Enterprise AJAX: Strategies for Building High Performance Web Applications Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)College-level computer holdings strong on Ajax or web programming guides need ENTERPRISE AJAX: STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING HIGH PERFORMANCE WEB APPLICATIONS. It covers advanced Ajax topics, so it's not for the beginner - that will please any already versed in Ajax who want to skip the basics. From implementing Model-View-Controller in the browser to overcoming security risks and optimizing Ajax functions, this is the item of choice for any collection moving beyond introductory texts.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Click Here to see more reviews about: Enterprise AJAX: Strategies for Building High Performance Web Applications

"The core technologies of Ajax are quite straightforward; the hard part is applying them in the real world. Fortunately, the authors have been putting Ajax into practice since long before the term 'Ajax' was even coined. Enterprise AJAX offers excellent coverage of issues rarely explained to date, but frequently encountered by enterprise developers—including architecting of Ajax applications, and how to deal with such concerns as usability, security, and reliability."-DR. MICHAEL MAHEMOFF, PH.D. author of Ajax Design Patterns (AjaxPatterns.org)"Just when you thought you knew all you need to know about Ajax, Dave, Alexei, and Andre force open your cranium and unload a dumptruck full of Enterprise Ajax techniques, best practices, and hard-earned expert insight onto your brain. If you want to mix some serious Ajax into your serious business applications, the solid information and advice you get from this book will let you do so with confidence."-BRENT ASHLEY, Web Developer and Ajax Pioneer"I can't think of any better authors for a book on Enterprise AJAX. The book is sure to be a valuable reference for developers the world over working on the next generation of web applications."-MATT MCKENZIE, Software development manager, LiveCycle, Adobe Systems Inc."A great resource for writing quality, enterprise-level JavaScript."-CHRISTIAN VAN EEDEN, Senior Application Specialist, Schenker DB LogisticsBUILD RELIABLE, SCALABLE, ENTERPRISE-CLASS WEB APPLICATIONS WITH AJAXWriting for enterprise developers, architects, and user interface specialists, the authors explain why AJAX offers such great promise in large-scale development. Next, they systematically introduce today's key AJAX techniques and components.You'll walk through developing frameworks for building AJAX applications that combine data tables, Web forms, charts, search, and filtering: the very systems businesses depend on in CRM, ERP, BI, and beyond. Then, building on this strong foundation, the authors identify proven AJAX architectural patterns, and present case studies drawn from actual .NET and Java AJAX applications. Coverge includes
Using AJAX to implement Model-View-Controller (MVC) in the browser
Encapsulating user interface functionality to facilitate code reuse and reduce cross-browser development problems
Overcoming the unique security challenges associated with AJAX Web applications
Optimizing AJAX usability: the "back" button, caching, bookmarking, offline usage, and beyond
From security to scalability to project risk, this is the only book to cover all the issues facing AJAX developers in the enterprise. Whether you're migrating legacy HTML interfaces or building new applications from scratch, you'll find it absolutely indispensable.ABOUT THE WEBSITEwww.enterpriseajax.com contains code samples, case studies, tutorials, live demos, and other AJAX resources.ABOUT THE AUTHORSDavid Johnson has many years of experience with AJAX-related technologies. He is co-founder and CTO of Nitobi, producer of a component library designed to speed AJAX development. Johnson has written widely for print and online publications, including JavaWorld.com and XML.com. Alexei White is Product Manager at Nitobi. Andre Charland, co-founder, President, and CEO of Nitobi, is an experienced Internet software developer.

Click here for more information about Enterprise AJAX: Strategies for Building High Performance Web Applications

Read More...

The Internet: The Missing Manual Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book reminds me a lot of those "Internet Yellow Pages" books you used to see from 1994 until about 1996 when modern search engines and the growing sophistication of computer users made them unnecessary.
I thought I would peruse this book and see if it had anything of value to offer, and I have to say that unless you've been stranded on a desert island for the last twelve years, I can't see how it could be of much help. These days, pretty much all age groups from preschoolers to senior citizens have this much knowledge of the internet. In 2006 do we really need a book that tells us the different ways to connect to the internet, how to shop online, how to gamble online, and the perils of banking online? I don't think so.
I gave this book three stars mainly out of residual respect for the Missing Manual Series that is very helpful for learning the MAC and its various applications as well as software packages such as Photoshop Elements. Nothing in the manual is incorrect. It is well written and well illustrated. It is just too basic to be helpful for anyone who knows how to access an Internet search engine.
The table of contents is as follows:
Part I: GETTING ONLINE
1. Getting Online
Broadband Connections (Fast); Dial-Up Connections (Slow); Wireless Connections (Awesome); Software; Advanced Connection Tricks (Windows); Advanced Connection Tricks (Mac OS X);
2. Surfing the Web
Your First Web Page; Portals: Dashboards of the Web; Browser Choices;
Part II: FINDING INFORMATION
3. How to Search the Web
Search Basics; Directories at Your Service;
4. Searching by Information Type
White Pages, Yellow Pages; Driving Directions; Health and Medicine; Job Hunting; Getting the Facts; Word Definitions;
5. News and Blogs
News Sites; Online Newspapers; Sports, Weather, and Entertainment; Blogs; Feeds: Having the News Come to You;
6. Reviews and Ratings
Movies; Restaurants; Music; Books; Consumer Electronics; Cars;
Part III: SHOPPING, TRAVEL, AND FINANCE
7. Shopping
How to Shop Online; The Top Shopping Sites; Finding Good Deals; Shopping for Big-Ticket Items ;
8. Planning Trips
Booking Tickets and Reservations; Last-Minute Deals;
9. Finance
Online Banking; Finding Loans Online; Trading Online and Tracking Investments; Doing Your Taxes Online;
Part IV: ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA
10. Games and Gambling
Games for the Whole Family; Action Games; Massive Multiplayer Games; Virtual Worlds; Fantasy Sports; Gambling;
11. Music and Audio
Digital Audio and the Internet; Listening to Digital Audio; Online Music Stores; Streaming Music Sites; Internet Radio; Podcasts;
12. Videos, Movies, and TV
Videos and Movies Online; DVDs by Mail; Watching Webcams;
13. Photos
Finding Photos; Sharing Photos Online; Sending Photos to a Printing Service; Sending Photos via Email;
Part V: COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS
14. Email
Email Program vs. Web-Based Email; Setting Up Your Email Program; Writing and Sending Messages; Reading and Organizing Email; Fighting Email Pests
15. Instant Messages and Chat
Instant Messaging: An Introduction; IM Services: The Catalog;
16. Discussion Groups
Finding and Searching Groups; Creating New Groups;
17. Social Networking
Socializing and Dating Services; Professional Networking;
18. Skype & VoIP: Internet Phones;
Skype: Computer-to-Phone Plans; Phone-to-Phone Plans;
Part VI: INTERNET POWER AND PROTECTION
19. Your Own Blogs, Web Sites, and Podcasts
Blogs; Super-Simple Web Pages; Professional Web Sites; Podcasts;
20. Living on the Web
Online Backup and Storage; Online Word Processing Programs; Project Planning and Group Calendars; Online Meetings/Web Conferencing ;
21. Staying Safe
Know Your Enemies; Fighting Internet Pests; Defeating Spyware; Controlling Cookies; Phishing Lures; Sealing Your Computer's Firewall; Protecting Your Kids;




