LDS Bandz Web Logging

Orange County Web Design Tip: Dreamweaver CS3 Produces the Best Results

January 16th, 2008

While other programs such as FrontPage were content to generate code which contained a vast array of confusing proprietary elements which were not essential to the page, Macromedia were adding features to Dreamweaver which demonstrated their commitment to making it a serious Orange County Web Design tool. With each release of the program, they made the coding environment more complete, adding features such as line numbers, code-hints and colour-coding. They also added powerful utilities for checking and cleaning up the code generated visually and in other environments such as Microsoft Word.Macromedia also added a number of features aimed at speeding up web development which they knew would be attractive to serious web developers. For one thing, they offered a series of features which would automatically generate server-side content and save developers a great deal of programming time. Initially, these features were only available in a special edition of Dreamweaver called "Dreamweaver UltraDev". When these features became available in the standard edition of Dreamweaver, the program became much more attractive to the serious web developer.Macromedia also recognised that professional web developers often work in teams and added collaboration features to Dreamweaver which allow a group of people to work on the same web site without treading on each other’s toes. They called the feature "File check in and check out". There also created a "design notes" facilities which allows members of development teams to attach notes to individual web pages for the information of the other team members.As new technologies have emerged, the makers of Dreamweaver have also responded by taking them on board and modifying the way the program generates code. Thus, in the latest release of the program, Dreamweaver CS3, it is assumed that the user will be building websites using cascading style sheets (rather than HTML tables as was previously the case) and Dreamweaver offers a series of thirty or so different CSS page layouts that can be used to build efficient pages and adapted and personalised at will.The latest Dreamweaver also includes some groovy new features which embrace the Ajax technology using the Adobe’s Spry Framework for Ajax, a library of automatically generated JavaScript code which allows the creation of interactive web page on which page content can be updated in response to user actions without the page having to be reloaded.So, in short, Dreamweaver has all bases covered. Design-oriented web developers can use the program as a visual tool that generates reliable code. Experienced developers and programmers can work in code view and preview their work as required. Thus, the program makes web development approachable for just about any experienced computer user without dumbing down. This makes it deservedly the automatic choice for anyone who intends to become a web developer and needs a reliable software tool.

Entry Filed under: Technology