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Glossary

Here you can find definitions for different terms mentioned throughout the tutorial. If you come across a term that you don't understand and is not in here, please let me know via the Contact page so that I can add it.

absolute paths
Absolute paths are references to other files wherein the entire directory path is listed in the reference. For example, http://www.mywebsite.com/a_directory/a_sub-directory/webpage.htm and C:\Program Files\Some_Program\A_Directory\a_file.txt are absolute paths. In contrast, see relative paths. See also: hyperlink
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AJAX
Asynchronous JavaScript And XML
A web development technology which allows for interactive websites whose pages do not require being refreshed in order to modify their content.
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ASP
Active Server Pages
A server-side scripting language developed by Microsoft.
ASP files have a .asp or .aspx extension.
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attribute
Located in an element's starting tag (the one without a forward slash in it), it defines a property for an HTML element, and is made up of an attribute/value pair. An element's starting tag may contain any number of such pairs separated by a space.1
For example, in the following code snippet, src="..." and alt="..." are attribute/value pairs:
<img src="image.jpg" alt="An Image" />
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body
One of the two main sections of an (X)HTML document, the other being the header. The body of the web page contains all of the content you want the user to see, although it can also contain things you do not want the user to see, such as hidden divs.
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browser
A program which allows the user to view web pages. At the time of this writing (September 2008), the most popular browser is Internet Explorer (26.4% of internet users use IE7, 25.3% use IE6), with Firefox at a close second place (42.6%). 2
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CSS
Cascading StyleSheets
A language that gives the author the ability to control the styles, or presentation, of an HTML or XHTML document.
CSS files have a .css extension.
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dynamic (page)
Dynamic pages are those that can change without the need for the author to manually modify the content. This is not possible with a document written purely in HTML or XHTML. Some languages that allow for or assist in creating dynamic pages are JavaScript, PHP, ASP, JSP, AJAX, and SQL. The opposite of a dynamic page is a static page.
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element
Content and the start and end tags that enclose it are referred to as an element. For example, a <p> tag, its corresponding </p> end tag, and the text within it, are referred to as a single paragraph element.
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header
One of the two main sections of an (X)HTML document, the other being the body. The header section contains information that is important to the browser, but that the user doesn't need to see. For instance, a header may include information such as the web page's title, or the location of external CSS or JavaScript files.
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heading
The heading tags are used to draw attention to a selection of text. Text surrounded by a heading tag will by default appear a different (usually larger) size than regular text, and will be bold. Heading tags follow the syntax <h#>, where # is an integer from 1 to 6. The number decides the size and weight of the font, with 1 being the largest and heaviest, and 6 being the smallest and lightest.
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HTML
HyperText Markup Language
The markup language used for creating web pages. Using HTML the author can enclose content inside commands known as tags, which allow the web browser to interpret and display the content differently.
HTML files have a .htm or a .html extension.
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hyperlink
Hyperlinks allow navigation in HTML documents. They can link to either another location inside the same document, or to a completely different document. See also: absolute paths, relative paths
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JavaScript
JavaScript is a scripting language used to create dynamic web pages. It allows the author to write code that can affect or retrieve many different aspects of a web page. For instance, JavaScript can be used to create image rollover effects (replacing one image with another when a mouse is moved over it), form validation (making sure a user inputs the correct data into a form field), or even something as simple as outputting the current date and time. JavaScript is not the same thing as Java.
JavaScript files have a .js extension.
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JSP
JavaServer Pages
A technology that uses Java code to create dynamic web pages.
JSP files have a .jsp or .jspx extension.
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markup language
Unlike programming languages, markup languages are not used to perform actions or calculations. Markup languages are used in order to indicate sections of content as having different properties or meaning than others. For example, in HTML, the <p> tag allows the author to mark the content contained within it as a paragraph.
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Notepad++
A free, open source editor that provides syntax highlighting for many different coding languages. It is lightweight yet powerful, and can be customized with numerous plug-ins to add extra features. More information can be found at Notepad++'s home page.
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open source
Refers to software whose source code is released for free, so that users can view, learn from, and modify it if they so wish. Users, however, may not then sell this software, modified or not.
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PHP
PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
A free scripting language that allows web authors to write dynamic pages. Its syntax is based on C, Java, and Perl.
PHP files can have a .php, .php3,.php4, or .php5 extension. [Top]
property
A property ⇒ value pair is CSS's equivalent to an HTML attribute ⇒ value pair. It allows for modifying the details of an element. For example, p { font-size: 14px; } allows for setting the paragraph element's font-size property to a value of 14 pixels.
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relative paths
Unlike absolute paths, relative paths do not include the entire directory path. They are based off of the destination file's location in relation to the current file. For a better, more in-depth explanation, please keep your eyes open for my lesson on relative and absolute paths, coming soon. See also: hyperlink
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source code
The underlying code of a web page, web application, or program. To view the source code of a web page you can use the View menu of your browser and select "Source Code" or "View Source", or whatever option your browser offers to that effect.
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SQL
Structured Query Language
SQL is a language that allows for interacting with different database management systems by sending requests, or queries, to the system. While its general syntax is the same, different DBMSs allow varying functionalities with it.
SQL files have a .sql extension.
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static (page)
Static pages contain content that remains the same and cannot be changed without the author manually modifying the file. The opposite of these are dynamic pages.
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syntax
The appropriate rules for how code is structured is called syntax. Code that does not follow syntax rules will not work. Code that breaks syntax rules can return a syntax/parser error, or in the case of HTML, the browser will simply interpret it as best as it can.
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syntax highlighting
Syntax highlighting is a feature provided by most text editors created for use with some form of coding, as well as by integrated development environments (IDEs – software used by programmers to help in building programs). It colors text commands differently in order to indicate the purpose of those commands. For instance, an HTML editor may color HTML tags in blue, while normal content is colored in black. This would allow the reader to easily distinguish between tags and content.
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tag
An (X)HTML tag is a command that causes a browser to perform a specific action, or to interpret and display content in different ways. In (X)HTML, most tags come in pairs: a beginning and ending tag. A beginning tag is of the form <tagname [attribute="value"]>, and an ending tag is of the form </tagname>. Text located brackets is optional. Tags allow a browser to know where an element begins and where it ends.
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URL
Uniform Resource Locator
The web address of a file or folder located on the internet. For example, http://www.google.com is a URL
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value
Quite simply, a value in HTML or CSS is associated with an attribute or property, respectively. While the attribute/property describes what about the element will be changed, the value describes what it will be changed to. See also: attribute, property
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XHTML
eXtensible HyperText Markup Language
A markup language based off HTML, with syntax rules taken from XML. XHTML is taking HTML's place as the standard language for web design. It is more rigid and strict in its rules than HTML. However, it has advantages such as making web pages more accessible to users.
XHTML files can have a .htm, .html, .xhtml, or .xht extension.
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Footnotes:

Glossary