Inside Dreamweaver MX [With CDROM]

by Laura Gutman and L. Gutman

Provides information on topics such as a Tag Library Editor, customizable tools, pre-built Snippets, the Site Definition Wizard, cloaking, and more; using databases to create dynamic web pages with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 073571181X
• ISBN13: 9780735711815
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: New Riders Publishing
• Length: 1301 Pages
• Weight: 4.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The Complete Beginner's Guide

Although mainly written for the beginning Web design student, I found this book to be a fun review of my own roots in basic HTML and the Web, in general. Also, being new to Dreamweaver's way of doing things, I found the book to be a complete and thorough walk-through of Dreamweaver's every feature.I enjoy books that take you step-by-step through the process of a thing. Inside Dreamweaver is a great example of that. Each chapter lays the groundwork for chapters to come. At the same time, each chapter (after introductory chapters are out of the way) gives repeated opportunity to learn and solidify skills by doing a fun example. A fun example? Yeah! I had fun. At least one of the authors (maybe more) has a true flair for simple, yet attractive designs. I've been designing Websites and Web applications (in other programs) for 5 years and I enjoyed the "silent" review of simple design concepts presented-not in words-but in the "good" designs themselves.I'm glad to see a book, like this instruct it's readers in correct practices. I meet allot of Webmasters who have "known" HTML for years, yet struggle with the "new" standards, such as XHTML 1.0. I scratch my head at this. Not much has changed! Only now the standards are enforced and deprecated code will fail. I've been a big believer in standards compliance since first reading "HTML 4.0 - No Experience Required (Sybex)". And now it's nice to see another book, "Inside Dreamweaver", perform the same service to it's readers by letting them know what is and is not recommended."Inside Dreamweaver" will instill confidence in the beginning student and provide reliable and accurate review of sound Web design principles for both the new and veteran Webmaster.

Covers everything you need to start using MX.

This is a big book, 1200 pages. It covers everything offered by MX as well as explaining good programming practices. It does this very well. However, I do not consider this a book for experienced users. MX includes so many features that it takes a book this size to just mention them all. Also, the good programming practices takes up almost as much space as the parts on how to use MX. If you are new to MX and to programming this book will give you an excellent start both in using MX and how to develop web projects in an intelligent manner.

I loved it!

Seriously one of the most incredible reference books I've ever come across!I chose to follow this book chapter by chapter as there is so much that's new in Dreamweaver MX, but I will keep it near as a reference manual for a long time. Written in very accessible language, exercises interspersed with the text to break up the long lists of instructions, a CD full of the files that you need to complete the exercises, this book covers everything! Not only did it fully cover Dreamweaver and the upgrade to MX but integrating with Flash, Java, ASP, Coldfusion, Animating Layers... I really could go on for pages and pages here. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, for anyone who wants to work with Dreamweaver MX, weather you're brand new to the program or upgrading or even just want to really understand all the options that DW gives you for building websites. You're covered whether you like to code by hand or drag and drop or a little bit of both (I prefer a little bit of both).Before I got this book, I would have considered myself a power user of Dreamweaver, but I really had no idea - especially with behaviors, extensions and CSS implementation. It's really incredible. A great book that really gets inside a terrific program - I'm giving this book the highest rating!

ONE tech book that's a pleasure to read!

This is my introduction to Dreamweaver and web design, so I am not one to comment on the technical aspects (that is, whether the book has the best technical advice). However, I have read and written enough, and have read quite a few pieces of technical writing (I have 2 other books on Dreamweaver), to know that in terms of quality of writing, this is a winner. The book is actually a pleasure to read! (I wonder if that has to do with the fact that 2 of the authors are women!?) I have finished the first part already and everything is organized logically and explained very clearly--unlike many of the tech stuff out there (including some in the Dummies series) which often leave you scratching your head. (I do notice some minor typos here and there--too bad because the writing is superb.)

This book answers all questions

Inside Dreamweaver MX is the book that should be included as the manual for Dreamweaver MX. At over 1100 pages long, the extent and depth of material is covered is amazing. It ranges from how Dreamweaver MX is organized (dissecting the workspace, explaining preference settings, setting up the panels, site management, etc), to designing pages in Dreamweaver MX (using Cascading Style Sheets, frames, layers, JavaScript, dynamic pages, etc.) Nothing is left out. Each chapter gives background of the concept at hand. It then has steps to accomplish a given task. Then there are optional exercises (CD contains files) to give you an actual hands-one experience. The exercises really give you confidence in learning the concept. Both beginners and advanced users will find the book helpful. Beginners can use it to create good, solid professional web pages. Advanced users can use this as a manual to answer the question at hand. The book is laid out in a very readable and understandable format. Screen shots emphasize what is being discussed. Note to PC users: all screen shots are taken from a Mac. At times there are differences between the two platforms. However in most cases they are the same. Note and tip boxes are scattered throughout for additional reinforcement and consideration about the topic. For those who want to venture into creating dynamic pages, there's an entire section on using Dreamweaver to this end. This includes an introduction to dynamic site. What follows is a chapter dedicated to creating a website based on each of the various application servers. (ASP, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, PHP, and JSP.) The exercises for this section include a small database to use. Step by step you put the pieces together that Dreamweaver MX utilizes in order create pages based on a database. Bottom line: whether you're just beginning or a serious developer, you will want this book on your shelf. It's thorough and can be used as either a tutorial or a resource. No matter what's your level of expertise, you will find Inside Dreamweaver MX very handy.