Page 174 - DCAP202_Fundamentals of Web Programming

Unit 14: DHTML

Self Assessment Notes

Fill in the blanks:
9. An ...................................... style sheet is a separate file where you can declare all the styles
that you want to use on your website.
10. The ................... element changes the style of the text it encloses.
11. The ......................... element includes a paragraph break.

12. The DIV elements defines ......................... divisions in your web page.
13. The DIV element gives you the chance to define the ........................ of whole sections of the
HTML.

14.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of DHTML

In this section, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of DHTML.

14.5.1 Advantages of DHTML

Advantages of DHTML are as follows:
Small file sizes
DHTML files are small compared to other interactive media such as Flash or Shockwave. Therefore
they have a shorter download time and take up less bandwidth.
Supported by both major browser manufacturers

Both Microsoft and Netscape currently support DHTML in some shape or form.
DHTML will be a standard
The World Wide Web Consortium or the W3C is currently implementing standards for DHTML
technologies. It has already released preliminary specifications for DOM and CSS. These
specifications lay the groundwork for more complete standards to come, which both Netscape
and Microsoft have pledged to support.

No plug-ins necessary
Plug-ins are not needed to view DHTML files. A visitor to your site needs only a Netscape 4.0
browser or an Internet Explorer 4.0 browser. This puts fewer requirements on your audience;

!

Caution They don’t need to download special software to view your site.
Doesn’t require a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
DHTML isn’t a Java technology. DHTML provides many functions that can otherwise be attained
through Java—a compiled, object-oriented computer language. Pages that contain Java applets
require the user to wait for the JVM to start and for Java byte code to download, which takes
quite a bit of time and bandwidth. Although Java is good for some applications, DHTML can be
an attractive alternative for animations, design issues, and simple tasks.

14.5.2 Disadvantages of DHTML

Disadvantages of DHTML are as follows:

 It can create only static and plain pages so if we need dynamic pages then HTML is not
useful.

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