Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 448 pages
• Published by: Apress; 1st ed. 2006. Corr. 2nd printing edition August 28, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1590596897
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1590596890
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.6 pounds

Book Description


Cascading style sheets are one of the most important technologies on the web today, giving web developers the power to style their web sites so they are usable, lean and small in file size, look great, display consistently across most if not all web browsers, and are quick and efficient to change the look of if desired.

There are many books out there on CSS, but this one is differentit wastes less time discussing theory, and gets straight to the practical learning, giving the reader what they need to know quicker. In addition, it is bang up to date, covering the most modern CSS standards and design techniques.

As well as all the essential CSS basics, advanced techniques are covered, such as accessibility, hacks, and filters, and the book concludes with a case study, and a CSS reference section to allow the reader to look up required syntax as quickly as possible.

About The Author


Simon is lead web developer at Agenzia, and has worked on numerous web projects for record labels, high-profile recording artists, and leading visual artists and illustrators, including The Libertines, Black Convoy, and Project Facade. Simon also oversees a production line of business, community, and voluntary sector web sites, and passionately ensures everything he builds is accessible and usable, and complies with current web standards. Simon regularly reviews CSS-based web sites for Stylegala, and does his best to keep his highly popular blog (collylogic.com) updated with noise about web standards, music, film, travels, and more web standards.

Reader Reviews
"Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional" by Simon Collison is the perfect book for newcomers to CSS and for those slightly more-experienced CSS designers who need a soup-to-nuts review. The book is very well organized, easy to read, easy to digest, and well edited. The progression of chapters is logical, as the book flows from CSS mechanics to layout and design concepts. Topics are covered completely yet succinctly; at just over 400 pages, this is not a typical, bloated computer book. Coverage is complete, however, and nothing seems to be left out. There's a very useful, 15-page CSS reference guide in the appendix, and URL's for many third-party articles and examples are provided throughout the text. Collison's writing style is relaxed, clear, and appropriately humorous. He even tells you (often -- he's English!) when's a good time to grab a cup of tea. He presents complex topics very clearly, using progressively built-up examples to keep thing clear. Learning CSS from a designer like Collison is so much better than learning it from a programmer, because the designer will teach you why, when and how to apply certain styles, while the programmer will only teach you how; Collison accomplishes the former with aplomb. The case study in the final chapter is really excellent. Despite the very professional appearance of the sample site, every technique used to create it is indeed covered in the preceding chapters. (If you want to get an idea for how much the book will teach you before you buy it, skim through the last chapter or download the accompanying files from the publisher's website. It's impressive.) I have only two negative criticisms -- and these are minor. The downloadable files found on the publisher's website are poorly organized, with all the code snippets for the entire book stuck into a single, long text file and with the sample images stored in a separate directory hierarchy from the sample HTML files. Most of the screenshots in the book are shown with browser decorations (title bar, tool bar, etc.), which when added up waste a lot of space that could have been used to include a couple of advanced topics or to decrease the book's cost. But as I said, these are minor criticisms that are far outweighed by the stellar quality of the book -- and the problem with the downloadable files is something that could possibly still be corrected by the author. In summary, I highly recommend this book, particularly for CSS beginners or novices, but also for CSS-savvy coders who need to re-learn CSS from a design-oriented perspective, as well as for slightly more-advanced designers who need a broad, quick review. I've sampled at least a half dozen CSS books recently, and "Beginning CSS Web Development" is FAR AND AWAY the best. Comment | | (Report this)