Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) [Paperback]

Jon Duckett (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470259310 | ISBN-13: 978-0470259313 | Publication Date: April 28, 2008 | Edition: 2

This beginning guide reviews HTML and also introduces you to using XHTML for the structure of a web page and cascading style sheets (CSS) for controlling how a document should appear on a web page. You?ll learn how to take advantage of the latest features of browsers while making sure that your pages still work in older, but popular, browsers. By incorporating usability and accessibility, you?ll be able to write professional-looking and well-coded web pages that use the latest technologies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS 2nd Edition

Offering a new approach to a familiar topic, this book teaches you how to create pages for the web as it exists today—and how it will be for the foreseeable future. The time for using only HTML coding to write a web page is gone. As the Web has advanced, so have the technologies you need to learn in order to create effective and attractive web pages. This beginning guide reviews HTML and also introduces you to using XHTML for the structure of a web page and cascading style sheets (CSS) for controlling how a document should appear on a web page.

Updated with modern examples, the book explores the evolution of web browsers and how they reflect the way web pages have developed. You'll learn how to take advantage of the latest features of browsers while still making sure that your pages still work in older, but popular, browsers. In addition, you'll discover how to write web pages for the many devices that are able to access the web. By incorporating usability and accessibility, you'll be able to write professional-looking and well-coded web pages that use the latest technologies.

What you will learn from this book

• The different elements and attributes that make up HTML and XHTML and how to use them to write web pages

• Ways to use CSS to make your pages attractive and easy to use

• The basics of JavaScript® so you can add interactivity to your web pages

• How to put your site on the Internet, find an audience for it, and get search engines to recognize it

Who this book is for
This book is for anyone who wants to create web pages or for those who want to improve their web-design skill level. No prior programming or web coding knowledge is assumed.

Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

About the Author

Jon Duckett published his first web site in 1996 while studying for a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Brunel University, London. Since then, he has helped create a wide variety of web sites for companies of all sizes. He has also co-written more than ten programming-related books on topics from ASP to XML (via many other letters of the alphabet), covering diverse aspects of web programming including design, architecture, and coding.

Product Details

• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 2 edition (April 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470259310
• ISBN-13: 978-0470259313
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 9.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > XHTML
  • #83 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > CSS

More About the Author

Jon Duckett has been helping companies create innovative digital solutions for over 15 years, designing and delivering web and mobile projects for small businesses and tech startups through to global brands like Diesel, Philips, Nike, Wrangler, and Xerox.

During this time, he has has written and co-authored over a dozen books on web design and programming.

Jon has not only written his his latest book HTML & CSS (design and build websites), but also designed the entire book from scratch. Dispensing with the traditional template of programming books, he wanted to present the information in a manner that is less intimidating and more relevant to those who have never tried to write code before. The result is a new, exciting way to learn about HTML & CSS presented in full-color, with plenty of info-graphics and photography that really make the title stand out from other books that cover the same topics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid introduction to web front-end programming, November 17, 2004

By 

Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Wrox Beginning Guides) (Paperback)

I really like O'Reilly's Dynamic HTML, but this book is good as well. This book is more of a step-by-step walkthrough of HTML, through XHTML, CSS, layout and at the end an introduction to Javascript. The text is somewhat terse, but it's workable. Screenshots are somewhat heavy, but you would expect that in a book about a visual medium like the web. Some coverage, like Javascript, is a little too light to be genuinely complete in comparison with books like Dynamic HTML. Overall, a solid introduction to HTML, XHTML and CSS.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, but could be improved, June 21, 2005

By 

Gopher (East Lansing, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Wrox Beginning Guides) (Paperback)

As a person who already has some knowledge in html, I have found the book to be useful, if not entirely what I was hoping it would be.

The book starts at the entry-level of web development and through the course of the book adds to your knowledge base with each proceeding chapter. Chapters go over important features, as well as defunct features you might run into if your looking at the source code of someone else's site and some features that have no function now, but are expected to be useful for the next version of web browsers. For the most part, the information is good though from time to time you will get descriptions that would only make sense if you had played around with web development before.

The book also has the annoying habit of mentioning a feature and then saying "But you'll learn all about that in chapter " which becomes annoying after you've read this and similiar lines for the 20th time. There are also some exercises where you'll find yourself using features the book hasn't gone over yet, but fortunately, it tends to talk about it a little later in the same chapter.

The Appendices in the back do a reasonably good job at grouping everything you've learned for quick access, but often forgets to provide decent details so if you don't remember certain things about an XHTML element for example, you'll find yourself having to flip through the index and rereading that section of the book.

I would recommend this book to someone who is an intermediate web developer or someone with some experience developing websites, but for someone who is a beginner, I'd suggest looking around for a different book.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough page turner, November 16, 2005

By 

B. Warrick "Benjamin Warrick" (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Wrox Beginning Guides) (Paperback)

For being a technical book, this was a very nice read. Similar to other Wrox books that I have read in that their basic format is a thorough explanation of a subject, then a "try it out" where you are able to implement the subject, and finally a "how it work" where the "try it out" is explained.

In addition to teaching html this book goes into other parts of web programming including CSS, JavaScript, and XML. The two chapters on CSS are informative but I would suggest a book dedicated to the vast subject. Each chapter for JavaScript and XML are more of an appetizer to wet your appetite for a more thorough dedicated title.

Could have used some color, especially the HTML color appendix. I would also suggest, if it becomes possible and soon I would think it should, getting an updated addition of this book. This information is certainly up to date but there is much "errata" or errors. One must visit the Wrox web site to gather these "updates" to ovoid confusion. Also, there are several errors not covered in the errata that even I was able to discover. This, however, is part of reading technical books. I don't think anyone purchasing this title is looking for a literary gem.

If I had it to do over I would still get this book. If I lost it I would replace it. And you do stop getting creped out by the author's picture staring at you after a few days.