Introduction to Dynamic HTML

Dynamic HTML (DHTML) is a set of innovative features originally introduced in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. By enabling authors to dynamically change the rendering and content of a Web page as the user interacts with it, DHTML enables authors to create visually compelling Web sites without the overhead of server-side programs or complicated sets of controls to achieve special effects.
With DHTML, you can easily add effects to your pages that previously were difficult to achieve. For example, you can:
Hide content until a given time elapses or the user interacts with the page.
Animate text and images in your document, independently moving each element from any starting point to any ending point, following a predetermined path or one chosen by the user.
Embed a ticker that automatically refreshes its content with the latest news, stock quotes, or other data.
Use a form to capture user input, and then instantly process and respond to that data.
DHTML achieves these effects by modifying the in-memory representation of the current document and automatically reformatting it to show changes. It does not reload the document, load a new document, or require a distant server to generate new content. Instead, it uses the user's computer to calculate and carry out changes. This means a user does not wait for text and data to complete time-consuming roundtrips to and from a server before seeing the results. Furthermore, DHTML does not require additional support from applications or embedded controls to make changes. Typically, DHTML documents are self-contained, using styles and a script to process user input and directly manipulate the HTML elements, attributes, styles, and text of the document.
In short, DHTML eliminates the shortcomings of static pages. You can create innovative Web sites, on the Internet or on an intranet, without having to sacrifice performance for interactivity. Not only does DHTML enhance the user's perception of your documents, it also improves server performance by reducing requests to the server.
The following sections describe DHTML in more detail and how to use it.
Document Object Model
Dynamic Styles
Dynamic Content
Positioning and Animation
Filters and Transitions
Font Download
Data Binding
Summary
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