Foreword

The web is a rapidly evolving technology that has already changed many aspects

of our lives, from the mundane to the sublime. It is rapidly becoming a kind of

super encyclopedia where we can search for the latest information on movie stars

or cancer treatments. It is also evolving into a new communication medium  

email has saturated the population in developed countries and now, in 2002,

instant messaging is rapidly expanding into the youth culture.

Part of the great success (or at least growth) of the internet is due to the

fact that it is a collaborative enterprise. Every computer that is connected

to the internet can offer web services, such as hosting web pages or running

instant messaging clients or acting as a remote file sharing server for MP3's

or other data. One does not need a licence from the government to offer such

services, but some internet access providers have been putting restrictions on

home services that can be offered.

During the first five years (1990 1995) of the World Wide Web most of the

web content that had been developed was in the form of web pages. As we will

see in this book, web pages are written in a very simple language called HTML

(HyperText Markup Language) which was designed to be easy learn, which

would in turn encourage non scientists to develop web content and help build the

web. This design decision has been spectacularly effective. Personal web pages

are becoming increasingly common among college students (and even among

high school students). Most often these pages are a kind of autobiographical

folk art. They provide a glimpse into the author's life and provide a few links

to sites of personal interest. Occasionally though these web authors find a topic

of deep personal interest and they create an informational web site dedicated

to that topic   favorite bands or movie stars are a common theme, political

or religious causes are also frequently found. Many web authors publish their

photography, poetry, or other creative works. A less common, but perhaps more

influential, class of web authors are those that develop well designed and useful

informational sites such as web sites listing local bike paths and hiking trails.

During the second five years (1995 2000) we saw the rise of interactive sites.

There have always been search engines, but the late 90's saw the rise of ecom 

merce and other forms of interactive web pages. For the most part, this type of

web content has remained within the purview of the computer science profes 

sionals.

There are several reasons for interactive web page development to be slow to

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