Chapter 15
Hack to the Future:
What's Ahead for HTML and the Web
CONTENTS
I love watching old film reels or reading descriptions of any World's Fair
from earlier in this century. There was always an "Exhibit of the Future"
that-thanks to its breathless depictions of flying cars and self-cleaning
homes-now provokes lots of hindsight-induced guffaws. The problem, I think, is
that predicting the future is really just a fool's errand. The pace of
technological change is too great and, perhaps more importantly, the direction
that change takes is too unpredictable.
That, of course, is no great impediment for the world's futurologists and
forecasters. These fearless prognosticators are only too happy to wax prophetic
about the state of some future union, upcoming social or cultural trends, or the
Spirit of Christmas Yet-to-come.
So, hey, if everybody else is doing it, why can't I? In this chapter, I'll
embark upon my own complete idiot's errand and examine what's on the HTML
horizon. A disclaimer, though, is in order: The World Wide Web changes so
blindingly fast, it's not possible to even guess what things might be like in a
couple of years. (And if you meet anyone who thinks they know, you have my
permission to hit them upside the head with this book.) So, instead, I'll just
focus on a few of the "bleeding edge" technologies that are emerging as this
book goes to press (early 1996). (A note to those of you reading this book in
1997 or later: Try to keep the laughter down to a dull roar.)
1996 will be the year that pages move away from the simple
type-it-and-send-it world of forms and start performing the Web equivalent of
singing and dancing. That is, Web pages will no longer be restricted to static
displays of text and graphics, but instead will become dynamic, kinetic, and,
yes, truly interactive environments. Instead of mere documents to read and look
at, pages will become programs that you can manipulate and play with.
The engine that's propelling this sea change is an amazing new technology
called Java that's poised to become the biggest thing on the Web since, well,
the Web itself. The idea behind Java is amazingly simple, but devilishly clever:
When you access a Java Web site, your browser gets not only a page containing
the usual HTML suspects, but it also receives a program. The browser (assuming
it can tell a Java program from a Jackson Pollock-more on this in a sec) then
runs the program right on the Web page. So if the program is, say, a game of
Hangman, then you'll be able to play Hangman right on the page. Now that's
interactive!
These Java programs (or applets, as they're sometimes called) are
written using the Java programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. Here
are a few advantages that Java programs have over traditional software:
- The programs are sent to your browser and are started "behind the scenes."
You don't have to worry about installation, setup, or loading because your
browser takes care of all that dirty work for you.
- The programs are designed to work on just about any system. Whether you're
running Windows 95, a Mac, or a UNIX machine box, Java programs will run
without complaint. (Although there are plenty of older systems-such as Windows
3.1-that Java won't work with; I talk about the Java requirements below.)
- Java is secure. When people hear about Java, their first concern is that
some pimple-faced programmer who has succumbed to the dark side of The Force
will send them a Java virus. But Java has built-in safeguards to prevent such
attacks.
- Since you always receive the latest version of the program when you access
a site, you don't need to worry about upgrades and new releases.
So what do you need to start sipping some of this Java? Well, for starters
you need a computer capable of handling Java. When this book went to press, Java
had been implemented for three operating systems: Windows 95, Windows NT, and
SPARC Solaris (a UNIX operating system). Plans were in the cards to bring Java
to Macintosh computers in early 1996. Sun has no plans to implement Java on
Windows 3.1, OS/2, Amiga, NeXT, or Linux systems, but they've made the Java code
available to others who might want to bring Java to these machines.
The other ingredient you need for a good cup of Java is a Web browser that
knows what to do with any Java program that comes its way. Although I expect
that any browser that wants to survive will become "Java-enabled" eventually, at
the moment there are only two browsers that do Java:
Netscape Navigator 2.0-This is the latest release of Netscape, and
it handles Java applets seamlessly. You can get a copy from the Netscape Web
site:
http://home.netscape.com/
HotJava-This is a Web browser developed by Sun, the inventors of
Java. You can grab it from the Java Web page:
http://java.sun.com/
Java is already the talk of the Web, but it will become huge for one simple
reason: there's really no limit to the kinds of things you can do with Java
programs. In these early stages of the Java revolution, many of the examples you
see are simple because the programmers have just constructed quick-and-dirty
programs. Animations, crude games, clocks, and calculators are the extent of the
Java universe at the moment. However, it's only a matter of time before these
basic applications give way to full-blown software packages: word processors,
spreadsheets, real-time stock quotes and portfolio management, high-end games,
and much more.