Click Here to see more reviews about: The Internet: The Missing Manual


The Internet is almost synonymous with change--that's one of its charms, and one of its headaches.You may think you know the Internet, but are you really up to speed on internet telephones, movie and TV downloading, blogging, gaming, online banking, dating, and photosharing?
This utterly current book covers:Getting Online. Readers will have all the information they need to decide what kind of broadband connection works best for them, which browser they should use, and what kind of spyware-fighting and virus-and spam-protection measures they need to protect themselves.
Finding Information. Google may be the leading search site, but it's certainly not the only game in town. This book introduces a diverse and useful collection of sites that help uncover everything from health care information, to shopping, travel and finance, to dependable reviews and ratings.
Movies, music, and photos. The Web's teeming with entertainment--and not just the sort of postage-stamp sized videos that only a geek could love. Learn where to download movies, watch TV online, listen to music, play games, and post and share photos with friends.
Keeping in touch. Email's only the beginning. This book introduces readers to the many tools that make the modern Internet such a great way to stay connected. From Web-based discussion groups to instant messaging programs, and from blogs and podcasts to Internet-based phone calls, this book will help you join the conversation.

Ideal for anyone just venturing into cyberspace, this book is also perfect for more experienced users who could use an update to today's most exciting internet applications.

Click here for more information about The Internet: The Missing Manual

Read More...

AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)UPDATE (3-17-08)
I bought this book again because the material is definitely good. I'm really bummed Friends Of Ed let it go to press with all these errors though. I mean, come on--I'm finding errors all over the place! That is a great disservice to Sambells. But I've decided the material is worth wading through the many, many copy editing oversights. I'm crossing my fingers I don't get stuck troubleshooting typos in the code that choke my browser. That could easily waste hours of my time.
-=-=-
I was pretty excited after I dropped the $50 or so to by this book because the contents are right down my alley. Unfortunately, I could hardly make it out of Chapter 1 for all the typos and editorial oversights. Here are a few as an example:
PG 34 -- "myVarialbe" instead of "myVariable"
PG 35 -- "when you retrieving" instead of "when you are retrieving"
PG 36 -- references a function called "initAchors()" that isn't used in the example code for that example. initAnchors() appears in the next example on the next page.
PG 37 -- number of iterations in loop changes from 3 to 5 from 1st example to 2nd example for no apparent reason - this is confusing and distracts from the point being made.
PG 37 -- Figure 1-7 shows three objects in diagram instead of the 5 needed (one for each loop)
This is all in just 3 pages!
This is the part of the book I started reading first so I assume the rest of the book is going to be as poorly edited/ proofread. This surprises me as I own over 5 or 6 titles from the Friend Of Ed series and I don't recall ever seeing so much as a typo in any of them.
Overall, I think the book shows promise. But I can't tolerate errors like this in a programming book. They are difficult enough to read already without having to figure out what the message was "supposed" to be.
I'm returning this book to the store. When it reaches a later edition I may give it another go. It needs some serious "debuggin" first though.

Click Here to see more reviews about: AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques

DOM Scripting is a vital technique for web developers and designers to learn and master in the modern web development arena, for adding dynamic effects to web applications such as animations, maps, drag and drop, and more.At friends of ED, we kick-started the interest in this subject with Jeremy Keith's acclaimed book DOM Scripting (friends of ED 1590595335.) And now, with AdvancED DOM Scripting, we're aiming to take the reader further-AdvancED DOM Scripting starts where the original DOM Scripting left off, assuming the reader has already mastered the basics, and taking them further, with countless real world tutorials. It is the first book to exclusively cover advanced DOM Scripting techniques, and reads like a wish list of must have dynamic web application features, including visual effects using JavaScript libraries, Ajax, Mashups using APIs, and much more.

Click here for more information about AdvancED DOM Scripting: Dynamic Web Design Techniques

Read More...

