Platinum Edition Using XHTML, XML, and Java 2 shows how to combine these three powerful standards--and plenty of others--to deliver flexible Web content on a variety of platforms, including Java. This admirably comprehensive book covers virtually everything today's Web developer needs in order to deliver flexible content for a variety of browsers.

The book gives you an in-depth tour of XHTML (the XML-based version of HTML) from top to bottom so that you will know what Web content to build on the server. Early chapters go over what's special about XHTML with a full element reference. (Generally speaking, XHTML resembles HTML fairly closely but follows some new conventions.) Using plenty of screen shots, all the basics of Web content designed with XHTML are effectively covered, including how to use image maps, frames, cascading style sheets, and JavaScript. Some particularly good sections lay out the differences between today's browsers (including the different object models and support for DHTML on Netscape and Microsoft browser platforms).

Despite the title of this book (obviously designed to catch the eye of Java readers), it also covers server-side development using CGI (in C), Microsoft ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP. Its cross-language perspective makes this a good choice for anyone evaluating options for server-side development. It also will help readers who are transitioning between technologies. For instance, three short chapters on Allaire ColdFusion will help anyone understand this powerful programming tool quickly.

The book closes with programming done with Java, from client-side applets with AWT and Swing, to server-side development using servlets and JSPs. Final sections show how to combine Java and XML (fulfilling the promise of the title.)

With a wide-ranging tour of at a least a dozen key Web standards and technologies, this text accomplishes a lot more than its title suggests. Written with a clear and patient style and bolstered by plenty of screen shots for the beginner, it'll prove to be a useful resource for almost anyone who does server-side Web development and wants to get a handle on the quickly moving standards surrounding XML, XHTML, and today's newer browsers. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

* Tutorial and reference to XHTML
* Web page design guidelines
* Basic rules of XHTML
* Converting HTML
* XHMTL 1.0 elements
* Image maps (client and server-side)
* Using images and graphics (including GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats; animated GIFs; and image anchors)
* Tables and frames (including browser dependencies)
* HTTP forms tutorial (input field types and passing HTTP form data via URLs)
* Cascading style sheets (CSS)
* XML tutorial
* Creating XML documents
* Survey of XML tools, parsers, and editors
* SAX API and Document Object Model (DOM)
* Related XML standards: using XPath, XPointer, and XLink
* XSLT for transforming XML data
* Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
* Using XSL for displaying XML data (including introduction to WML/WAP and voice "display")
* Emerging XML standards
* JavaScript tutorial
* The JavaScript DOM
* Client-side form validation with JavaScript
* Cookies
* Dynamic HTML (DHTML) on Microsoft and Netscape browsers (including cross-browser techniques)
* CGI scripts (including environment variables and server-side includes)
* Web databases (including flat files and a survey of today's relational database products)
* Basic tutorial for Active Server Pages (ASP) development
* Tutorial for ColdFusion development (including CFML tags and functions)
* Introduction to PHP development
* Java 2 tutorial
* Applets
* Building user interfaces with Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) and Swing components
* Basic Java graphics
* Java network programming
* Java security (including signing JAR files)
* Server-side Java primer (servlets and JSPs)
* Case study for a "syllabus editor" using Java and XML
* JavaScript reference