Web Design

273

CHAPTER

Creating Dynamic Pages 12

Testing Dynamic Pages

You cannot simply open a dynamic page in
your browser to test it. Instead, the page
must be processed by a Web server before the
page displays correctly. The easiest method of
testing pages is to install a Web server on
your local computer, a process outlined later
in this chapter.

Web server install

in progress

Dynamic Pages and Static Content

Most dynamic pages contain some static content.
Headings and navigation, for example, are often
composed as static HTML. The presentational side
of your site will likewise be mostly, if not entirely,
static CSS. Mixing dynamic and static elements on
the page is perfectly acceptable and, in fact,
extremely common.

HEADER

Presentation

Nav.

Nav.

Nav.

Nav.

Nav.

static

HTML

static

CSS

static

HTML

static

CSS

Dynamic Language Editors

Scripting languages are composed of plain
text, so they can be written in any editor.
Most editors designed for creating Web
pages offer at least some support for
writing scripting languages. For example,
Microsoft Expression Web has many tools
designed to make creating pages in ASP.
NET easier, and Dreamweaver CS5 offers a
variety of features built for PHP developers.

ASP.NET

PHP

Dreamweaver CS5

Expression Web

Scripting Languages