Creating Web Sites Bible Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As of this review, I was on Chapter four.
There is a lot of info packed into this book, but also a lot of errors and typos.
The first tutorial web page they walk a person through on pages 114 / 115 has so many errors that it will not look anything like the finished product on page 116.
I wasted a lot of time attempting to figure out what the errors were, having to search other sections of the book for the proper code elements. THEN I had to play with the code elements to learn that the first example cannot be done the way they presented it!
The first tutorial shows this for aligning a headline center (I had to use parenthesis instead of the lesser than < and greater than > symbols so the actual code would show up here):
(p align"center"") (h3)Making Kimchi using an ordered list(h3)(p)
This does not work. It must look like this:
(h3 align="center") Making Kimchi using an order list(/h3)
The most frequently missing item is the forward slash / that is supposed to be at the end of nearly all HTML tags, according to the authors! They even say "If your screen differs in appearance slightly, don't worry about it."
WHAT GOOD IS A TUTORIAL IF MINE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE EXAMPLE?!
Just be prepared to have to figure stuff out on your own.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creating Web Sites Bible


Updated for the most recent tools, techniques, and standards for creating cutting-edge Web sites for businesses or personal use, this book is one-stop shopping for HTML, JavaScript, CSS, tables, forms, Flash, and more
Brand-new chapters cover Ajax, Adobe CS3 tools, RSS, and blogging tools
Hands-on guidance and expert advice dive into such topics as creating and editing images and graphics, adding multimedia elements (e.g., Flash animations, audio, and video), creating stores for Yahoo! and Amazon.com, designing auction pages for eBay, and building blogs

Click here for more information about Creating Web Sites Bible

Read More...

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you spend much time on the Internet at all, at some point you've said to yourself, "Maybe I should have a web site." It can be a bit intimidating, and many people don't get beyond that "Maybe I should ..." phase. If you want to progress further, this book is for you.
The book is laid out in a logical progression from concept to interaction to making money with your site. Each stage of web "development" has its own section in the book -- which is a huge plus: you don't have to wade through a lot of basic information to get to what you want.
The first section covers the planning stage of website design. There's a discussion about choosing a hosting service (including the problems with using the free space that many ISPs give to their subscribers) and an overview of HTML editing software. There's also a brief introduction to HTML -- just enough to get you started.
Section two takes it from there. You've found a hosting service, you've got the software, and you have the skeleton of a site. NOW you want to make the site look good. This section covers pictures, links, and tables, and even goes into some basic CSS. You learn to turn a bunch of separate web pages into a web site, add content so people want to visit your site, and make the site look good so people want to come back.
Section three goes where the average HTML tutorial doesn't go and talks about driving traffic. Getting search engine hits, creating your own message boards, and even (once you get the traffic) making money on your site. This is the part of the book that will have broader appeal -- the information will be valuable to novices as well as more experienced webmasters. The only disappointment in this section was that the subject of hit counters and stat tracking services wasn't covered in much depth. I would have liked to have seen more information on the various tracking services, rather than a one-page mention.
Part four starts to enhance the site. Javascript menus and buttons, and audio and video. This is a dangerous section, and the book does preach caution in adding many of these features (I noticed that there was little mention of animated GIFs, which I was very thankful for). The section on creative menus using Javascript and DHTML was very useful, and I plan on implementing some of what I have learned on my own site after the first of the year. The section covering audio and video was brief, but contained enough information for the novice designer to completely annoy visitors with embedded audio. Thankfully, the council in this section was moderation in all things -- they make sure that novices realize how annoying embedded audio can be.
Part five covers blogging, specifically working with Blogger. This is a good idea, though most new bloggers will eventually want something more powerful. Syndication is also briefly explained (though they don't tell you how to create your own RSS feeds). Blogger-specific tweaks are covered briefly, and budding bloggers are encouraged to use the skills they've gained by reading the rest of the books to customize their basic Blogger templates.
This book is a valuable asset for novice website builders, and contains many useful tips for more advanced users (though most power users will find little in it that they don't know already). It's up to date with the latest standards, though they spent more time talking about using table tags for layout than I would have liked, and not nearly enough time on div tags. I understand CSS a lot better now than I did before, and I've got some great ideas for improving my own sites. I think that the most valuable part of this book -- and, really, one of the reasons I love O'Reilly books so much -- is the fact that you can do everything in this book with free software. You can use Dreamweaver or Frontpage, but you can make a great site using free software that's readily available on the Web. Highly recommended.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual


Think you have to be a technical wizard to build a great web site? Think again. For anyone who wants to create an engaging web site--for either personal or business purposes--Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual demystifies the process and provides tools, techniques, and expert guidance for developing a professional and reliable web presence.

Like every Missing Manual, you can count on Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual to be entertaining and insightful and complete with all the vital information, clear-headed advice, and detailed instructions you need to master the task at hand. Author Matthew MacDonald teaches you the fundamentals of creating, maintaining, and updating an effective, attractive, and visitor-friendly web site--from scratch or from an existing site that's a little too simple or flat for your liking.

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual doesn't only cover how to create a well-designed, appealing, smart web site that is thoroughly up to date and brimming with the latest features. It also covers why it's worth the effort by explaining the rationale for creating a site in the first place and discussing what makes a given web site particularly aesthetic, dynamic, and powerful. It further helps you determine your needs and goals and make well informed design and content decisions.

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual includes a basic primer on HTML, working with JavaScript, and incorporating services like Paypal's shopping cart, Amazon's associate program, and Google AdSense and AdWords. It delivers advanced tricks for formatting, graphics, audio and video, as well as Flash animation and dynamic content. And you'll learn how to identify and connect with your site's audience through forms, forums, meta tags, and search engines.

This isn't just another dry, uninspired book on how to create a web site. Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual is a witty and intelligent guide for all of you who are ready to make your ideas and vision a web reality.

Click here for more information about Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual

Read More...

