This report describes the construction of a web-browser and HTML editor application (called 'Webber') using the Java programming language. It discusses the use of object-oriented programming techniques (with particular reference to the differences between Java and C) and the implementation of internet-based applications. It includes a formal specification in Z and provides a complete user-reference for the re-usable software components that comprise the application.
The application provides a complete environment for creating and displaying HTML files. It can retrieve both local and remote files and implements a subset of the standard HTML specification that includes lists, images and hypertext links. Unlike a normal web-browser, it also includes a built-in text-editor which highlights HTML tags and allows the effects of changes to be seen without having to save them to a disk first.
The report concludes that using an object-oriented programming language like Java can have significant advantages over other languages, since the code is more highly structured and is therefore easier to maintain and re-use. It also notes that some programming techniques that work very well in programs designed for standalone systems are not always so effective when applied to programming in an internet environment.