Until that day comes, however, we have to content ourselves with the basic
Java programs currently available. That's not to say I'm disappointed by the
present crop of Java doohickeys. Far from it. This Java jazz is such a radical
departure from typical Web content that interacting with even the humblest
applet is a revelation. So, in that spirit, let's visit a few sites that boast
some Java functionality.
The best place to start is a Web site called Gamelan, which serves as the
Web's unofficial "directory and registry of Java resources." Gamelan boasts
hundreds of Java programs, arranged in many different categories, including
Animation, Finance, Games, and Special Effects. Here's the URL:
http://www.gamelan.com/
Our first example is a Java version of the classic arcade game Breakout. The
picture below shows a game in progress. You can get to this program directly by
using the following URL:
http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~calum/java/breakout.html
The Breakout arcade game, Java-style.
I think one of the most common Java applications you'll see is real-time
updating of information, especially stock quotes, sports scores, and
late-breaking news. For example, the c|net Web site features a Java program that
displays a "ticker-tape" style news feed at the top of the page (see the figure
below). To check it out, head to the following site:
http://www.cnet.com/
There are also applets that come with the HotJava browser (including, yes, a
game of Hangman), and you can find more programs at the Netscape and Java Web
sites:
Netscape:
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/version_2.0/java_applets/index.html
Java:
http://java.sun.com/applets/index.html
Java may currently be the apple of the Web's eye, but there's another
technology on the horizon that promises an equally radical change in the way we
approach the Web: VRML. VRML (which is pronounced vermal by the
cognoscenti) stands for Virtual Reality Modeling Language.
Virtual Reality?! You mean I have to surf the Web wearing funny gloves
and ridiculous-looking headgear?
Happily, no, that's not what VRML is all about. The VR part of VRML
indicates that VRML Web sites are 3-D "worlds" that you "enter" using a
VRML-enhanced browser. You can then use your mouse to "move" around this
world in any direction. For example, consider a Web-based shopping mall.
With a page made up of standard HTML codes, you'd probably see a few links
that would take you to one store or another. If it's a shopping mall based
on VRML, however, you can "walk" through the mall, examine the storefronts,
and then saunter through the door of a store that looks interesting.
This sounds miraculous, and when you first try it, you can't believe
you're actually doing what you're doing. But, as with Java, the underlying
principle behind VRML is quite simple. Just as HTML is, in essence, a set of
instructions that tells a browser how to display a document, VRML is a set
of instructions that tells a browser how to create and navigate a
three-dimensional world. These instructions are interpreted by a renderer,
which is either a separate program or incorporated into the browser. The
renderer takes the VRML instructions, uses them to build the 3-D world, and
allows you to move anywhere-left and right, up and down, in and out-through
this world.
To try out VRML you need to have the proper software that knows how to accept
and render VRML worlds. This software comes in two flavors:
Plug-ins-These are VRML applications that fully integrate themselves
with an existing browser. For example, Paper Software's WebFX "plugs in" to
Netscape 2.0 and so becomes a seamless part of the browser. (See "A Look at
What's New in Netscape 2.0" to learn more about plug-ins.) To learn more about
WebFX and to get your mitts on a copy, head for the following URL:
http://www.paperinc.com/
Stand-alone programs-These are separate VRML programs that are also
full-fledged Web browsers in their own right. An example of a stand-alone VRML
program is Caligari's Fountain, which you can get from the following locale:
http://www.caligari.com/
To stay up-to-date on the latest happenings in the VRML browser world, keep
an eye peeled on the VRML browsers page of Stroud's Consummate Winsock
Applications site. Here's the full URL:
http://cwsapps.texas.net/vrml.html
Talking about VRML is like talking about sex: the biggest thrills don't
happen until you actually get down to brass tacks and start doing it. So, now
that I've piqued your interest, let's break out of boring, old 2-D cyberspace
and check out some radical 3-D VRML worlds.