WordPress 2.8 Theme Design Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I seem to be reading quite a few WordPress books of late, and there are certainly a few to choose from. Packt Publishing's WordPress 2.8 Theme Design's tagline is 'Create flexible, powerful, and professional themes for your WordPress blogs and websites'.
WordPress themes are of interest to me since they fuse a visual aspect with PHP code, and there's no doubt that they appeal to many other people too.
Chapter Overview
1. Getting Started as a WordPress Theme Designer
2. Theme Design and Approach
3. Coding it Up
4. Debugging and Validation
5. Putting Your Theme into Action
6. WordPress Template Tag, Function, and CSS Reference
7. AJAX/Dynamic Content and Interactive Forms
8. Dynamic Menus and Interactive Elements
9. Design Tips for Working with WordPress
The book's author Tessa Blakely Silver starts very gently with an introduction to WordPress themes and why downloading a theme that's already been coded and designed may not always be the best solution. Subsequently, the book develops a theme from scratch and examines core technologies such as WordPress, CSS, XHTML and PHP.
The second chapter starts with a discussion of theme design in general, followed by the beginnings of the theme that's developed throughout the book. There are further discussions on semantic markup, typography, fonts and layout.
The following chapter focuses on the code aspect of theme design, and suggests a workflow strategy as well as template tags, hooks, and the WordPress loop. Comments are then discussed in some detail, the topic including pagination and threaded comments.
Chapter four examines the process of debugging and validating. A thorough chapter includes references to the W3C validation services, Firefox's JavaScript/Error console, Firebug and some of the issues that the budding theme developer will face when dealing with IE6.
Chapter five looks at the style.css file, which provides descriptive information about a theme, together with packaging the theme into a ZIP for distribution and running test installations of the theme package.
Chapter six adopts a more reference based approach, with an in depth examination of WordPress template tags, the WordPress template hierarchy, the loop and shortcodes.
The following chapter looks at AJAX and JavaScript, as well as preparing your theme for plugins and widgets.
Chapter eight builds on Chapter 7's JavaScript discussion by developing a drop-down menu for the theme. There is also a discussion of Flash and how that can be used with WordPress themes.
Chapter nine rounds off the book with a number of design tips that apply not just to WordPress theme design, but web design in general.
The book's about 250 pages in length, and is generally well written. I did, however, notice a few errors in code samples (mostly misplaced quotes), and a couple of examples in the prose itself. Another minor niggle was that the author talks about semantic markup, and then introduces 'sidebarLT' (sidebar left) and 'sidebarRT' (sidebar right) IDs into the markup.
The back of the book states: This book can be used by WordPress users or visual designers (with no server-side scripting or programming experience) who are used to working with the common industry-standard tools such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver or other popular graphic, HTML, and text editors. Regardless of your web development skill set or level, you'll be walked through the clear, step-by-step instructions. But familiarity with a broad range of web development skills and WordPress know-how will allow you to gain maximum benefit from this book.
It seems as through Packt have tried to convince the potential reader that this is the book for them, regardless of whether they're fairly inexperienced in some areas, or a a highly skilled developer. I'd say that the book covers a lot of ground, and that it does so at a pace that would be suitable for an inexperienced developer. Much of the content, however, would already be familiar to a skilled web developer, and so I feel that they'd think that the really useful content is a little thinly spread.
Overall, it's encouraging to see more books about WordPress; although the internet is a fantastic resource, books still have a very important role in my opinion. The content of this one is great for beginner-medium level web developers, but more experienced readers will be left wanting more.


Click Here to see more reviews about: WordPress 2.8 Theme Design

Theme design can be approached from two angles. The first is simplicity; sometimes it suits the client and/or the site to go as bare-bones as possible. In that case, it's quick and easy to take a very basic, pre-made theme and modify it. The second is "Unique and Beautiful". Occasionally, the site's theme needs to be created from scratch so that everything displayed caters to the specific kind of content the site offers. This book is going to take you through the Unique and Beautiful route with the idea that once you know how to create a theme from scratch, you'll be more apt at understanding what to look for in other WordPress themes. This book can be used by WordPress users or visual designers (with no server-side scripting or programming experience) who are used to working with the common industry-standard tools like PhotoShop and Dreamweaver or other popular graphic, HTML, and text editors. Regardless of your web development skill-set or level, you'll find clear, step-by-step instructions, but familiarity with a broad range of web development skills and WordPress know-how will allow you to gain maximum benefit from this book.

Click here for more information about WordPress 2.8 Theme Design

Read More...

HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If someone were just learning HTML/CSS now, what you would you tell him? That's how the "HTML Manual of Style" is written. Not about hobbling together a web page through a tool. But a back to the basics intro. The author covers why clean code is important both for humans and search engine robots.
The book includes the basic HTML 5 features amidst the "old stuff." One thing to watch out for - the section headers say "HTML 5". They don't really mean HTML 5 though. They really mean here's HTML that happens to include HTML 5. This is fine. It is an HTML book and not meant to highlight what is new specifically.
There are lots of short code examples along with showing how a browser renders them. It gives tips for planning, SEO and hosting. I particularly liked the list of attributes and easy to follow style. I also liked seeing jQuery mentioned.
While the book isn't geared for web developers, it is a nice review. And I think it is a great guide for those starting out. Or those relying on a tool to generate the web page. Or those who still embed style information in their HTML.
Note - while the title was originally about HTML, it has grown to HTML/CSS. The cover could highlight this better.
---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition)

THE CLASSIC WEB AUTHORING GUIDE, NOW 100% UPDATED AND BETTER THAN EVER!If it's for the Web, this book will help you create it…faster, smarter, better! Don't settle for canned templates or boilerplate designs! Take control, with the classic guide to HTML web authoring…now completely revised for the latest techniques and shortcuts, including HTML5!Build it right…Well-planned and well-organizedEasy to navigateFun to read, view, and useSearch engine-friendly and findableReliable and consistentEasy to update and maintainCompatible with any browserBuild it all…Websites and pagesWiki articlesWeb services and ecommerceeBay pagesBlog postsHTML emailAnd much more!Contains quick reference guides to HTML elements and CSS properties–including the newest HTML5 and CSS3 improvements!

