Web design

For static web sites or design based web sites we will generally use the following:

• HTML/XHTML - the standard markup language of the web
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) used to position and style the content of page defined using the HTML/XHTML
• DHTML - for adding dynamic content to web sites, basic animation, drop down menus etc.
• Javascript - a further addition to the DHTML for form input validation and client side formulas and equations.
• Macromedia Flash for animation, sound and general interactivity.
• Adobe Photoshop and Imageready for creating web optimized graphics
• Macromedia Fireworks and Adobe Illustrator for creating vector web graphics (images that are drawn instead of photo images)
• Macromedia Dreamweaver and a basic text editor for hand coding.

Web development

For dynamic or database powered e-Commerce web sites we use the following:

• All of the skills mentioned above for the web sites design, the look and the feel of the site.
• ASP - Active Server Pages. The Microsoft based server side scripting language. In broad terms, ASP is a program that runs on a web server that alters the web pages before they are sent to the web site user. It enables the web site to connect to a database or other data sources (i.e. excel spreadsheet or a text file) ASP works best on Windows Servers.
• PHP - Hypertext Preprocessor - This is the open source (definition) answer to Microsofts ASP. PHP.netdescribe it as a "general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML." PHP also enables the web site to connect to a database. PHP works on most server platforms.
• MySQL - Like PHP this is an open source initiative, which basically means it's free to use. MySQL is an industry standard database for web sites, it offers reliable, robust and scalable database on most server platforms.
• MS SQL Server - This is another industrial grade database offering huge power and reliability.
• Oracle - Oracle databases are renowned for being the most powerful database available - a huge company and with lots of contractors available
• Filemaker Pro - powerful database available for cross platform use. We use it to create dynamic database driven web sites quickly and efficiently.

In order to build high quality, robust and good looking web sites we will often use many of the skills and software packages mentioned above. The choice of server side language (PHP or ASP) and the choice of database used (MySQL, SQL Server or Oracle) depends on the hosting company and the type of web site being created.