Jun 97 MacTech Online
Volume Number: 13
Issue Number: 6
Column Tag: MacTech Online
Making Things Happen - Online
by Nicholas C. "nick.c" DeMello, URLs@mactech.com
The web has come to life. Every page you bounce off of these days has a popup menu for
navigation, a ticking clock, or an animated banner. It's exciting, it's stimulating, hey
-- it's fun. Well... at least it is until your client asks why those same bells and
whistles aren't chiming on his page. If you're trying to make things happen on a web
site, I've got some good news for you. You don't have to create all those spectacular
effects -- most of the time, you just need to know where to download them.
JavaScript -- Automating HTML
When folks decided it was time to liven up the web, they determined that there were at
least two ways to go about doing it. The first strategy was just to figure out how to
control the web elements we were already familiar with. How do we script the
behavior of images, windows, tables, text, links, and panes? Based on Sun's Java
language the JavaScript command language was developed by Netscape Communications.
JavaScript was originally codenamed Mocha, and then LiveScript. A brief overview of
it's history and origins has been put on the net by Frank Hecker.
JavaScript is written directly into your HTML code between
tags, and is interpreted by your browser at runtime. The language is extremely easy to
learn, especially with the aid of online resources like the JavaScript 411 pages.
JavaScript 411 maintains a JavaScript FAQ as well as a tutorial. Another useful
tutorial is Stefan Koch's "Voodoo" introduction to JavaScript, which will take you from
"Hello World" to dynamically building new pages for your user. But the real wealth in
online resources are the example code and libraries of reusable JavaScript functions,
like the JavaScript Planet website and Netscapes JavaScript Guide. Also, be sure to
check out Nick Heinle's JavaScript Tip of the week.
Frank Hecker's History of JavaScript
http://www.access.digex.net/~hecker/netscape/majug/javascript/
JavaScript 411--the complete source for JavaScript information
http://www.freqgrafx.com/411/
Voodoo's Introduction To JavaScript
http://www.webconn.com/java/javascript/intro/tutorial.htm
The JavaScript Mailing List
http://www.NETural.com/javascript/
The JavaScript Planet
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7116/
The Netscape JavaScript Guide
http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/handbook/javascript/index.html
The JavaScript Tip of the Week
http://www.webreference.com/javascript/
Java Applets -- Beyond HTML
Sometimes, JavaScript isn't enough. Applets -- compiled binaries of Java code --
offer an extension of HTML. Applets can be embedded into HTML documents the same
way a gif or jpeg can. The Java virtual machine incorporated into Internet Explorer
and versions of Netscape Navigator 2.0 or greater interprets and executes the logic in
the applets. Unlike JavaScript, which is limited to manipulating HTML elements, Java
is a complete modern language and limited only by your imagination. I'll touch on
online references related to creating applets in a future column, lets talk today about
the component relationship of applets in HTML. Let's talk about using applets.
Compiled applets for implementing a clock, blinking text, scrolling images, and
sounding audio files exist at the Café del Sol. The online Café gives you a complete
description of what parameters to pass to them and how to add these applets to your
web pages, but if you need a little more info Sun has put a complete description of how
to insert applets into HTML. Other places to download component applets include the
JavaSoft applet archive and the hot applet picks of the month at the Gamelin site. Make
sure you explore the rest of Gamelin when you visit that site, Gamelin is a tremendous
resource of applets and other Java information.
Sun's Description of Java Applets
http://www.javasoft.com:80/applets/
New Media's Java Applet Collection--the Café del Sol
http://www.xm.com/cafe/applets.html
"How to Create an Applet Tag" by Sun
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/docs/guide/misc/applet.html
Applets from JavaSoft
http://www.javasoft.com:80/applets/js-applets.html
Gamelin's Hot Picks of the Month Applet Collection
http://www.gamelan.com/special/picks.html
Parting Shots
In two months MacTech Online is going to get serious about Java. Below are some Java
online resources to explore between now then. We'll leave you with some links to
important component technologies. These and other links are accessible at the MacTech
URL database http://www.mactech.com/magazine/urls/. See you next month.