Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I'm planning on using this book as a text for an intro to web design course. Overall, it is a great introduction.
What I like about the book are:
It's generally got a great flow [one exception below - ch.8] and has very good explanations for how HTML & CSS are used together to make well designed web pages. The text easily moves from the basic (html tags) to novice (basic CSS) and then more advanced topics like adding graphics, positioning, using tables, and implementing forms. The content is provided in a very accessible way that builds upon previous learnings. And the information is presented in a fashion that most newcomers to web design/publishing can easily understand.
The main caveats I have with the book are:
The book propounds using XHTML, which is still a hotly debated topic whether it should even be used for making public web pages. XHTML is arguably a dead standard as of Dec. 2009. It's also problematic since XHTML STILL is not properly parsed by the most widely used browser in the marketplace (MSIE) - esp. when served as "text/html" as recommended in this book. XHTML pages often "just break" or refuse to properly work with IE, and using XHMTL can break typical usage of some scripting languages, esp. JavaScript. There's even a Sitepoint XHTML vs. HTML FAQ (the publishers of this book) suggesting NEVER to use XHTML unless you have a very specific application that NEEDS to use it. Just because XHTML is popular, doesn't mean it's proper, and it can cause more headaches than it's worth. Kind of like using OOPHP - sure it has its place, but I wouldn't call it obligatory.
I would have moved the content of Chapter 8 into Chapter 1. It would be helpful for readers to know about web hosting and connecting to said host before attempting to publish their pages. To my mind this is definitely a "Setting Up Shop" activity - in fact I'd have these tasks prerequisite to those in Chapter 1. What's the point of creating web pages if you have no where to post them for others to see?
A possibly bigger issue is that Chapter 9 "Adding a Blog..." is nearly useless now that Blogger no longer supports FTP publishing (announced in Feb 2010 and unsupported as of May 2010). Including an entire chapter that has a "single point of failure," such as relying on a singular service that's avail. today to be around tomorrow doesn't seem like very good planning to me. It would've been nice if another, more generic alternative were presented (such as just linking to one's Blogger or Wordpress blog and how to configure them so they at least look similar, if not integrated).
It's still a pretty good book, and I'm going to use it for the class, with strong warnings about the fallability of XHTML. In class, we're going to use HTML 4.01 Strict.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition
Build Your Own Website The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition teaches web development from scratch, without assuming any previous knowledge of HTML, CSS or web development techniques. This book introduces you to HTML and CSS as you follow along with the author, step-by-step, to build a fully functional web site from the ground up.
However, unlike countless other "learn web design" books, this title concentrates on modern, best-practice techniques from the very beginning, which means you'll get it right the first time. The web sites you'll build will:
Look good on a PC, Mac or Linux computer Render correctly whether your visitors are using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari Use web standards so your sites will be fast loading and easy to maintain Be accessible to disabled users who use screenreaders to browse the Web
By the end of the book, you'll be equipped with enough knowledge to set out on your first projects as a professional web developer, or you can simply use the knowledge you've gained to create attractive, functional, usable and accessible sites for personal use.
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