Click here for more information about HTML Manual of Style: A Clear, Concise Reference for Hypertext Markup Language (including HTML5), Fourth Edition (4th Edition)

Read More...

Creating Cool Web Sites with HTML, XHTML, and CSS Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Target Audience
Beginning web designers or web designers who want to grow beyond single page designs.
Contents
This is a reference/tutorial guide to web technologies that are necessary to build web sites. The book is divided into three parts:
Part 1 - Building A Wicked Cool Web Page - So What's All This Web Jazz?; Building Your First Web Page: HTML Basics; Presenting Text Attractively; Moving Into The 21st Century With Cascading Style Sheets; Lists And Special Characters; Putting The Web In World Wide Web: Adding Pointers And Links; From Dull To Cool By Adding Graphics
Part 2 - Rockin' Page Design Strategies - Tables And Frames; Forms, User Input, and the Common Gateway Interface; Advanced Form Design; Activating Your Pages With JavaScript; Advanced Cascading Style Sheets; Site Development With Weblogs
Part 3 - Expanding Your Pages Into A Web Site - Web Sites versus Web Pages; Thinking About Your Visitors And Your Site's Usability; Validating Your Pages And Style Sheets; Building Traffic And Being Found; Closing Thoughts; Appendix A: Step-by-step Web Site Planning Guide; Appendix B: Finding A Home For Your Web Site; Index
Review
If you're just starting out with learning how to build Web pages or sites, you no doubt have a wide number of books to choose from to help you learn those skills. But you can easily get bogged down in the minutiae of every little HTML tag and still not know what CSS means. You need a readable book that gives you solid coverage of essential information. With that in mind, you should check out Creating Cool Web Sites With HTML, XHTML, and CSS by Dave Taylor.
To position this properly, let's make sure you're the right audience. This isn't a book that will teach new tricks to an experienced web designer who earns their living developing corporate web sites. This book does an excellent job in covering a lot of ground without needing 1000+ pages to do so. Taylor takes you through the basics of HTML and XHTML, as well as how to use CSS to add formatting and presentation to your page. There's even some coverage of JavaScript as well. As you continue to gain expertise in each of these areas, you will probably want a hard-core reference manual to continue your education, but Creating Cool Web Sites will give you the necessary foundation to get started.
While targeted more towards beginners, the information in part 3 is a worthy read for a larger audience. To properly build a web site, you have to think of it as a cohesive whole, not just a collection of separate pages. The author helps the reader think through site issues, such as traffic, accessibility, and so on. Once again, any one of these topics could be a book on its own, but this is a nice level of coverage for initial exposure and to get started.
Conclusion
Beginners will find this to be an approachable coverage of web technologies, while intermediate designers will probably gravitate to the Web site design and CSS information.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creating Cool Web Sites with HTML, XHTML, and CSS


Walks readers through the process of creating a basic Web site from scratch using HMTL, the basis for billions of Web pages, and then jazzing it up with advanced techniques from the author's award-winning sites
This updated edition features new material that shows readers how to attract visitors to a site and keep them there, including new JavaScript examples and coverage of cascading style sheets and XHTML, technologies that make building successful Web sites even easier
Also features exciting new tips and tricks for beginning and advanced users, as well as more expanded examples and samples for users to incorporate in their own sites
The book moves from basic design and deployment to advanced page layout strategies, showing how to spice up new or existing sites with sound, video, and animation

Click here for more information about Creating Cool Web Sites with HTML, XHTML, and CSS

Read More...

Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are just coming over the the standards-compliant light, this book is the best for showing real, working techniques. Great examples that work. A cookbook. Cederholm won my heart and my mind with "Web Standards Solutions" and this book builds on that theme. The man is a good writer, easy to understand, and he makes compelling and lucid points.
Cederholm's presentation is great: he states a problem or goal, then examines several different ways of solving it. The examinations are just a paragraph or two long -- short and to the point. He points out the strengths and weaknesses of the various solutions, then concludes with a "best practices" solution. Finally, he builds on and refines the best practices solution to deliver a finished piece. When there is no clear-cut best way, he lays the cards on the table and let's you decide what is best for your specific application. He talks about the compromises between pixel-perfect layouts and fluid layouts and how each effects design and useability issues.
It is not stand-alone because a good reference is still useful to have by your side.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition)

No matter how visually appealing or content-packed a Web site may be, if it's not adaptable to a variety of situations and reaching the widest possible audience, it isn't really succeeding. In Bulletproof Web Desing, author and Web designer extraordinaire, Dan Cederholm outlines standards-based strategies for building designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control--key components of every sucessful site. Each chapter starts out with an example of an unbulletproof site one that employs a traditional HTML-based approach which Dan then deconstructs, pointing out its limitations. He then gives the site a make-over using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so you can see how to replace bloated code with lean markup and CSS for fast-loading sites that are accessible to all users. Finally, he covers several popular fluid and elastic-width layout techniques and pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single-page template.

Click here for more information about Bulletproof Web Design: Improving flexibility and protecting against worst-case scenarios with XHTML and CSS (2nd Edition)

Read More...

