ike's virtual reading room -- world wide web

virtual reading room:

world wide web

Here you will find a collection of documents related to World Wide Web available over the net.

Most entries refer to individual documents - rather than being a list of websites (as in so-called "link pages") - so you can get to desired documents directly. Your comments & suggestions are always welcome. Enjoy!

Hint: For selected links to general websites and links pages, visit our Reference Desk.

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What's new?

Mar 28: Added Web and XML keep object-oriented databases afloat in a world gone relational in XML section.

HTML: Nuts & Bolts

W3C HTML Specifications

HTML (which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language), is the standard for writing webpages. It is maintained by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

HTML 4.0 Specification - aka Cougar, W3C Recommendation [24 Apr 98].
Also, check out the changes from HTML 3.2
HTML 3.2 Reference Specification - aka Wilbur, W3C Recommendation [14 Jan 97]

- While the latest specification is HTML 4.0, the previous spec (HTML 3.2) is still used widely.

Basic HTML Authoring

Among the best HTML introductory guide is from NCSA, the same folks who brought us the first full-blown graphical browser in 1993:

NCSA (at UIUC) Beginner's Guide to HTML

There are many, many other web authoring tutorials and tips pages. Here are some of the better ones:

Introduction to HTML - by Eric A. Meyer
Writing HTML - by mariacopa center for learning & instruction
HTML: An Interactive Tutorial For Beginners - by Dave Kristula
So, you want to make a Web Page! - by Joe Barta
Complete FREE Guide to HTML & Javascript - by Ilopateka Productions
How do they do that?? - by Carl Teshian
Web Authoring FAQ - by the Web Design Group

Quick References

HTML 4.0 Reference - by the Web Design Group
Wilbur quick reference (HTML 3.2) - by the Web Design Group
HTML Quick Reference (HTML 2.0) - by Academic Computing Services, Univ. of Kansas

Relevant RFCs

Please refer to RFCs section

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Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

CSS Specifications

CSS, a simple mechanism for adding styles to HTML documents, is proposed and maintained by W3C. The latest version is level 2 (although implementation of level 2 is still rather limited).

Cascading Style Sheets, level 2 - W3C Recommendation [12 May 98]
Also, check out the changes from level 1
Cascading Style Sheets, level 1 - W3C Recommendation [17 Dec 96]
Overview of the CSS Specification - by Web Review

Guides & FAQs on CSS

CSS FAQ - by HTML Writers Guild
Get started with css - by M. Rotter & C. Kahn, from CNET's Builder.com
Adding a touch of style - by Dave Reggett, W3C
Guide to Cascading Style Sheets - by Web Design Group
Mulder's Stylesheets Tutorial - by Steve Mulder, from webmonkey
Cascading Style Sheets - by webreference.com
Quick Reference to CSS, Level 1 - by Steven Pemberton

Browser Supports

Grading the Browsers for Style(sheets) - by Jeffrey Veen, webmonkey
Serving the Right Style Sheet - by Rob Falla, from Web Review
CSS Support by Browsers: safe list & danger list - from Web Review

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Other Developments in WWW

XML

Extensible Markup Language (aka XML), a subset of SGML, is a metalanguage to let web authors design one's own markup language. It is proposed and maintained by W3C.

XML is slated to become the "next generation" for HTML. See Reformulating HTML in XML below for more.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) 1.0 - W3C Recommendation [10 Feb 98]
Namespaces in XML - W3C Recommendation [14 Jan 99]
Reformulating HTML in XML - W3C Working Draft
XML Linking Language (XLink) - W3C Working Draft
What is XML Linking? - by Steve DeRose
XML Pointer Language (XPointer) - W3C Working Draft
Document Content Description (DCD) for XML - W3C Note for discussion
XML-Data - W3C Note for discussion
XML FAQ - by Peter Flynn et al. on behalf of W3C
Web Architecture: Extensible Languages - W3C Note for discussion
Web and XML keep object-oriented databases afloat in a world gone relational - by Brett Mendel, InfoWorld [29 March 99]
XML Namespaces by Example - by Tim Bray, XML.com [19 Jan 99]
XML marches forwards - by Jeff Walsh, InfoWorld [14 Nov 98]
The XML Revolution - by Dan Connolly, Nature [1 Oct 98]
XML: The Least You Need to Know - by R. Khare & A. Rifkin
The Evolution of Web Documents: The Ascent of XML - by Dan Connolly, Rohit Khare and Adam Rifkin (WWW Journal Special Issue on XML, Fall 1997)
XML white paper: XML for Managers - by ArborText

RDF

Resource Data Framework (aka RDF), yet another standard proposed and maintained by W3C (as a part of its metadata activity), is an on-going effort to provide an infrastructure to support metadata across the web.