We'll begin our tour at the WebFX home page, which has a list of cool VRML
sites at the following URL:
http://www.paperinc.com/wrls.html
There are dozens of VRML sites on this list, and any one of them is a fine
way to experience the rush of VRML flying. For example, select the VRSOMA site
to travel through a virtual city. Here's the URL, and the picture below shows
the opening scene:
http://www.hyperion.com/planet9/worlds/vrsoma.wrl
Some VRML sites actually let you create a VRML world on the fly (so to
speak). One of my favorites is the Virtual Jack-O-Lantern at the following URL:
http://www.chaco.com/~glenn/jack.cg:
You select a few options that govern the size and shape of the
Jack-O-Lantern's eyes, nose, mouth, and stem, and then your Halloween pumpkin is
carved up for you in a few seconds. You're then free to zoom around your
creation. The picture below shows how things look from inside a Jack-O-Lantern.
Scary!
The number of VRML sites is growing rapidly, so there'll be no lack of worlds
in which to do the "Sister Bertrille" thing (for you youngsters in the crowd,
she was TV's Flying Nun way back when). Here are a few other general VRML sites
that you can check out for the latest and greatest:
The Web Gate to VR:
http://Web.Actwin.Com:80/NewType/vr/vrml/index.htm
Protein Man's Top Ten VRML sites:
http://www.virtpark.com/theme/proteinman/home.wrl
Yahoo's VRML Index:
http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Virtual_Reality_Modeling_Language__VRML_/
You saw back in Chapter 10, "Fooling Around with the Netscape Extensions,"
that the Netscape browser leads the pack in implementing new HTML innovations.
Now, with the release of version 2.0, Netscape is once again ahead of the HTML
curve.
Netscape 2.0 sports all kinds of new features, including support for Java
programs (as described earlier), an integrated and full-featured e-mail program,
and a built-in newsreader. But there are also plenty of
what-will-they-think-of-next goodies for Web weavers. The next few sections take
you through the highlights.
One of the keys to a successful Web site is to make it easy for surfers to
surf your pages. This means, usually, including links at the top of the page
(and sometimes at the bottom) that take the reader back to your home page or to
other pages at your site. This convenience is defeated, however, if the links
disappear once someone has scrolled down the page.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a "toolbar" of links that always stays visible?
Well, with Netscape's new frames, you can. Frames work by dividing up a Web page
into rectangular areas that contain separate chunks of text, graphics, and HTML.
In other words, you can use frames to divide a single Web page into two or more
separate pages. So, for example, you could have a small frame at the top of the
screen that contains your navigation links, and then a second frame that
displays the content. The reader can scroll through the content frame all she
likes, and the navigation links remain handily in place, just like a toolbar.
Creating toolbars is only the beginning of what you can do with links.
They're perfect for keeping a logo onscreen or an advertisement; you can use
them for a table of contents, banners, help information, or whatever you like.
Let's check out an example: the product info page for Netscape 2.0 itself.
Here's the address:
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/version_2.0/index.html
The following figure shows the screen you'll see. Notice how the content area
is split into two sections: the bottom section shows a few navigation icons that
you can click on; when you do, the results appear in the top section. For
example, clicking on the Frames icon takes you to a new page that explains how
frames work. As you can see below, the upper frame displays the new content
while the lower frame remains the same.
When you select the Frames icon, the upper frame displays a new page.
Back in the old days (a couple of years ago!), Web browsers could only handle
text and a few graphics. But with the multimedia boom of the past few years
continuing apace, Web authors wanted to bring better bells and whistles to their
creations. So while browsers weren't sophisticated enough to handle, say, sound
and video files, most of them were at least smart enough to pass the buck. That
is, the browser let you designate "helper applications" that would play the
sound or run the video for you.
