Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
by Elisabeth Freeman, Elisabeth Robson, Eric T Freeman
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Book Reviews of Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
Book Review: Finally an HTML/XHTML/CSS book that I could make it all the way through!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have just finished -- from page 1 to 649 -- learning HTML, XTML, and CSS while having fun and actually being able to create a great looking website from scratch.
For years, I've used Dreamweaver and Flash to design websites. My clients loved my designs and were totally impressed with my sites, but something was missing in my life. I really wanted to learn what it was that I actually was doing. What did all that code mean? Could I be more efficient?
You can tell how many times I tried to learn HTML by the number of books on that subject on my shelves. They have all sorts of publication dates and some of them are just various editions of the same book! I started to read each of them with all good intentions but I'd bog down and never get to the part where they put it all together. It wasn't their fault. I learn by example, not by explanation.
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML is amazing. I was hooked at the very first page. It's not often that you read, let alone laugh, through a table of contents! The authors have fun with the subject and give you the information in various ways. Concepts may be discussed several times, but never in the same format. I learned so much! Now I'm taking apart the code of some of my websites and turning it into simple, elegant code that is much more efficient.
The only thing that I found that I really wanted in this book was an introduction to how JavaScript works in this environment. I know there is another book in the series, Head First JavaScript, that I will be buying soon, but it would be nice to have more than a few paragraphs at the end of the HTML book about the use of JavaScript in the XHTML/CSS environment since it is used a lot in sites.
Kudos to Eric & Elisabeth (and their hard working staff). I am looking forward to seeing the next books in their series -- perhaps Head First Web Design?
Book Review: interesting, but the real world is another thing
Summary: 2 Stars
i read "head first html" with satisfaction, and it is very effective about learning theoretical good practices in web design (you definitely can't say complete, if you consider - just for example - how funny is the absolute positioning when you get the real mechanism in some third order blog)
i could say that there is no mention about serious advanced techniques to actually do what we all really see and experience in thousands of web pages, but this is not the point
the point is that in real world internet explorer is the pace maker, and the hearth of web is actually suffering from that
that means that this book does not say that (about) none of some serious css and design techniques will not work on internet explorer (you can say absolute positioning, floating, margins, pngs... check sitepoint css reference [...]-alphabetic and enjoy dozens of "red boxes" about internet explorer compatibility with css or run your acid 2 test at [...] or... well, it is a full time job)
what this book should have done THESE days (internet explorer 6 and 7 being still in use for years) is to teach the way to create real world webpages - "practice" (how WE can do it) after "theory" (how THEY at microsoft should do it)
but who cares real world? if you take the absolute positioning example again, you can see that it is one of main way internet explorer breaks your designs, but fortuity wants that there is no serious information about this topic in the book we are talking about (and you will complain that)
being serious, i see there is no critic and educational approach in head first series (you still think that java is the best language in the world? if you only read head first java you could think so)
so, no hope in next "versions" because head first is politically correct
Book Review: Maybe best for a beginner
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm a beginner. I like the facing pages of html text vs display, which I feel is necessary for learning html. I also like the "no dumb questions" column, which I use to take a breather and make sure I understand the concepts.
I have mixed feelings about the authors' style. Supposedly conversational, it does seem quite chatty. The intro is all about how they intend to teach and why. They tell you how they're going to get you to stop thinking about tigers, and you can guess what I'm thinking about two days later. They tell you to not skip the Exercises, but I'm going to take my chances with the Exercise Police because I want to try some of this for my own purposes (I have a blog). My encounter with the Starbuzz coffee shop manager was enough to put me off my coffee, even though I learned some html.
At the end of the day, I have to edit what I've read in order to retain the good info. I feel like putting sticky notes or paper clips on the good pages, or taking notes. At least they don't omit much. This book would be easier to carry around if they would present the material more succinctly, by skipping the distractions. I'm going to make this a 4-star book, even if I have to put big red X's all through the book.
I understand the popularity of the book - it's like learning without learning. My own motivation is a little higher than that.
I originally rated the book at 4 stars, but after being away from it for about a week, I'm downgrading it to 3. I realized I was avoiding the book. I also got a key concept (for me) by referring to www.w3schools: very succinct in about 1 paragraph. I found how to test my knowledge on my blog. While reading some more, I dodged entire pages, and not just because I was skimming the material. I have been looking for a better book, and I might have found it.
Book Review: 118th 5 star rating
Summary: 5 Stars
Needless to say that 117 reviewers before me were not mistaken.
At first, I was surprised (and somewhat skeptical) with the number of great reviews that this book had received to date. However, as an Electrical Engineer adventuring into HTML/CSS I decided to give this *inexpensive* (specially for a college student's budget) book a try.
If any of you know an Electrical Engineer by now, you should realize that we are not the most avid readers; that is why I was *shocked* when I finished reading this book (638 pages) in three (3) days. It is *that good-of-a-reading*, and here is why:
1. As most people emphasize, the learning tools provided by the authors (casual tone, interactive exercises, lots of graphics, good sense of humor, etc, etc, etc...) make the reading quite interesting. Please note that I have read less than five books from start to finish, being this one my first *technical* one that I've read completely.
2. They cover all the ground from the basics of HTML, all the way up to XHTML (which is really not a long way up ;-) ), and of course, they explain in great level of detail the whole CSS ordeal. All concepts are explained in the most straight-forward manner, so they are easy to grasp on the first read.
3. I personally did not use the HTML/CSS files available on the website (read paragraph below for why I didn't do this) because I was able to visualize all the content just using the book, after all, every example is illustrated on the book's pages as it would look on the computer browser; however, it is quite nice for people who want to learn-by-doing to have this content readily available.
[...]
Way to go, Beth and Eric! Can't wait for you guy's PHP+MySQL book to come out.
Cheers,
Cisco
Book Review: First Tech book EVER That I Read Cover To Cover!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been in the web development business for more than 10 years. I bought this book because I wanted to see where I stand in terms of the latest web development technologies and techniques, and to close any gaps in my skill-set.
This book turned out to be the first tech book EVER that I read cover to cover! What a fun read it was! The format in which the book is written, makes it a breeze to read. It might be more than 600 pages, but it's not like other 600-page books that are often a struggle to get through.
This book taught me a lot. I always simply used "HTML 4.01 transitional" because it seemed the easiest and is the most forgiving. Now I know more about the other specifications and why it is good to write "strict" HTML, or rather, XHTML. I now understand what XHTML and CSS are supposed to be used for in a web page. I think I used them the right way at least 80% of the time, but now that I understand the real role of each, I can do it right 100% of the time. I used to use tables for layout, but now understand the "box model" and using CSS for layout. I have learned a lot more about CSS and writing my styles in much more efficient ways.
If you are a web guru who has always kept up with the latest stuff, this book will be a waste for you. If you are someone who knows a lot about web development, but want to make sure you are current and possibly close some gaps, this book might be one of the best web dev books you'll ever read, and it will be a breeze. If you are just starting out, this book is a great place to start. It will take you a little longer to get though because you'll be doing all the exercises (if you want to do it right, anyway), but you will have a decent set of current skills by the time you get to the end. I highly recommend it!