Web Design: Introductory Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is one of three textbooks required for a class that I'm taking. It was a last minute "add-on". The class is in its 5th week and we have yet to even open this book for the class. I would not have purchased this book had it not been required. And having read through it, I still would not have purchased it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Web Design: Introductory Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)

This third edition explains the connection between a detailed design plan that considers audience needs, site purpose, and various technical issues of a successful Web site. Written for an introductory course, the text offers a variety of challenging written and hands-on activities at the end of each chapter that test comprehension, build Web research skills and design awareness, and provoke thought regarding current issues in technology. Web Design, Third Edition reveals useful design concepts and techniques typically not addressed in HTML or Web authoring texts, and is written in a style that makes the concepts presented easy to understand.

Click here for more information about Web Design: Introductory Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)

Read More...

Discovering the Internet: Brief Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Be careful, it ended up being the wrong book. It is a shorter version of the text book I required. It is missing the last 4 chapters, even though it has the same isbn # as the book with 8 chapters.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Discovering the Internet: Brief Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)

DISCOVERING THE INTERNET: COMPLETE CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES, Third Edition provides a hands-on introduction to both basic and technical Internet concepts and skills to help students become digitally literate computer users.

Click here for more information about Discovering the Internet: Brief Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)

Read More...

Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day: Includes New HTML5 Coverage (6th Edition) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Having been a Web developer a while back, I wanted a reference book that serves as a refresher on HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) -- and this book fits the bill perfectly. However, for someone who has no prior knowledge of HTML and CSS, this book comes up a little short. While it may be quite comprehensive in the topics it covers, it lacks a certain cohesiveness that would allow a beginner to use it as a practical guide for real world Web publishing. First, let's talk organization.
- Organization
This book has made a heroic effort to be comprehensive by attempting to cover everything from basic topics (e.g. tables, forms) to intermediate topics (e.g. embedding videos, absolute vs relative position, layers) to more advanced topics (e.g. Javascript [arrays, data types, loops, etc.], relational databases, server-side programming). That's all well and good, but it sometimes goes into so much of the nitty-gritty details that a beginner can easily lose sight of the complete picture. I feel it would be much better if the book had given a birds-eye view to get a beginner up to speed with the overall framework of a Web page before it went into the details.
- Practicality
The book barely touches on some important topics such as WYSIWYG editors (WYSIWYG is the acronym for "What You See Is What You Get" - pronounced wis-see-wig). *Real world* Web publishing use WYSIWYG editors (such as Adobe Dreamweaver) and other tools to expedite the development of Web sites. Hand-coding Web pages from scratch is almost never done. Mind you, I'm not saying learning how HTML/CSS works "under the hood" isn't important -- nothing can be further from the truth! My point is the book could have made more than passing mention of some of the practical aspects of Web publishing.
In addition, the book fails to sufficiently elaborate on the relationship between Javascript and HTML/CSS. Javascript, of course, is a major topic by itself -- in fact whole books are written on it - but the book could have at least made a stronger connection between HTML/CSS and Javascript since Javascript is so inextricably tied to HTML and CSS. Javascript is the basis for dynamic or interactive (vs. "static") Web pages.
- No Companion CD
The major beef I have with this book is that it doesn't have a companion CD with functioning Web pages that illustrate the HTML and CSS concepts covered in the book. At the very least, the book should have included a CD with the HTML and CSS examples presented in the book. Remember, HTML and CSS is best learned by example and experimentation. In this age of cheap storage media, there is simply no excuse to not include a companion CD.
- The Devil Is In The Details
Developing a highly-functional and complex Web page is a very involved process (the operative word here is *involved*). The book doesn't really discuss the problem of cross-browser compatibility. For example, different browsers (such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome) render some elements a little differently - enough to significantly alter or "break" your intended Web page design.
---
The bottom line: Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing will get you up to speed with building a very basic Web page with relatively static (vs. dynamic) content. For a more practical guide to HTML/CSS for a beginner, you might want to consider Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML. Unlike Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS, it doesn't just explain HTML/CSS with snippets of code, but walks you through the step-by-step building of functioning Web pages.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day: Includes New HTML5 Coverage (6th Edition)

Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day, Sixth Edition is the latest edition of the original worldwide bestseller. The entire book has been thoroughly revised and refined to include new detailed coverage of HTML5, the next major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web, HTML. Work on the HTML5 specification is still ongoing, but parts of HTML5 are already being implemented in new versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Click here for more information about Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day: Includes New HTML5 Coverage (6th Edition)

Read More...

Web Design with HTML and CSS Digital Classroom, (Book and Video Training) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I thought this book was really good except for one thing, I noticed multiple mistakes typing mistakes that really effect the outcomes of the tutorials. I have some knowledge about html and css, which is the only reason I was able to understand some of the reasons why the tutorials were not working. It's as if someone didn't even go through the tutorials to make sure they were correct before it was published. Other than that this book is very informational.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Web Design with HTML and CSS Digital Classroom, (Book and Video Training)

"An invaluable full-color training package for Web design
Web design consists of using multiple software tools and codes-such as Dreamweaver, Flash, Silverlight, Illustrator, Photoshop, HTML, and CSS, among others-to craft a unique, robust, and interactive websites. This book teaches you how to effectively use all the major tools involved in web design to create a site that is both attractive and functional.
You'll go beyond the basics to learn best practices of good web design so you can go from the drawing board to a successful site.
Combining full-color, step-by-step instructions with lesson files and video training from web experts is like having your own personal instructor guiding you through each lesson-but you work at your own pace!
Discusses properties of good web design and best practices for building a site that is both attractive and functional

Click here for more information about Web Design with HTML and CSS Digital Classroom, (Book and Video Training)

Read More...