This works reasonably well, but surfers started clamoring for Swiss army
knife-type browsers: programs that could handle any type of content right out of
the box. That hasn't happened yet, but Netscape 2.0 takes a large leap in that
direction with its new plug-in feature. A plug-in is a software program
that fully integrates itself with Netscape. A good example is the WebFX VRML
browser I mentioned in the last section. When you "plug" WebFX into Netscape,
you gain the ability to view and manipulate VRML worlds. Everything happens
right inside the Netscape window, so the added functionality of WebFX is
completely seamless. Here's the URL of the Netscape page that discusses
plug-ins:
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/version_2.0/plugins/index.html
As I write this, WebFX is the only plug-in available, but there are many more
in the works that should be out soon. Here's a sample:
Adobe Acrobat-This plug-in will allow Netscape to display Acrobat's
PDF (Portable Document Format) files. PDF files enable you to combine fonts,
colors, and graphics much more easily than you can in HTML.
Macromedia Director-This plug-in gives Netscape the ability to read
and display multimedia presentations produced with the Macromedia Director
software. This program lets you create documents that contain movies,
animation, sound, and more.
QuickTime-This plug-in enables you to play QuickTime video files
directly from the Netscape window.
Java is a welcome addition to the Web authoring tool chest, but its appeal is
limited to hardcore programming types who live for all-night coding sessions
fueled by pizza and Jolt cola. For the rest of us, Netscape has developed a
scaled-down version of Java called JavaScript. Yes, it's still programming, but
it's a bit more accessible to non-geeks.
JavaScript code goes right inside the Web page, just like HTML tags. When a
Netscape 2.0 browser accesses the page, the JavaScript code is executed and the
program does its thing. For example, the program might check the time of day and
display an appropriate welcome message. Or you could embed a calculator right on
the page. There's no limit to the kinds of things you can do. If you'd like to
know more about it, head for the following page:
http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/navigator/version_2.0/script/index.html
With the release of Navigator 2.0, Netscape is making its bid to become the
all-purpose, "everything but the kitchen sink but wait until you see what we
have in store for version 3," Swiss army knife of the Internet. Besides being
one of the best Web browsers around, Netscape 2.0 is also stuffed with an e-mail
program, a Usenet newsreader, and the ability to handle most other Net services,
including FTP and Gopher. And, as you saw in the last section, you can even
stick in a few extra utensils by taking advantage of plug-ins such as WebFX.
But that wasn't enough for the Web's resident greedy-guts. Oh no. They
shouted "Give us more! Give us more!" so the eager-to-please souls at Netscape
obliged by bringing out Netscape Navigator Gold. This version of Navigator has
the same great features as the regular version, but it also includes the ability
to edit HTML documents right in the browser! Cool? Way.
Unfortunately, as this book went to press Netscape Gold wasn't ready for
prime-time, which means I can't discuss any of its features in any depth. But
rather than simply ignoring this handy new technology, this section gives you a
sneak preview of what Navigator Gold is all about and then you can try it out
for yourself when the Netscape folks finally release it. (Keep your browser's
eye peeled on the Netscape home page---http://home.netscape.com/-for
announcements about the availability of Netscape Gold.)
When you load Netscape Gold, you'll see the usual Netscape screen. Hmm. No
gold bars or trimmings; no gold-plated toolbar buttons; just the same ol', same
ol', apparently. That's because you're looking at the browser part of
Netscape. Recall that Netscape is now more like a Swiss army Knife, so getting
to the "Gold" part means you have to "pull out" a different tool. Specifically,
you have to start the Netscape Editor by pulling down the File menu and
selecting the Edit Document command. Ah, that's more like it. You should
now see the Netscape Editor window, with some new HTML-related toolbars and
menus.
When you're playing around with the Netscape Editor, bear in mind that you
won't be working with HTML tags directly. Rather, you type in your document text
and then use the editor's menu commands and toolbar buttons to "format" the
text. This formatting is the same as adding tags, but the Netscape Editor
doesn't display the HTML nuts and bolts. Instead, it just shows you what your
text will look like in a browser (or, more accurately, in a Netscape browser).
In other words, the Netscape Editor is a WYSIWYG display. (WYSIWYG stands for
What You See Is What You Get, although some pessimistic wags prefer When You See
It, Won't You Gag?) Here are the basic steps you'll follow for each document:
- Type in your document text.
