HTML5: The Missing Manual Review

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(More customer reviews)I have mixed feelings when it comes to this book. At some point it is entertaining and can teach you the basics of HTML very well, however, it is too basic for a professionals or semiprofessionals. Topics covered within the book are well explained, it covers basics of the HTML 5. You will find here information regarding new tags, new ways of input validation, progress bars, sliders, video embedding, audio embedding, managing the canvas, working in offline environment, etc. If you are not sure whether this book is for, ask yourself question, where you put yourself. Do you start your adventure with HTML? Or maybe you are HTML veteran? If you are about to begin your experience with HTML 5, this book sounds like a good read. At the very beginning, Matthew lays down the basics of the HTML 5. You literally build a simple HTML page by extending it step by step. Second chapter gives you the overview of how to create a structure of the page, how to use new tags and what to avoid (especially the old markups). I really enjoyed part four, where details related to forms are laid down - how to create them, how to validate values, how to provide users with input suggestions - entirely at the browser's side. Video and audio related section will shade some light in terms of the variety of video/audio codecs - there are few of them, and they can make you confused, believe me. Another great benefit is that you get CSS explained by examples rather than by definition. However, you may fell slightly disappointed if you are looking for a CSS reference.
I like the style of the book. It is really simple written, at least that's what I think. You shouldn't have any issues with following what Matt tries to explain. Keep in mind, however, that this book is rather brief overview of HTML 5 rather than comprehensive HTML 5 reference. Great plus for Matt for putting lots of references to external resources and for really impressive examples. You will be guided how to find them at the very begging of the book.

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HTML5 is more than a markup language—it's a dozen independent web standards all rolled into one. Until now, all it's been missing is a manual. With this thorough, jargon-free guide, you'll learn how to build web apps that include video tools, dynamic drawings, geolocation, offline web apps, drag-and-drop, and many other features. HTML5 is the future of the Web, and with this book you'll reach it quickly.

The important stuff you need to know:

Structure web pages in a new way. Learn how HTML5 helps make web design tools and search engines work smarter.
Add audio and video without plugins. Build playback pages that work in every browser.
Draw with Canvas. Create shapes, pictures, text, and animation—and make them interactive.
Go a long way with style. Use CSS3 and HTML5 to jazz up your pages and adapt them for mobile devices.
Build web apps with rich desktop features. Let users work with your app offline, and process user-selected files in the browser.
Create location-aware apps. Write geolocation applications directly in the browser.

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HTML5: Up and Running Review

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(More customer reviews)I must say: I enjoyed going through this book. It is written in an opinionated and slightly irreverent style, so I found it a mildly amusing read.
That being said: why do people buy a book on HTML5? Some would like to have a good in-depth reference on the ins and outs of the new language. Well now - that's not this book. Others might be new to web development and think learning HTML5 would be a good starting point. While they are right that HTML (5 or 4) is the place to start, this book surely isn't.
There's some depth when it comes to background, but much less when it comes to HTML5 itself or how to use it. True, the tag and geolocation are covered pretty much in detail, but the author made some hard to defend choices in spending his paper estate.
HTML5 gives us no more than a handful of new tags, still some of those ( and , for example) are simply mentioned once and that's that. No examples, no advise on where to use them, nothing on browser support. Yet the book takes five pages at the start to tell the story of how the img-tag came into being some 15 years ago. Again, mildly amusing, but probably not the reason you are thinking of buying this book.
Another example: there are 10 pages with a primer on audio and video codecs, plus another 19 (!) detailed pages (with lots of screen shots) on how to use a number of specific and probably soon outdated software tools to encode video for the web. All fine for those who are completely new to video encoding and believe a book on HTML5 should be the starting point for that. But when it comes to the actual tag (under the aptly named heading "At Last, the Markup"), this consists of a meager 3 pages that include a statement like this:
"The element has methods like play() and pause()".
Huh? "Methods like"? So which other methods are there? And how and where would I use them? Are these standardized across browsers? Where can I find more about them? Any example, maybe?
If you think these are the kind of questions a book on HTML5 should answer, you are out of luck. The above sentence is all the information on this particular topic you are going to get. Not a word about implementing these methods, or on how to style the browsers' native video controllers that come with HTML5 support. There are a good number of external references for information on things like Unicode, codecs and video containers, and some useful scripts, but not a word on how we can get the information on how to control and style the tag. Maybe the logical conclusion would be: in another book on HTML5, perhaps?

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If you don't know about the new features available in HTML5, now's the time to find out. The latest version of this markup language is going to significantly change the way you develop web applications, and this book provides your first real look at HTML5's new elements and attributes.

Even though work on HTML5 is ongoing, browsers such as Safari, Mozilla, Opera, and Chrome already support many of its features -- and browsers for smart phones are even farther ahead, especially iPhone's MobileSafari browser. With HTML5: Up & Running, you'll learn how this new version enables browsers to interact with JavaScript much more easily than before. You'll also learn how HTML5 can help you develop applications that:

Display video directly in the browser, without having to rely on plugins
Work even when a user is offline, by taking advantage of HTML5's persistent storage
Offer a drawing canvas for dynamically generated 2-D graphics

This concise guide is the most complete and authoritative book you'll find on the subject. Author Mark Pilgrim writes the weekly digest for the HTML5 Working Group, and represents Google at conferences on HTML5's capabilities. Stay ahead of the curve. Order a copy of this book today.

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