RDF Model and Syntax - W3C Working Draft
RDF Schemas - W3C Working Draft
An Introduction to the RDF - by Eric Miller, D-Lib Magazine [May 98]
Introduction to RDF Metadata - W3C Note for discussion
RDF FAQ - by Jim Miller, Tim BL and Ralph Swick (W3C)
Web Architecture: Metadata - a discussion note by Tim Berners-Lee

DOM

Document Object Model, aka DOM, is an interface that will allow programs to dynamically access and update the content, structure and style of documents. It is proposed and maintained by (guess who?) W3C.

Document Object Model, Level 1 - W3C Recommendation [1 Oct 98]

DOM Level 2, a work in progress built upon Level 1, contains interfaces for CSS object model, an event model, and a query interface, among others.

Document Object Model, Level 2 - W3C Working Draft [28 Dec 98]
DOM FAQ - by Jim Miller, Tim BL and Ralph Swick (W3C)
The Document Object Model Explained - by Dale Dougherty (Web Review, 14 Nov. 1997)
The Document Object Model Tutorial - by Nick Heinle (Web Review, 14 Nov. 1997) - A nifty, animated tutorial. Unfortunately, Navigator 4, IE4 or higher is required, but worth a look

Other Standards & Proposals

A Proposal for Extensible Style Language (XSL) - W3C Note for discussion
XSL Tutorial (also: non-frame version) - by P. Grosso & N. Walsh
DSSSL (ISO/IEC 10179:1996): Contents & Introduction, Main Body [pdf format only] - an international standard which formed the basis for XSL
WebCGM Profile - W3C Recommendation [19 Jan 99], a profile for web application of CGM (which stands for Computer Graphics Metafile)
Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) 1.0 Specification - W3C Recommendation [7 Apr 98]
Vector Markup Language (VML) - W3C note for discussion
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0 Specification - W3C Recommendation [15 June 98]
Precision Graphics Markup Language (PGML) - W3C note for discussion

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Style Issues

The Good

WAI Page Author Guidelines - W3C Working draft [15 Jan 99], part of the Web Accessibility Initiative by W3C
WAI Authoring Tool Guidelines - W3C Working draft [12 Nov 98]
WAI Usent Agent Guidelines - W3C Working draft [12 Nov 98]
Best Viewed with Any Browser: Accessible Site Design - by Cari D. Burstein
Composing Good HTML - Bit outdated but well-written, by Eric Tilton

The Stylish ( not exactly lynx friendly, though )

Sizzling HTML Jalfrezi
design-o-rama - Among the coolest out there, by Glassdog

...and the Ugly

The HTML Hell - by Eric S. Raymond (rather unstable link)
Composing Evil HTML - A tongue-in-cheek page by Andrew C. Bulhak
What's Wrong with Frames? - by Web Design Group

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RFCs & Historical stuff

Relevant RFCs

Listed below are RFCs (Request For Comments) concerning WWW in general (HTTP, URL, etc.). These documents are made available to the public at the RFC Archive at RFC Editor Homepage - which naturally supports search facilities as well.

Internet Official Protocols Standards - RFC 2400, Sep. 1998
XML Media Types - RFC 2376, July 1998 (Informational)
Internationalization of the HyperText Markup Language - RFC 2070, Jan. 1997 (Proposed standard)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1 - RFC 2068, Jan. 1997 (Proposed standard)
HTML Tables - RFC 1942, May 1996 (Experimental)
Form-based File Upload in HTML - RFC 1867, Nov 1995 (Experimental)
Relative Uniform Resource Locators - RFC 1808, June 1995 (Proposed standard)
Uniform Resource Locators (URL) - RFC 1738, Dec. 1994 (Proposed standard)
Universal Resource Identifiers in WWW - RFC 1630, June 1994

Historical Stuff

For those of you WWW-historians here are the original proposals that started it all:

Information Management: A Proposal - by Tim Berners-Lee, Mar. 1989
WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project - by T. Berners-Lee & R. Cailliau, Oct. 1990

Another paper of historical interest:

The World Wide Web: Past, Present and Future - by Tim Berners-Lee

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Reference Desk

General Reference

Getting Started on the WWW: A Programmer's Guide - a great all-round resource list by Marty Hall
Yahoo! HTML Page
HTML Writers Guild Website - Website of the international organization of web designers
The Webmaster's Reference Library - by Athenia Associates
Web Design Group Homepage - One of the most graceful (and helpful) site there is
SGML and XML News - by Robin Cover

World Wide Web Consortium

W3C Homepage - Tim Berners-Lee resides here
The WWWeb Virtual Library - (as close as it gets to Xanadu)
HTML Working and Background Materials - Official webpage for HTML
Web Style Sheets - Official webpage for CSS
World Wide Web Journal Archive - Full text of past articles
HTML Tidy - A neat free utility to clean up HTML code. Also has a feature to translate into XML (still partial implementation)

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Last modified: Sun Apr 18 22:09:30 CEST 1999