Pro CSS Techniques (Pro)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 408 pages
• Published by: Apress
• Edition: 1st Edition November 27, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 159059732X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1590597323
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.5 pounds

Product Description


Pro CSS Techniques is the ultimate CSS book for the modern web developer. If youve already got web design and development basics under your belt, but want to take your knowledge to the next level and unleash the full power of CSS in your web sites, then this is the book for you. It is a collection of proven CSS techniques that you can use daily to get the most out of the time you spend on your projects, from start to finish.

Every topic is presented in an informative tutorial style, with each point backed up by several real-world examples and case studies. The authors cover all the essential areas of CSS development, like browser support (including IE7), hacks and filters, code management, advanced layouts and styling, typography, and much more. CSS levels 1, 2, and 3 are given a full treatment. The book also includes several reference sections that allow you to look up details quickly and easily.

The book aims to help you in four areas: maintainability, compatibility, reusability, and practicality. Youll be able to keep your code organized and easy to maintain, avoiding browser issues before they crop up (or hacking around them when absolutely necessary). Youll learn to get the most out of your styles with inheritance, and by using techniques you can build on. And youll learn to use what works in the real world, without getting too caught up in ideals, because you can always optimize later.

About The Author
Jeff is a web and graphic designer focused on web standards-based development living and working Lawrence, KS. As the senior designer at World Online, Jeff works on such award-winning standards-based sites as Lawrence.com and ljworld.com. Jeff also runs a popular blog and personal site at jeffcroft.com, where he writes about many topics, including modern web and graphic design.

In addition to his work with World Online, Jeff has also worked at two major Universities in an effort to bring web standards to the education sector, and completed many freelance and contract jobs for varying clients.

When he's not hunched over a computer, Jeff enjoys photography, music, film, television, and a good night out on the town.


Ian runs Accessify.com, a site dedicated to promoting web accessibility and providing tools for web developers. His personal site ‘Blog Standard Stuff‘, ironically, has nothing to do with standards for blogs (it's a play on words), although there is an occasional standards-related gem to be found there.

Ian works full-time for Nationwide Building Society where he tries his hardest to influence standards-based design (\"to varying degrees!\"). He is a member of the Web Standards Project, contributing to the Accessibility Task Force. Web standards and accessibility aside, he enjoys writing about his trips abroad and recently took a ‘year out' from work and all things web (but then ended up writing more in his year off than he ever has). He finds most of his time being taken up by a demanding old lady (relax, it\'s only his old Volkswagen camper van).

Ian recently wrote his first book for SitePoint entitled ‘Build Your First Web Site the Right Way with HTML and CSS‘ (in which he teaches web standards-based design to the complete beginner).


Music, design, typography, web standards, South Florida beaches. What could these things possibly have in common? Dan Rubin, that's what…er, who. From vocal coaching and performing to graphic design and (almost literally) everything in between, Dan does his best to spread his talent as thin and as far as he possibly can while still leaving time for a good cup of tea and the occasional nap.

His passion for all things creative and artistic isn't a solely selfish endeavor either&emdash;you don't have to hang around too long before you'll find him waxing educational about a cappella jazz and barbershop harmony, interface design, usability, web standards, and which typeface was on the bus ad that just whizzed by at 60mph.

Dan has been known to write the occasional entry on his blog, superfluousbanter.org (you might even find a podcast or two if you poke around enough), and his professional work can be found at his agency's site, webgraph.com.


Reader Reviews
Pro CSS Techniques by Jeff Croft, Dan Rubin, and Ian Lloyd is a very thorough book on practical CSS. Having just read Simon Collison's Beginning CSS Web Development I found this to be a great continuation of the learning process. This book picks up where Simon's book ended, and even briefly covers some of the same topics. This book is full of great information and author's each had a fun personality (and sense of humor) with their chapters. The book jumps right in and walks you through specificity and the cascade and how this will help you keep your markup neat and tidy (without any superfluous markup). This topic can cause confusion for many beginning CSS and even those who are advanced. Having a strong understanding of the cascade and specificity will greatly help you write cleaner code and solve any debugging issues that may arise. This chapter was full of examples, charts, and interactive walkthroughs to help you understand the process. The next few chapters were spent discussing the browsers, managing your CSS files, and many of the hacks used to fix problems. These were similar to some of what was seen in Beginning CSS Web Development - but they require special emphasis. I didn't feel that any of the authors ever advocated using hacks to solve problems. They challenged you as a developer to dig deeper and find workarounds that didn't require hacks. However, when it is necessary - they explain the process of using conditional comments versus mixing any hacks into their own sheet/section of your other files. Chapter 7 was by far my favorite chapter of the entire book. I have read many other CSS books that show you advanced layouts and techniques, even full of the code and images, but don't fully prepare you for the frustration that may arise. This chapter walked you through creating different layouts. Absolute positioning, floats, liquid layouts, fixed with layouts, and elastic layouts were all discussed. The best part about the chapter is that the author walks you through your failures. In seeing these failures and being aware of them, it will ultimately help you avoid them in the future (or at least be prepared when something goes awry). Failure is a part of learning CSS, and the author comforts (and humors) the reader as he shows the failures, explains why/what failed, and how to fix and continue with the layout. In the end you are working towards a very simple, yet flexible, layout. Another topic that is not often discussed is that of typography. This chapter was an exhaustive covering of typography and the web. It included information about upcoming typefaces available in vista, as well as some current typefaces that you might not know about. It also covered things like leading (line height), kerning (letter spacing), and how to make sure your liquid layouts (or high contrast layouts) don't ruin the legibility. The last few chapters walk you through styling everyday elements like tables, forms, and lists. The last two chapters were focused on stylesheets for other media (print, screen, projection, etc). I found this chapter very interesting as we are moving toward supporting mobile devices. I think initially it would be easy to think you can serve up the `handheld' stylesheet and all is well - however we are finding that this is not true (Which is why I can't want for Cameron Moll's book on Mobile Web Design). With so many different devices and services out there, what will be the best way to target them? I used to think the handheld stylesheet would solve many problems - but I am re-thinking that as a solution. Finally, the book wraps up with an exhaustive list of CSS References including: allowed values, element type, and initial/inherited values. Also covered is the CSS specificity chart and the browser grading chart. The appendix of this book makes a nice desk reference to help solve an issue. Overall I really enjoyed this book. If you are still dipping your feet into CSS, then this book will help you understand the inner workings of CSS and help you avoid many frustrating hours of debugging. Yes, there were some advanced topics that weren't discussed that could have been (hasLayout), but overall the book covered everything exhaustively. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book.