Slashdot Mirror
Spring into HTML and CSS
Who's it for?
This seems a very clearly targeted book. It's directed towards professionals that need to work with websites, but do not necessarily have a software development background.
The Good StuffThe approach of the book reflects the targeted audience very well. The book starts by introducing a basic HTML page and then building upon it by showing how to add text and graphic content. The next couple of chapters then show a few more advanced subjects like forms and tables. The second half of the book then moves into explaining CSS, starting with some of the basic ground rules and then moving into applying colours, styles and borders to the HTML document. The last chapter is a cookbook of classic layouts, explained clearly and with code.
Even though I'm not a typical member of the intended audience, I found the organisation of the book very well thought-out and with a good sense of flow. Each chapter builds on the preceding one, with a small set of examples that are built up through the course of the book. Each chapter is broken into one or two page "chunks," as the book itself describes them. These chunks are small discrete explanations of aspects that the chapter covers. For example, in the chapter on images, the chunks cover topics like adding alternative text to an image, specifying its height and width and using an image in a hyperlink.
For me, the combination of the chunk organisation and Molly's writing makes the book. The chunked approach fits the needs of both learning a new subject without being overwhelmed and those that want more of a reference capability. This book is not written to be a reference work, but with everything being so well partitioned, it comes close enough to meet my need for a good reference work as well. Some authors tell you about their subject, but Molly really does seem to explain it to you. A subtle difference, but one that gives this book the edge.
As a book that aims to be practical, the examples were very well chosen. There are plenty of pieces of example markup and images of the resulting rendering. The markup is nicely laid out and the images are large enough to show the effect, but not so large as to interrupt the flow of the explanation. The other nice thing about the examples, especially in the CSS section of the book, is that the examples are consistent. The same portion of text, from The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe, is used throughout. I found that this helped clearly show the difference between the effects being taught. The text stayed the same, only the layout changed with the new style being shown. Very effective.
Groan!
My first inclination when I saw that the book was part of a new series called "Spring into ..." was to groan and wonder when they were planning to fire the marketing non-genius that dreamt up such a bad title! Thankfully the contents more than make up for the corny name. The only other thing that bugged me was the inclusion of two appendixes with HTML and CSS reference information in them. The references are annotated very well with practical considerations, so I'm only going to knock off half a point from what would otherwise have been a perfect ten.
You can purchase Spring into HTML and CSS from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Maybe the Slashdot editors should take some advice here.
I own itburns.net. What should I put there?
Just knowing HTML and CSS does not result in web pages that are easy to use and accessible. That is something that can't be learned directly from a book. It takes a certain intuition to be able to design web pages that truly perform.
Anyways, does this book cover XHTML at all? And what about CSS 2.0? I get the feeling from this review that this book is somewhat outdated, and does not cover such topics. I hope I am wrong in such assumptions.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
I reccommend http://www.zeldman.com/ for all your web-standards reading. He's even re-worked Slashdot using current web standards.
Thank goodness someone wrote a book about HTML and CSS development. There aren't enough free sites on the internet to teach you this stuff already.
/. too. Most of the readers here are probably novice developers with only basic knowledge of HTML if any at all.
The best place to advertise this is probably
/. ++
Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman. By far the most useful and informative book on the subject that I've seen. A good web designer needs to know the "why", not just the "how".
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
The only other thing that bugged me was the inclusion of two appendixes with HTML and CSS reference information in them. The references are annotated very well with practical considerations, so I'm only going to knock off half a point from what would otherwise have been a perfect ten.
Wait, why is including reference material a negative? Isn't that an advantage to the user, all relevant information collected in one place?
Based on the review, it sounds like this covers topics so basic; one would be better served by a resource such as w3schools, or something along those lines. I recommend the Zen of CSS Design, which I found to be a great read for those who have gotten the basics down.
I think what he actually meant was separating _content_ and design. Structure is generally part of the design (CSS) rather than the content (HTML).
(begin sarcasm)
Wow, it's about time someone wrote a book about HTML and CSS. I went to the Barnes and Noble and couldn't find a single one on the subject. Are they trying to keep this stuff a secret?
(end sarcasm)
Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
This seems a very clearly targeted book. It's directed towards professionals that need to work with websites, but do not necessarily have a software development background. And how is this supposed to be "clearly targeted"?
Hey, when you are done with the book, how about you send it on to someone who needs it?
www.eFax.com are spammers
Usually I dislike details about a reviewer being included in a review, but:
The reviewer doesn't say what his background is, so it's hard to judge his claim not to be a typical member of the intended audience. Claiming it without some explanation makes me wonder what he means, and even why I should read on.
Perhaps he found the organization of the book well thought out because he's atypical?
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
I can dependency-inject my CSS files? Finally!
pooptruck
The author is not qualified to review this book, especially not for a savvy audience like that of Slashdot. A 'don't worry I'm only a beginner too' review (check his blog) can seem very comforting and empathic, but Simon Chappell clearly cannot even speculate on the completeness of this work, nor it's adherence to, and promotion of, best practices.
