Homeworks

Links

• CPSCI 107 homepage
• Go to my home page

Assignments index

• Assignment 1
• Assignment 2

Assignments

Assignment 1, due January 26, 2006

Browser reviews

• Firefox
• • Best: Very simple, concise interface. Built in search bar with many source options.
  • Worst: Even though it is growing in popularity, it is not yet generally coded for, so there are some sites and content that do not display properly.
• Internet Explorer
• • Best: Near universal success at displaying and running content. Its market dominance and sole use of ActiveX support have led most designers to aim their code at it.
  • Worst: There is no inclusion of tabbed browsing in version 6 (This is my personal pet peeve) and it has been discontinued for Mac OS, making that version (5.2 the latest) pretty much useless for more modern content and style.
• Navigator
• • Best: The included option of displaying page code by Internet Explorer or Firefox rules as a standard or, more importantly, if Navigator has problems with it. The large array of features must be nice for those who use them, making the browser its own little portal.
  • Worst: It remains a bloated piece of software, taking overly long to load all of the extra features (chat, mail, various feeds) that I suppose some users must use, but I find irritating. This is less of a problem in version 8 than in older versions, but still exists.
• Opera
• • Best: Includes tabs, and built in search bar like Firefox, as a nice light browser. The Ctrl-Tab view switch feature adds a selection view like the Windows Alt-Tab does. It seems pretty customizable in view without feeling clunky. The interface is visually pleasing with some simple Mac OS X-ish fade and highlight effects.
  • Worst: I am completely new to this browser, so the greatest obstacle was abject unfamiliarity with its naming schemes and where preferences and tools are located.
• Favorite: Firefox is my running favorite. Its simple, uncluttered interface is easy to work in, I am very familiar with its workings, and the built in search is often useful. Opera (assuming greater familiarity) is probably my second, as it has very similar functionality and interface as Firefox without the bloatedness of Netscape or the above-mentioned deficiencies of Internet Explorer.

Site reviews

• Good site: Cheney & Co. Creative Marketing Solutions

• Features

• • Visually very pleasing design.
  • Easy to find and use navigation bar at the top, and redundant links at page bottoms.
  • Simple pages that clearly lay out the content.
  • There is included backups for (apparently) dealing with compatibility issues in different browsers via Javascript commands.
  • The layout is fully within tables, making it pretty inaccessible to readers of the code.
• Bad site: 2 Advanced Studios

• Features

• • Really beautiful Flash animations and design that catch the eye.
  • The over abundance of animations, particularly the central movie, distract the user from the real useful content.
  • Main points of interest, aside from their skill and creation (not necessarily design), are obscured on the edges in small text.
  • The entirety of the site's content is within the Flash animation, making it completely inaccessible to anyone with any visual impairment, starting at light nearsightedness.
  • The soundtrack is really cool.

Assignment 2, due January 30, 2006

This assignment was simply adding the page friday.html in the directory sub2/subsub2 and adding links to that page on the existing pages. Go to my home page or go to sub2/subsub2/friday.html to see the results.