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Some folks pour Web code from their soul using nothing more than a simple text editor. Others avoid code altogether by building pages in a WYSIWYG editor's visual interface. Whatever one's preferences, Macromedia's Dreamweaver 4 delivers a powerful collection of features for building and maintaining even the most complex sites. Since its initial launch, Dreamweaver has charmed Web developers with an easy-to-use yet versatile editing environment. Boasting an impressive collection of resources for both hand coders and visual layout designers, complex code is cleanly served up via a powerful visual layout editor or a text editor that inspects source code. In-depth features that create forms, Flash files, frames, cascading style sheets, Java, and ActiveX files are perfectly integrated into the application. For professional Web development crews, a multiuser environment efficiently manages the fast-paced flow of page content updates. Add an ever-growing Web community offering hundreds of extensions that automate and simplify the development process, and it's easy to see why Dreamweaver is a favorite Web-authoring tool. Dreamweaver 4 offers a fresh set of features, upgrades, and improvements. Already a great visual editor, Dreamweaver 4 pumps up its hand-coding capabilities with a new Code View feature--a text editor with such customizable features as live syntax coloring, tag balancing, and auto indenting. In Split View, the Code and Design views display simultaneously, providing the best of both worlds for novice and pro coders alike. A Code Reference feature provides a thorough guide to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Graphic designers will enjoy Dreamweaver 4's seamless integration with other Macromedia products, such as Fireworks and Flash. One now can create editable vector graphics--Flash buttons and text--directly in Dreamweaver, a feature we found particularly useful. Current users might want to consider taking a close look at Macromedia's Dreamweaver 4 Web site to ensure that the collection of new features warrants an upgrade this time around. New users, especially Web-building novices, may find the initial learning curve a bit steep, though frequent visits to the help files are well worth the enormous power this program yields. --Eric Twelker
Dreamweaver 4 is everything that you need to create and manage small business sites, corporate Intranets, and complex Web businesses. Familiar page-layout techniques let you "draw" complex table-based layouts with pixel-precise accuracy, while generating clean, version-3.0-friendly table code. Professional hand-coding environment includes autoindenting, punctuation balancing, and the ability to debug client-side JavaScript directly in your browser. And, if you're ready to master the nuances of HTML, you can refer to the integrated online reference material from O'Reilly Publications. Dreamweaver 4 makes it simple to incorporate content from Microsoft Office and graphics from Macromedia Fireworks. You can even generate Macromedia Flash (.swf) graphics directly in Dreamweaver to create engaging Web experiences. Working on teams and tracking projects is easier, too. Quickly organize site assets, create sitewide reports, and integrate with WebDAV and Microsoft Visual SourceSafe for Windows for maximum productivity.
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