Index dot CSS
Index dot HTML
Just the facts for me...
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
What the heck does serendipitous mean?
Not what the author seems to think it means. I hope he doesn't use that word a lot.
KFG
No, structure is defined in the HTML (or XHTML). CSS defines how you present that structure (the design).
Content is independent of both structure and design.
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
I believe that the author was refering to the contents of the package, i.e. a book.
Now who woulda thunk that a book might end up in a package sent to a book reviewer? Clearly the universe works in mysterious ways.
KFG
http://quirksmode.org/
Amazing site, this guy has done some painstaking cross-browser testing for JavaScript, CSS and HTML and come back with compatibility tables and recommendations for everything from the basic box model (how browsers managed to fuck this up i don't know) to robust JavaScript that doesn't use crappy "if browser equals X" statements. Working with HTML/CSS and JS is highly painful if your project specifies that it must look _good_ in all browsers, so any tricks you can learn will save your life.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Building Accessible Websites by Joe Clark. By far the most insightful and interestnig book on the subject that I've seen. A great designer needs to keep all the "who" in mind - not just the "why" or "how".
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
Molly is an amazing writer, and she really knows web design. When I got busy and couldn't update my book "Special Edition: Using HTML 4", Molly took it over and reworked it from the ground up into a much better book. And she's not only a great web designer and writer, she's a fantastic human being. Check out her site at http://www.molly.com/
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
And saying something that is clearly (contextually) wrong for the purposes of humor has no absolutely no precedent in language.
He couldn't have possibly meant it humorously.
I'm sorry. The number you have reached is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again.
Main Entry: serendipitous
Pronunciation: "ser-&n-'di-p&-t&s
Function: adjective
: obtained or characterized by serendipity
- serendipitously adverb
Main Entry: serendipity
Pronunciation: -'di-p&-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: from its possession by the heroes of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip
: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for
Therefore it was a nice surprise finding it in the mailbox since he hadn't requested it from the publisher.
His use was just fine.
webster.com, people.
'Life is like a spoonful of Drain-O, it feels good on the way down but leaves you feeling hollow inside'
.."I'm Rick James, bitch!" I would also like to include that reviews of 'beginners' type books on slashdot can really be helpful to those of us who haven't been able to geek out in particular areas of tech. I'll pick it up.
Clearly the universe works in mysterious ways.
What's more, mysteriously the universe works in clear ways.
-kgj
-kgj
Word meaning does not have to be straight-forward and correct for it to make sense in a sentence. Most of humor is using language or meaning in a way that is not quite correct. (sarcasm, irony, etc.)
For example, if I say "you have a good face for radio", the humor is that the real meaning of the sentence is not the same as the straightforward meaning.
It was funny. Laugh.
I'm sorry. The number you have reached is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again.
He is a book reviewer. He seeks books to review. Publishers send them to him because he is a book reviewer.
The relationship is causal and happens often enough, by the author's own admission (since this is the way things work, most books for review arrive unsolicited), that the author expects it to happen.
If I jump out of an airplane the arrival of the ground may surprise me, but it is not serendipitous. The fortuitous arrival of a haytruck right underneath me at just the right time would be.
Inheriting a million bucks from a relative you've never heard of is simply good fortune. Inheriting a million bucks from a relative you've never heard of just in time to save you from forclosure on your house is serendipitous because it a valuable and agreeable thing.
A better way of phrasing "not sought for" would be "aquired by chance and the defintion would be made better by appending the phrase "while seeking something else."
http://livingheritage.org/three_princes.htm
The only way a book reviewer receiving an unsolicited book in the mail could become serendipitous is if the arrival of that particular book was more valuable and/or agreeable for some reason noncausally connected to his merely being a book reviewer than some other book would be.
Like if a publisher had just asked him for a review of an HTML book for executives. An unsought for coincidence that nonetheless gives the feeling that there is some mysterious causal relationship at work.
Serendipity is entirely defined by the context in which the finding of the valuable thing occurs.
KFG
What if it's an unexpected package? From an estate attorney? That could easily be a serendipitous event.
If an estate attorney is sending you an unexpected package and all that's in it is a book on CSS, I'd hardly call that serendipitous.
... I thought it was something to do with the Spring framework. It's not.
Not too shabby. What I wonder, is there anywhere a good reference card for HTML in 1-4 pages? And throw one in for CSS while you're at it. To print out, and keep around for reference? Or is modern HTML too large for that? (Last time I really did HTML, I coded HTML 2.0 in Notepad.)
Hurricane Application Group, Dept of Meteorology Control, Ministry of Proactive Defense
screaming at the top of their lungs over IE's non-conformance to the CSS standards. Though CSS is not perfect, the separation of structure and style is the right thing. It is nearly criminal the number of hacks required to get around IE's non-conformity.
And saying something that is clearly (contextually) wrong for the purposes of humor has no absolutely no precedent in language.
:-)
Can you give us an example of that?