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Meg Halter reports: <<I'd sure like to use a WYSWYG HTML editor that yields
clean, plain-vanilla HTML 4... What would you recommend?>>
Dreamweaver generally gets high marks for producing clean HTML, but in point
of fact, there really isn't any such thing as truly clean HTML. Standards
notwithstanding, the good thing (and bad thing) about any tagging or
programming language such as HTML is that there are generally multiple ways
to accomplish the same goal, and that means that tools can differ greatly in
how they accomplish exactly the same effect. Moreover, each authoring tool
has different add-ins and features, each of which may require its own unique
"hook" in the coding--and these hooks are usually foreign to other authoring
tools. The same problem arises with using a text editor: any idiosyncracies
you've developed in the way you write code will become part of the final
result, just as the programmers who develop authoring tools impose their own
prejudices on how HTML should be written.
This being the case, you're almost certainly better off choosing a tool that
lets you work productively than choosing one based primarily on the HTML it
produces, and learn (over time) what quirks it produces; once you know those
quirks, you can figure out how to work around them. Even much-maligned tools
such as FrontPage are gradually stabilizing and producing more acceptable
code, though it's my understanding that FP still does some odd things to
code that you might not like. Try it and see if it's true! My advice: pick
up a demo copy of the tools that you're most interested in (Dreamweaver, for
example, can be downloaded for free from the macromedia.com site) and try
them out. Make sure you like working in the tool first and foremost, and
only then should you take a close look at the HTML; if you like what you
see, or at least can live with it, buy the software.
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"User's advocate" online monthly at
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"In seeking wisdom, the first step is silence, the second listening, the
third remembering, the fourth practicing, the fifth -- teaching
others."--Ibn Gabirol, poet and philosopher (c. 1022-1058)
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
+++ Miramo -- Database/XML publishing automation. See us at +++
+++ Seybold SFO, Sept. 25-27, in the Adobe Partners Pavilion +++
+++ More info: http://www.axialinfo.comhttp://www.miramo.com +++
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