Website Design and Development: 100 Questions to Ask Before Building a Website Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Website Design Development is the type of book but I'm glad someone is willing to write. Thankful because it is such a thankless task - every web designer will have some dispute with the questions selected/deselected, or with design principles or the rating of importance. And, yes, I also don't always agree with George Plumley.
However, the structure of the book itself is a testament to Plumley's ability to present information in appropriate sized units, to provide the tools to relate information on this page to other pages, to allow further exploration via sidebars and DVD, to choose appropriate fonts and colors. The book is so well designed for paper format that one immediately trust's the author's ability to produce appropriate web site formats.
The chapters consist of questions built around a particular issue: domain name, hosting, e-mail, design and layout, user experience, construction, content, marketing, search engine optimization, security. These issues represent the full spectrum of elements of a website. This is a real strength as many similar books present only the business view, the techie's view or the user's view.
For each question one finds:
- a very readabile description of the issue and the elements surrounding it
- a visual indicator of the importance of the issue
- very well done examples
- tips, notes, warnings and references to the dvd resource
- rules of thumb
- a list of the related questions
- a list of action items
All the sidebar items are excellent examples of clear, succinct writing. The list give cross-references in a very unobtrusive and manner.
I would prefer that maintenance, blogs and forums receive attention - and a bit less time be spent on marketing and promotion ... but as I said initially, writing a book like this is a thankless task. I thank George Plumley for taking it on.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Website Design and Development: 100 Questions to Ask Before Building a Website

A helpful book-and-video package for building and maintaining a successful Web site
How do you know that you've done everything possible to create a unique, enriching, and successful Web site, particularly when you're hiring others to do it? With Website Design and Development, you'll feel confident that you've exhausted every facet of building a Web site. The clever question-and-answer format walks you through easily overlooked details, acting as a virtual consultant. You'll get clear, easy-to-follow advice on everything from finding a host, design and layout, creating content, marketing, to staying secure. Each question features a rating as to how critical it is to the welfare of the site, allowing you to pick and choose where to spend your time and money, and the answers contain helpful illustrations as well as action points. In addition, your learning experience is further enhanced by the high-quality accompanying video.
Contains professional advice for creating—and maintaining—a successful Web site
Features an accompanying video that offers additional examples, commentary, and advice for each question.
Lists questions you should ask yourself or your web developer and then presents clear, concise answers as well as helpful checklists
Rates each topic as to its importance in the grand scheme of your Web site so that you can determine how to spend your time and money

Website Design and Development answers the essential questions that need to be asked before creating a Web site.

Click here for more information about Website Design and Development: 100 Questions to Ask Before Building a Website

Read More...

Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In the classroom, when I teach web design, unless the courseware comes with templates the students spend the time creating pages from scratch. While this is worthwhile for novices, there are times when you need templates for some web projects.

In this book the authors has given you over 200 HTML templates, which are on the cd-rom, to work with. By following along with the book you'll end up creating over 50 pages. You find yourself working with frames, forms, tables, graphics and CSS.

The book should have had the design outputs in color to allow you to be able to see what the outcome would like. I did like the 3 case studies included, which take you from a basic web page to a very advanced design layout.

The cd-rom included trial version of Photoshop, FireWorks, Flash and HomeSite all of which have newer versions out and should be updated for the next edition. I found the JavaScript Cook to be a very handy and useful tool for creating scripts without an in depth knowledge of the coding techniques.

The other handy utility included in the HTML/CSS Developer's resource guide, which makes the creation of CSS easier. With all the helpful tool and tricks the book is certainly a welcome addition to my HTML/Web Design library. Overall a very good value for the money.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates

This is the must-have book for designers who want to expand their skills and improve the quality of their designs. Learning CSS technology and continually improving one's design and developer skills is essential for every Web designer in today's marketplace. The goal of Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates is to educate beginning-to-intermediate Web designers on the various issues involved with Web design through general discussion, case studies, and specific tips and techniques. Using easy-to-understand language and concepts, the book teaches designers and developers how to create professional-quality CSS-based designs. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is explored, giving the reader a strong, basic understanding of how to get sites to rank better in search engines. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) also is explained, helping the designer create a more efficient site for the users who are already visiting. You'll get the benefit of the author's experience. With more than 15 years of experience as a Web designer for Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, and small businesses alike, Eccher has learned numerous tips and techniques of the trade and discloses them here, saving you time and aggravation by alerting you to potential pitfalls.

Click here for more information about Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates

Read More...

Ajax: The Definitive Guide Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)§
There is a LOT of code in this 950 page book. I guess there is something here for everyone because there is code not directly related to Ajax but is directed to HTML structure or CSS presentational aspects or to frameworks that may include Ajax conveniences.
In fact, the amount of code may interfere with the author's object of appealing to two very different types of people with this book: Web developers and project managers looking for a high-level view. Except for some intro chapters and the odd breather between 10-15 page code listings, I don't think any project managers *I* have worked with would extract much from the book.
The book has 4 sections:
Part 1 - Ajax Fundamentals: the basic technologies that could form the core of a typical Ajax application.
Part 2 - Ajax Foundations: approaches to standards-compliant structure, separation of the presentational layer and client-side behaviors. Code code code!
Part 3 - Ajax in Applications: describes the specific implementations of these technologies into Web applications. More code!
Part 4 - Wrapping Up: tips on optimization.
In addition, there are some reference appendices on XML and XSLT; on JavaScript frameworks; on Ajax implementation risks; and most interestingly, a catalog of freely available Web service APIs.
One thing I did not like about the code listings was the use of Prototype style $() function syntax. This means when I see something like:
var titleText = $('title').firstChild;
I had to check whether .firstChild was a reference to a Prototype object or a reference to the standard DOM object. If the standard object, it would have been a whole lot clear just to have written document.getElementById().
The book index is actually pretty good. With 950 pages stuffed with content, you will probably be thankful for that!
§

