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Beginning XML - Part IV(Basic Schema Of A DTD)
In the following two articles, I'm going to wrap up my pondering on XML. We'll explore the basic schema of a DTD, and the future of XML. Let's recall that some basic features of XML are: · XML can keep data separated from your HTML · XML can be...
CSS Print Media Tutorial
The power of print + CSS So you've made yourself a cutting edge web page. What next ? Well maybe you want your visitors to be able to print pages in a certain style. Heavy graphical content can be removed, background colour changed and navigation...
Introduction To Cascading Style Sheets
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) have been around for a while now, and act as a complement to plain old HTML files. Style sheets allow a developer to separate HTML code from formatting rules and styles. It seems like many HTML beginners’ under-estimate...
Teach yourself CSS the easy way
I taught myself HTML back in the mid-nineties and was proud of the fact that I was able to accomplish the design of fairly complex web pages with nothing more than a starter HTML book, an HTML reference book, and the knowledge I had stored in my...
Testing Your Web Application - A Quick 10-Step Guide
Interested in a quick checklist for testing a web application? The following 10 steps cover the most critical items that I have found important in making sure a web application is ready to be deployed. Depending on size, complexity, and corporate...
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DHTML or Flash?
The last five years has seen an exponential growth in the use of shockwave and flash animations in creating websites. The old tried and trusted techniques such as D/HTML are slowy moving over to make room for this newer multimedia delivery vehicle. Scripting, such as Javascript, is viewed with disdain by some and ignored by others. Yet the people who advocate the use of flash/shockwave in creating multimedia-rich sites are not asking the right question: Is all that glitters gold?
An important facet of flash / shockwave glossed over by most people is that these technologies are a packaged scripting environment: In other words - most of what you can do in flash, you can do in DHTMl with a liitle effort. A question that pops up at this stage is: Why would I want to go through all of that? The answer is simple and is illustrated by way of practical example.
Pick a topic - any topic - and type the relevant seach keywords into your favorite search engine. Now try to find a flash site under the first thirty results. You will be surprised to find that this 'silver bullet' of web design does not even feature. The majority of search engines do not support the indexing of shockwave / flash sites - this can have a detrimental effect on your Internet business if you rely on search engine traffic to generate revenue. Remember one thing: Content is king and the only recognised content is in HTML pages.
Bells & Whistles: Where, When and
What
Deploying rich multimedia sites are becoming more and more a design requirement. However, the objective of your site should be the determining factor between using D/HTML or Flash for multimedia content. Exposure and the generation of revenue solidly discounts the use of Flash as the major site component - search placement is too important to sacrifice for a simple thing such shiny buttons. D/HTML provides an attractive alternative to ensuring that your site is indexed properly by search engines.
However, Flash should not be put out to pasture based on this: Limited Flash content can still be an asset on your Internet presence if used judisciously. Corporate Intranets are another matter entirely: Flash provides the perfect delivery vehicle for rich business applications, where DHTML would be more of a liability than an asset - e.g. training material, presentations and etcetera.
In conclusion, the objective of a site should determine which of the two technologies are the preferred medium for mutimedia delivery.
About the Author
Riaan Pieterse is the CEO and founder of Kerberos Internet Services CC, South Africa. Having spent a number of years conducting various consulting assignments in the Far East, Middle East, Africa and Europe to businesses and governments alike, Riaan has a solid understanding of the business and technology issues in today's market.
For more information visit http://www.kerberosdev.net
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