- If you want to format some text, select the text you want to work with; if
you're inserting an HTML object such as a link or an image, position the
editor's cursor where you want the object to appear.
- Choose the appropriate menu command or toolbar button.
- Save the file from time to time.
- Repeat steps 1-4 until you're done.
Here's a quick rundown of how the Netscape Editor handles various HTML
knickknacks:
Paragraphs Remember way back in Chapter 4 "Laying the Foundation:
The Basic Structure of a Web Page," when I told you about the <P> tag? At the
time, I mentioned that pressing Enter to start a new paragraph didn't work in
HTML because you had to use the <P> tag, instead. Well, you can forget all
that because, in the Netscape Editor, pressing Enter really does start a new
paragraph. No, Netscape hasn't rewritten the HTML specifications (although,
with all those darned Netscape extensions, it sometimes seems that way).
Instead, pressing Enter in the Netscape Editor adds a <P> tag behind the
scenes. With the WYSIWYG stuff, all you see is the result: a new paragraph.
Character Formatting The Netscape Editor is loaded for bear with
all kinds of character formatting options (most of which I droned on and on
about back in Chapter 5 "From Buck-Naked to Beautiful: Dressing Up Your
Page"). Again, you apply these formats just as you would with a regular word
processor:
- If the text you want to mark already exists, highlight the text and then
apply the option.
- If the text doesn't exist, just apply the option where the text will
appear and then start typing.
Headings In the Netscape Editor, headings are styles that
you apply to a paragraph. When you apply a style for, say, an <H1> heading,
the paragraph font changes to that of an <H1> heading, just like that!
Lists If you need to add a list to your document (be it a
bulleted, numbered, or definition list), the Netscape Editor can cope. (I took
you through all this list lunacy back in Chapter 6 "A Fistful of List Grist
for Your Web Page Mill.") The idea is that, using styles again, you first
insert the list container (in the HTML world, this means <UL> and </UL> for a
bulleted list; <OL> and </OL> for a numbered list; and <DL> and </DL> for a
definition list), and then you format individual items as list items (the <LI>
tag) in a bulleted or numbered list. If you're dealing with a definition list,
you format the items as terms (the <DT> tag) and definitions (the <DD> tag)
Images Looking to add an image or two in order to give your page
some added oomph? (I gave you the big picture on images in Chapter 8 "A
Picture Is Worth a Thousand Clicks: Working with Images.") In the Netscape
Editor, an image is an object with various properties (the name of the
graphics file, the alignment, the size, and so on). The Netscape Editor makes
it easy to insert an image by displaying a single dialog box that lets you
fill in all of these properties.
Links Back in Chapter 7 "Making the Jump to Hyperspace: Adding
Links," I showed you how to add some dynamism to your documents by inserting
hypertext links. If you always have trouble remembering the proper syntax for
the <A> tag, fret no more because the Netscape Editor makes it easy. In fact,
there are two methods to use: you can create new links from scratch, or you
can insert links from your Netscape Bookmarks. Inserting links from scratch is
similar to inserting links: a dialog box appears that lays out all your
choices in front of you. Just fill in things like the URL, the link text, and
so on, and the link is added without any fuss. An even easier method uses your
Bookmarks window. Using your mouse, you just drag a bookmark from the list and
drop it on the Web page. The Netscape Editor creates the link automatically.
As you can see, Netscape Gold's editor ushers in a new era of easy-as-pie Web
engineering by hiding all that HTML foofaraw. Your brain will be, I'm sure,
eternally grateful.
In this chapter, we pulled out our crystal ball and gazed into the future of
HTML. Just in case you weren't paying attention, here's a quick look at what
happened:
- Java is a programming language that's used to create software that
executes from a Web page.
- VRML-Virtual Reality Modeling Language-turns Web pages into
three-dimensional "worlds" that you can move through.
- Netscape 2.0 brings three new innovations to the Web party: frames,
plug-ins, and the JavaScript language.
- Netscape Gold eases Web-page publishing by hiding HTML tags behind a
WYSIWYG display. You work with Web pages right from the browser, so you always
know how your pages will look.
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