Dreamweaver and Expression Web are both web site editors, with Expression Web being the New FrontPage from Microsoft, at least that is what I thought it was. Donna, the Expression Web instructor at LVS Online shared an article that described some of the differences on her blog. I was curious and started to poke around a bit. I have been using Dreamweaver for over five years and a lot has changed. I wondered if my notions regarding the differences about these two programs were accurate. The article that was referenced was a couple of years old and both web site editors have new versions out since that article was written. I was curious as to what the differences are between the programs: Dreamweaver CS3 and Expression Web 2.
Before delving too deep as to why they are different, I wanted to understand how they were similar.
- Both are designed for “professional” use. They are designed to put together entire integrated web sites.
- Both are designed to work within a suite of related programs by their manufacturer
- Both include functionality for data driven web sites
Now let’s examine some of the differences
- Currently Dreamweaver works with PHP, ColdFusion, JSP and ASP server side technology but will be phasing out ASP
- Expression Web uses ASP server side technology
- Both work towards standards compliance but Dreamweaver can get bogged down by trying to uphold it’s legacy code. By basically starting over, Expression Web has avoided the legacy trap so the code is less cluttered.
- Dreamweaver offers more features but that can mean more overhead. Spry Widgets are great but they contain a lot of extra code to cover a spectrum of uses.
- Expression Web lacks the basics for beginners that FrontPage did so well. In terms of ease of use, Dreamweaver is easier for beginners to learn than Expression Web and more complex than FrontPage.
- Expression Web is less expensive than Dreamweaver.
- Expression Web runs on Windows while Dreamweaver runs on Windows and Macintosh systems
These days, I use PHP for 95% of my server side scripting so the choice is a clear one for me. I used to program in ASP.net and if I still had clients that wanted that technology, Expression Web could be an appealing choice. As the two software packages diverge based on server side technology, it is going to force more developers to make a choice. It won’t be a choice based on ease of use, features or interface but which software supports which server side technology.
Thanks, Bean, for the excellent commentary on the two application packages. I’m an “application junkie” going way back to about 1982 so “ease of use” will probably be a relatively temporary issue. I tinkered with Pagemill 1-3 a bit before switching to the Dreamweaver series in the late 90s and was usually held up by a lack of artistic sense more than the programs. I anticipate doing some volunteer work with Expression Studio (for my son’s missionary organization) once I get up to speed again. We both own copies of EW, and neither of us owns Dreamweaver. Since I’m now retired, time is not likely to be much of a factor, unless I have overestimated my ability to wrap my aging brain around this software. I imagine I’ll find out in a hurry once I start taking the EW class, and I will precede that with the basic web development classes. Any thoughts?