Dreamweaver MX 2004: Your Connection to the Internet

Because this is a beginner’s guide, I’ve had to make several assumptions about the platforms you are likely to be using. We stay pretty close to the core product without a lot of hand-coding, so the application platform you select is not as important. Also, you will likely be operating in a hosted environment, meaning that you are paying somewhere between $0 and $100 or so per month for server space and maintenance, so you don’t need a lot of information about setting up your servers. The most important part of this discussion from a technical standpoint, then, is the development environment you will be using.

Windows XP has taken hold of the PC community. By the time you read this, chances are good that you will have upgraded from your Windows 98 platform. Windows Me is certainly not suitable for Web programming. It doesn’t even technically support a development Web server such as Personal Web Server, and Dreamweaver MX 2004 is not supported on it. Windows 2000 Professional (or XP Professional) is a more robust environment, and I recommend that you use it if at all possible. In addition, it has the advantage of supporting a development version of Internet Information Services, which provides a professional testing environment for your work. Although we do not wish to appear Microsoft-centric in our approach to Dreamweaver, this combination of development tools is extremely popular, and we center our discussion around it. Rest assured, however, that very little of what is covered is specific to that environment, and you will have no trouble adapting the information to another set of tools or even a Macintosh development machine.

Q: Which server technology should I use with Dreamweaver MX 2004?

A: That is a personal decision based on several factors. Two important ones to consider are what kind of hardware and software you have available, and what programming experience you have.

If you are operating in a hosted environment, you may be able to select an ISP that provides the services necessary for whichever model you would like to try. If, however, you or your company have a substantial investment in existing infrastructure, you may be limited by that.

With the popularity of Visual Basic, many developers find they can leverage their knowledge well in an ASP environment. Then again, Java is also a popular language, and JSP is gaining popularity as a result. ColdFusion offers a tag-based language that is very comfortable for those with lots of HTML experience.

Q: If I am just starting out, which server model would be the least expensive to implement?

A: That, again, is a many-faceted consideration. Whereas ASP is free with a Windows server installation, you have to buy Windows, and that can run several hundred dollars. ColdFusion costs a little over a thousand dollars, but it is available to run on operating systems that can be obtained for free or for very little investment. JSP has operating systems and application servers available that can be freely downloaded, but it is also the most complicated to configure, and that is a real consideration. In a hosted environment, though, many of these considerations disappear. You may be able to find hosted ASP, JSP, PHP and ColdFusion service for roughly the same cost.