 fax: +1-602-483-0193
%P 800
%T "New Netscape and HTML Explorer"
This book is pitched at just the right level for the Webmaster wannabes. Lest
that sound derogatory, what I mean is those who are Web users, rather than
currently responsible for major sites, who are curious about the full potential
of the Netscape browser, who may have created a home page, and who are
interested in what might come beyond. The "explorer" aspect of the title is
quite appropriate in this case.
About a third of the book concentrates on Netscape itself. There is some
general background on the Web, including an excellent guide to URLs (Uniform
Resource Locators) which thoroughly explains http, ftp, gopher and telnet
listings (but not, interestingly, mailto). Actually, "itself" is wrong, since
much of this material looks not only at the browser, but at the many plug-in
modules which are becoming available.
The remainder covers HTML (HyperText Markup Language) page creation, CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) activities, tables, forms, frames, JavaScript and
Java. Some of the topics; CGI, forms, JavaScript, and Java; are potentially
complex, and worthy of books in their own right. What LeJeune does is present
the minimal basics, which can allow the average home page creator to wade in
ankle deep. An example is the CGI shell script which, without any form input,
allows a page to display the date and time. It is plain, lock-step, paint-by-
numbers programming, but it works. The examples may seem trivial to the
professional programmer, but everyone has to walk before they can run.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996 BKNSHTEX.RVW 960531
======================
roberts@decus.ca rslade@vanisl.decus.ca Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1.fidonet.org
Frequent advice to Internet newcomers:
State your business, avoid eye contact, leave quietly, and no one gets hurt.
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94663-2 (800-SPRINGER)