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ajax: The Definitive Guide


Is Ajax a new technology, or the same old stuff web developers have been using for years? Both, actually. This book demonstrates not only how tried-and-true web standards make Ajax possible, but how these older technologies allow you to give sites a decidedly modern Web 2.0 feel.Ajax: The Definitive Guide explains how to use standards like JavaScript, XML, CSS, and XHTML, along with the XMLHttpRequest object, to build browser-based web applications that function like desktop programs. You get a complete background on what goes into today's web sites and applications, and learn to leverage these tools along with Ajax for advanced browser searching, web services, mashups, and more. You discover how to turn a web browser and web site into a true application, and why developing with Ajax is faster, easier and cheaper. The book also explains:

How to connect server-side backend components to user interfaces in the browser
Loading and manipulating XML documents, and how to replace XML with JSON
Manipulating the Document Object Model (DOM)
Designing Ajax interfaces for usability, functionality, visualization, and accessibility
Site navigation layout, including issues with Ajax and the browser's back button
Adding life to tables & lists, navigation boxes and windows
Animation creation, interactive forms, and data validation
Search, web services and mash-ups
Applying Ajax to business communications, and creating Internet games without plug-ins
The advantages of modular coding, ways to optimize Ajax applications, and more
This book also provides references to XML and XSLT, popular JavaScript Frameworks, Libraries, and Toolkits, and various Web Service APIs. By offering web developers a much broader set of tools and options, Ajax gives developers a new way to create content on the Web, while throwing off the constraints of the past. Ajax: The Definitive Guide describes the contents of this unique toolbox in exhaustive detail, and explains how to get the most out of it.

Click here for more information about Ajax: The Definitive Guide

Read More...

How to Build Your Own Web Site With Little or No Money: The Complete Guide for Business and Personal Use (How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful...) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)What initially struck me about this book is how comprehensive it is. It certainly lives up to the title, providing a wealth of information on how to build a website without spending a lot of money and then how to get traffic to it. Bruce Brown promises that, even if you have never built a website before, the book has more than enough information to help you do this. A novice like me is, therefore, expecting to see step-by-step instructions on how to design, build and publish a website from scratch.
There is indeed a comprehensive HTML tutorial with additional, if brief, information on XTML and a few other coding languages. If you have the time, you should be able to learn html by following the guidance provided. But for those who don't want to take the time to learn HTML, there's a chapter that describes the advantages and drawbacks of software products on the market that will do the HTML coding for you, such as Microsoft Expression Web and Adobe Create Suite 3. I would probably opt for these products and not spend time learning html. But they're pretty costly, so your decision is going to be based on your time and budget. Luckily, there's a chapter on free website design tools such as Joomla, Wordpress, and NVu that can be used to build websites.
It made more sense to me to have the chapters on web design fundamentals and web content appear before the coding chapters since you need to have a structure or blueprint in place before you start building the site, but both chapters do a good job of explaining in detail how to structure your site for easy navigation and create content that is search-engine optimized as well as user-friendly. There are also fairly comprehensive chapters on website graphics, web page formats, and electronic shopping carts, giving you just about everything you need to create a fully functional business website.
The rest of the book is devoted to SEO, how to generate traffic, PPC and Google Adsense advertising, affiliate marketing, blogging and social networking. Interviews with several web design experts answering the same questions provide additional tips and strategies. And the book includes real-life examples of how several individuals built their own websites and established successful web-based businesses with them.
I have to admit, I was a little intimidated and overwhelmed by what's required to actually build a website from scratch. There were a lot of terms that I didn't understand and had to look up, but I believe, with this book, some time and patience, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to pull it off.


Click Here to see more reviews about: How to Build Your Own Web Site With Little or No Money: The Complete Guide for Business and Personal Use (How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful...)

Web sites are an essential tool that every business must have in today s economy. Only 15 years ago, you could count the number of Web sites in the world with five or six digits; today there are between 15 and 30 billion active Web sites and millions more being added every day. Creating a Web site can be a great way to market a new product, promote your business plan, promote yourself, or simply share a few details about your life with the world. The cost of creating a Web site has risen right alongside the number of Web sites created though and many people are nervous about being able to utilize this revolutionary medium without breaking the bank. This book has been created for just such people, outlining for you in perfect detail everything you need to know to create a traffic attracting Web site, while spending little or no money at all. There are countless resources available, and when you put them all together, they provide a complete toolkit that can make anyone a top notch Web site in no time flat. You will learn how to buy a domain name and host your Web site for less than $15, with no additional fees charged to your account. You will learn how to use open source software like Wordpress, Joomla, and Mambo to create a platform on which you can build anything you want. You will learn how blogging has made Web site creation easier than ever and how sites like Squidoo, Facebook, and MySpace allow you more freedom to build traffic and draw more attention to what you are advertising at any given time. You will learn how to use common software to edit and tweak your Web sites and how to read the basic code that all Web sites are created in. In addition, an entire chapter is devoted to teaching you how to promote your Web site and draw traffic to it, without spending a dime in the process. You will learn why information is the most valuable asset on the market and how you can become an expert in a niche of your choosing, making money to cover any fees associated with your Web site. With the added resource of hours of interviews with web professionals you will learn which free resources not to use and which ones to outright avoid, as well as how to find and install open source modules and tools to enhance the look and feel of your site. You will learn where you can find copyright-free images to use on your Web sites and how to get free copy that will draw traffic and entertain your visitors. You will learn how to keep a free Web site from falling into the traps the major search engines set to stop spam and ultimately how to leverage new friends, business contacts, and interactions out of your Web site. If you are now, or have ever, considered starting your own Web site before, this book will map the way for you.

Click here for more information about How to Build Your Own Web Site With Little or No Money: The Complete Guide for Business and Personal Use (How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful...)

Read More...