Crown Internet

F.A.Q.'s
The Questions You Should Always Ask...

We all know what F.A.Q. stands for, Frequently Asked Questions. Well, we would like to dedicate this page to the questions that are never asked, but should be.

If you are considering a web site for your company and need a knowledgeable and skilled company to perform that task for you, they should be able to answer the following questions without hesitation. Use these questions to help determine the knowledge base of the company you plan on using for your web based endeavors:

Q01) What is Transitional HTML 4.01 and Strict XHTML 1.0?

A01) These represent the HTML layout engines that modern web browsers use to determine the layout mode for a web page. This is called the DOCTYPE and it will help browsers display your pages exactly how they were intended to look. Correct DOCTYPE syntax applied to properly formatted CSS will insure your pages to look correct cross browser, cross platform. Transitional HTML 4.01 will work fine, but all web designers should strive to use Transitional or Strict XHTML 1.0 as the DOCTYPE for their designed pages as much as possible.

Q02) Can you code my pages with table-less HTML using CSS?

A02) If the person or firm you are considering for your web project cannot answer the first question, then chances are, they will not be able to code your pages without an antiquated process of forcing design using HTML tables. With the power of the modern browser, CSS and the proper DOCTYPE layout engine, there is no reason to force design using HTML tables.

Q03) Who is the W3C and why should you validate your code?

A03) The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium whose mission is: "To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web." The W3C has created very powerful validation tools to assure web sites and web pages adhere to those protocols and guidelines. Be sure to validate this page at the following address: http://validator.w3.org/

The Next question looks to be very simple, but without knowing proper HTML formatting and its progression through out the years, your designer or webmaster will not be able to answer the simplest of markup questions.

Q04) What is the difference in the following HTML tags and why is this significant? <br> versus <br />

A04) The first example of the forced line break has been deprecated. A deprecated element or attribute is one that has been outdated by newer constructs. Deprecated elements may become obsolete in future versions of HTML or XHTML and will cause errors when validating. Also, HTML, as a markup language, should be properly formatted with a beginning and an end for all elements, such as <p></p>. Having the trailing slash in the tag allows formatting of a single line break without having to code like this "<br></br>" which would make since. HTML is all about semantics. Development should be followed using strict validation guidelines.

Q05) Why do you develop in your specific programming language?

A05) Each developer should give a valid and compelling reason why they choose to develop in the programming language in which they are proficient. Their answer should give you confidence in the programming language they have chosen, their skill as a developer in that language and should be something more than "This was the language I first learned." Each programming language has their place and value in the marketspace, but one does not always mean superiority. The style and ability of the developer far outweighs the code chosen. As a company, we have chosen to be great at developing applications in PHP, a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development. PHP is arguably one of the most popular and powerful means for scripting web sites. Netcraft reported in April of 2007 that 20,917,850 domains were using PHP as their choice for programming. PHP is open source with a global society making contributions to its power and effectiveness.

We hope you found these questions to be thought provoking as well as giving you a picture of how we strive for excellence in everything we do. We encourage you to come to us with your own set of questions, perhaps we can compel you even more to use our services!