HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible [Paperback]

Steven M. Schafer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470128615 | ISBN-13: 978-0470128619 | Edition: 4

Decipher the code, use the right tools, and conquer the online world of the World Wide Web. This comprehensive guide demystifies HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so you can create sophisticated and interactive Web pages, robust applications, and as many other ways of interacting on the Web as you can think of. You'll even learn to code cool content for many mobile devices that include a browser. Inside, find all the tools, tips, and techniques you need to succeed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Speak the right language and the Web is yours

Decipher the code, use the right tools, and conquer the online world of the World Wide Web. This comprehensive guide demystifies HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so you can create sophisticated and interactive Web pages, robust applications, and as many other ways of interacting on the Web as you can think of. You'll even learn to code cool content for many mobile devices that include a browser. Inside, find all the tools, tips, and techniques you need to succeed.

• Explore the underlying structure of all Web pages

• Learn the basics of text structure, meta tags, links, and more

• Write scripts, master dynamic HTML, and use CSS editing tools

• Create Web pages for mobile devices with XHTML Basic

• Harness new Web 2.0 features with microformats

• Add colors, backgrounds, multimedia, and interactivity

• Clean up, test, and validate your code

Companion Web Site
Code samples from the book are available for download at www.wiley.com/go/htmlxhtmlandcssbible4e

About the Author

Steven M. Schafer is a Linux, open source, and open standards advocate. He served as director of certification and development for the Free Standards Group and as CTO of a Linux-based software company specializing in Linux and open-source–based, enterprise-level software and services. He is fluent in many programming languages, including PHP, Java, JavaScript, C, and shell scripting as well as Web technologies HTML and CSS. He is the author of several books, ranging from game strategy guides to books about HTML, CSS, JavaScript, LAMP technologies, and others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 720 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 4 edition (March 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470128615
• ISBN-13: 978-0470128619
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,025,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, December 29, 2004

By 

Opera Browser User - www.opera.com (Curitiba, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible (Bible) 3rd Edition (Paperback)

The title is misguiding. It's everything but an HTML, XHTML & CSS Bible. Title should read "Become a webmaster in a month". I expected to have: - The full HTML Specification with an example for each definition - Same for XHTML (DTD, rules to respect, validation, etc...) - Same for CSS and *PLEASE*, at least the basics of tableless CSS layout If the book were to expose the aforementioned information, it would exceed the 800 pages, and the author wouldn't have had to put some more information that is useful, I agree, but it's off-topic, sorry. The author should stress a lot more on standards. Standards are important, and one can't call a book a "Bible" if it only covers 75% of HTML, 50% of XHTML and hardly covers basics of CSS. It lacks information on the PNG file format (open source). Mention of the Opera Browser is almost non-existent, even if it's the most standard-compliant browser. Using tables to create a layout is old-fashioned and many good books (by Dan Cederholm, Jeffrey Zeldman or Eric Meyer) proove that one should *NOT* use tables for layout so that structure and content are clearly seperated from presentation. Without this discipline, the web won't be able to evolve toward XML. The book talks about image retouching, which again is off-topic, pretty much like SMIL, multimedia, FTP, maintainance, databases, weblogs, PHP & MySQL. I noticed several errors, and then I stopped writing them down. These are some of them: - p.93 PNG, is stored without being compressed doesn't loose color or image quality, and does support transparency. At least this can be achieved in Photoshop CS. - p.108 I find it sad that the author doesn't show how image maps are done with circles and polygons - chap.9 "Special characters" should show a sample for every single entity - p.184 The author puts the e-mail address into the code. How is it possible?! With all the spam problems people keep complaining, how come the author doesn't display the e-mail address thanks to a javascript to hide it from spambots? - p.188 in Part III instead of in Part II - p.210 He forgot that the label tag can nest the radio button and the text without ID. - p.284 div.div1 table should read div.div1>table - All examples are shown in IE or Netscape 4. Why not show modern browsers (Opera 7.8, Mozilla 1.8, Firefox 1.0) - p.379 user agent is not Opera but Firebird This is not a bad book, it has a lot of useful information, but what drove me nuts is that I wanted a "Bible" for these 3 languages. I had to buy other books. I hope now people who buy this book know it's a general-purpose book on web design.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not a Reference, August 23, 2007

By 

Richard Cabral (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible (Bible) 3rd Edition (Paperback)

If you are an experienced coder looking for an strict HTML, XHTML, or CSS reference, I suggest you move on to another title. If you are a novice in HTML using a WYSIWYG editor and want to start getting into the HTML code itself, then this is a good book for you. I bought this book to refresh myself in HTML, and CSS being away from it for several years. I program in VB and VC++ and have many programming references that are excellent and very concise. Unfortunately this book is neither. The writers persistently wander off on long winded tangents that seem to ramble on and on.... and on! The analogies had me scratching my head wondering just what exactly the comparative <sp> was? There are many small chapters in the last half of the book that are nothing but fluff and offer no real information.
In closing, there is useful information in this book for the novice. However it is not complete or in any particular order. Happy hunting.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Textbook for Beginners, January 4, 2006

By 

David J. Lauridsen Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HTML, XHTML, and CSS Bible (Bible) 3rd Edition (Paperback)

I have used this book as a textbook for an "Introduction to HTML" class I taught. I looked at several references prior to choosing on one, and this was by far the best formatted and most appropriate for those with little to no existing knowledge of HTML.

The previous reviewer's complaints are mostly unfounded, in my opinion. The appendix contains a more or less comprehensive listing of all HTML tags and their usage, etc. The chapters are well organized, easy to read, and comprehensive. If this book spreads itself a little thin at times trying to cover so much ground, it is necessary due to the inherently connected nature of HTML, XHTML, and CSS. Covering only HTML would not be useful for beginners who want to gain a basic understanding of these technologies. I assume the "HTML 4 Bible" by the same publisher is more what the previous reviewer was probably looking for.

I highly recomend this book to anyone wishing to learn HTML.