Review: HTML & CSS by Jon Duckett

HTML & CSS
Design and build websites
by Jon Duckett

Genre: Self-Help, Computer
Publisher: Wiley Books
Publish Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Paperbackback | 512 pages
Rating: 4 of 5

From the Back Cover

Whether you want to design and build websites from scratch or take more control over an existing site, this book will help you create attractive, user-friendly web content. We understand that code can be intimidating, but take a look inside and you will see how this guide differs from many traditional programming books.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the book was how it looked. It is visually stunning with full color, glossy pages and large, easy to read type. Examples of code are placed next to a picture of what it will look like when viewed in a web browser making it easy for the reader to visualize.

The book begins at an introductory level and is targeted at the beginner or user who has some basic knowledge and wants to learn to build a website from scratch using a text editor such as notepad. (Although, if you are serious about writing code I would use one of the notepad replacement editors such as NoteTab or UltraEdit as notepad does not have the features needed to make coding easy.)

The first section is an introduction to HTML and the basic structure of a web page. The presentation is clear and the instruction is easy to understand. In the first half of the book the reader goes through the process of creating a page using HTML. The second half of the book introduces CSS, what it does and how it works. CSS controls the design of the web page, makes it more attractive and visually appealing.

This book is also a great reference manual for those who already know a little HTML and want to have more control over the appearance of their webpage or blog. This is what I want to learn from this book. I’ve taken a few online tutorials and know enough to make basic changes but I would like to do more with design and create my own stylesheets.

I am also learning more about making some simple modifications in appearance here on my blog. I am using a standard template and there are some things I would like to change. For example, I am able to increase and decrease font sizes and change border colors or remove them altogether by using the “style” attribute. I used the ‘abbr’ element to add a definition of CSS. Hover over it and you will see the words “Cascading Style Sheets”. All this is done using the HTML Editor instead of the visual editor and the book shows you how to do it.

Online support is available and examples of code can be downloaded. There are also video demos, tutorials, and reference tools. Whether you are a beginner or already have a blog or webpage and want to change or update its appearance, this book would be a useful resource.
——————————–
Source: Review copy.