My book reviews section is a different from what you typically see, I only list and review books that are worth reading. All the books reviewed here are sitting on my bookshelves.
I love CSS - it's the best thing to happen to web design since HTML! But I think today (2005) some CSS zealots are going a little nuts with CSS layouts; it has come to the point where they will do anything they can to use CSS for page layout instead of using HTML tables, even if it means using ten thousand CSS hacks to get it to work!
Brittle web design is brittle, whether you use nested tables or CSS hacks.
Note to everyone:
I come across many stinkers, to be sure. I just spare the authors the criticism and you the time – why talk about a crappy title?
Stefan Mischook
DHTML and CSS for the World Wide WebAll of the Peach Pit's Visual Quickstart Guides that are in my list overlap on certain subjects to a limited degree; you see talk about CSS, JavaScript and XHTML in each of them. But don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s a waste of money to get all of them! Each book goes into some depth (where the other don’t) in their particular area of focus making them worthwhile purchases. DHTML for the World Wide Web concentrates on DHTML leveraging CSS and the practically universal DOM. There is some overlap with the other titles in terms of CSS and JavaScript, but only enough to get the reader going with the focus of the book … DHTML. Do yourself a favor and get all 3 Visual Quickstart Guides reviewed here, I did!
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Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web DesignLike all the books in my book review section, this one is worth getting. This is a project-based tutorial book where you’re taught subtle CSS techniques while building web pages. This is an interesting approach to learning because you get to see how a CSS expert thinks about CSS, how he structures it in his own work. This sort of insight is much more valuable than a simple tips and tricks book. If you are an intermediate level CSS user looking to further develop your skills, this is a great way to go. About the websites built There are 13 project sites in the book that for the most part stand alone; you don’t need to read / do project one to do project number two. The book encourages you to follow along with the text and build your own copy of the project sites. The project files are provided on the book’s website, you don’t have to waste your time setting up the structure of the sites/projects – you can jump right into the CSS. This hands-on approach to teaching is the best way to learn. The projects themselves are interesting and some of them even useful – I especially like the project on making HTML forms printable and the project on the Multicolumn layout – a hurdle for many budding CSS designers. About the structure of the book I like Meyers writing style, it’s clean and to the point and thoughtfully written. The book is packed with full color photos so you can see the CSS work in its full glory. The index is also pretty good. My only complaint about the book (a minor one,) is that some of the designs (IMHO) are not what I would necessarily consider to be ‘styling’. But again, that’s not too important since this is a book on CSS and not on design. |
More Eric Meyer on CSSAs with his first book on CSS, Eric Meyer teaches CSS with a hands-on approach, where it is suggested that you do the examples as you read along. This book is not for beginners; you need to have a reasonable understanding of CSS to be able to follow along. If you do have basic CSS knowledge, I highly recommend this book. Highlights:
The book is broken up into ten projects wherein Eric methodically leads the reader through the process of applying CSS. Not just a list of steps; the reasoning behind the methods are well described. If you want to take your CSS skills to a high level, both Eric Meyer books are great choices. |
Designing with web standardsGood information, but he takes his time to make a point. What makes this book different from say the Visual QuickStart Guides? I would have to say it is a combination of opinion and verbosity … Jeffrey loves to talk. This is not the book you want to get if you want to learn CSS design quickly, be prepared to read pages and pages before you find yourself actually putting down some actual code. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it all depends on how you like to learn. There is discussion of recent web history; how the industry has gotten to where it is. The author is an evangelist for something called ‘Web standards’. When people start talking about ‘Web standards’ they are referring to the way web browsers should read and interpret HTML, XHTML and CSS code. This is an over simplification, but for our purposes it will do. Get to the point Zeldman! When the author (J. Zeldman) wants to show you how to do something, instead of just showing you, he goes through all the ways that don’t work first. This can be useful (?) since you will get a better idea about some of the weaknesses in the various browsers, but it may also frustrate people who just want the answer plain and simple. But in the other hand, many of those browsers are not being used anymore, so who cares? - If you like a story and are interested in the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ this corner of the web business developed, this is your book. Makes for good reading (if you're really a nerd) while on the way to work or just before you go to bed. |