terry’s Weblog

weblog for terry’s finding

January 31, 2008 • 9:45 am 0

table or tableless?

This week start to have assignment on XHTML and CSS. Actually, it’s wonderful experience to know CSS implementation can separate the page content and design for editor and developer & designer to handle different files. Designer only need to have some amendment on the CSS file, page can look totally different instantly with same content. It might be a common practice today but not years ago.

Before CSS supported by widely browsers, most of developer also using nested tables to control web page layout instead of. Also CSS only use for font declaration. But after years, most of ppl would propose to use “Tableless” for code web page and leave “Table” for data presentation use.

Why? It’s really good? and How-to?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tableless_web_design

“Tableless web design”

Pros:

Accessibility: Easy to linearize the web page and help special screen like mobile & PDA access. It also good for search engine.
Bandwidth saving: CSS can cache in browser and use for the rest of pages in the same site. No need to download those “style layout” html every time.
Maintainability: Only change in 1 CSS and effect on pages using the same CSS.

Cons:

Not good for some old browsers
Different interpretatin of CSS for browsers
Bugs

How-to:

A article from W3C for tableless layout how-to:

http://www.w3.org/2002/03/csslayout-howto.html.en

Enjoy and Happy CNY!

Filed under: Finding

January 25, 2008 • 9:46 am 0

Web to-go?!

Mobile phone or handheld devise should play a important role in the concept of “always connect”. Especially the so call 3.5G HSDPA become more common on those mobile devise and also carrier’s network.

To help the web page easier access by mobile devise, it’s better serve different set of CSS for page rendering. It could help web page looks better for specific devise OS. There is a CSS property, media type, can provide some logic for developer serve different set of CSS base on the user agent.

Media type info at w3: http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/media.html

e.g. The following code can let different user agent render the web page with different font size.

@media print {
BODY { font-size: 10pt }
}
@media screen {
BODY { font-size: 12pt }
}
@media screen, print {
BODY { line-height: 1.2 }
}

The “media type” application might not properly work in the real world. It caused by some devise agent will not follow the definition to declare itself. e.g. a cell phone browser declare itself as a “screen” instead of “handheld”.

Filed under: Finding

January 23, 2008 • 10:23 am 0

1st note for class CS5281

Feel very excited to joining the class “Internet Application Development”. 1st time formally to learn the development technique for internet application.

The class style also fresh to me. It’s not only a plain lecture and tutorial. It’s really fun, in this class we need build up our own blog to sharing what our finding in class and out of class. We need to build up our personal homepage and of create a internet application.

But most interesting thing should be the core – internet application!!!

Filed under: General