HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible, Fourth Edition

Chapter 18. Web Development Software

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Text-oriented editors

• WYSIWYG HTML editors

• Other tools

As you have seen throughout this book, Web development is an area rich in features. The Web has come a long way from its early beginnings as a text-only medium. As online documents get more complex, the tools to create them become more powerful. Although you can still create large, feature-rich sites with a simple text editor, using more complex and powerful tools can make the task much easier. This chapter introduces several popular tools that can help you create the best online documents possible.

Note

This chapter provides several recommendations on tools you should consider for online document development. However, the recommendations are just that, recommendations. Only you can decide what tools will work best for you. Luckily, most of the tools covered in this chapter have demo versions you can download and try out for a limited time. Be sure to visit the Web sites referenced for each tool to get more information and perhaps even download a trial version.

Text-Oriented Editors

Text-oriented editors have been around since the dawn of the cathode-ray tube (CRT), the technology used in most computer display screens. However, today's editors can be quite powerful and feature-rich, doing much more than simply allowing you to create text documents. This section covers the latest in text-oriented editing.

Simple text editors

Simple text editors — such as Windows Notepad or vi on UNIX/Linux ...