Customer Reviews

HTML & XHTML Pocket Reference: Quick, Comprehensive, Indispensible (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly))

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This pocket reference is not recommended for HTML newbies. Instead, it is for those who are already familiar with XHTML and HTML and just need the facts in a concise format for quick reference. Particularly commendable is that any time a shorthand name for a technology is used, DTD for example, that term is defined completely so that you don't have to go back and forth among several references to look up all associated terminology. It has been four years since a new edition of "HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide" was published, and this little guide does a good job of showing what has changed over the last few years. I recommend it for all who want to keep up-to-date with HTML and XHTML without buying yet another 400 page book. Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here.

HTML & XHTML FUNDAMENTALS
How XHTML Differs from HTML
Three Versions of (X)HTML
Minimal Document Structure
DOCTYPEs for Available DTDs

ALPHABETIC LIST OF ELEMENTS
Common Attributes and Events
(X)HTML Elements

CHARACTER ENTITIES
ASCII Character Set
Nonstandard Entities (,-Y)
Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1)
Latin Extended-A
Latin Extended-B
Spacing Modifier Letters
Greek
General Punctuation
Letter-like Symbols
Arrows
Mathematical Operators
Miscellaneous Technical Symbols
Geometric Shapes
Miscellaneous Symbols

SPECIFYING COLORS
RGB Values
Standard Color Names

My bookshelf at work just got about five pounds lighter with the addition of this book... HTML & XHTML Pocket Reference (3rd Edition) by Jennifer Niederst Robbins.

Contents: HTML and XHTML Fundamentals; Alphabetical List of Elements; Character Entities; Specifying Color

This is a great pocket guide, and exactly what I look for in this type of book. No fluff, just well-documented information that's easy to find, with a small number of examples to show you the format. I really appreciated the documentation on which elements and parameters are deprecated. This comes in really handy if you're looking to code strict XHTML, but you're unsure as to whether a certain feature is going to be supported or not. In most cases, I know the general tag I want to use, but I might be a bit confused as to the exact format of the different arguments. With the pocket guide, I can find that tag in seconds, see the options, and move on. I love it.

The book I've been keeping on my shelf at work for HTML reference is one of those five pound doorstops that covers absolutely everything. The problem is that I have to check the index to find what I need, and I end up using a different book for CSS information. With this pocket guide, I can retire that book, gain more room for other titles, and give my poor shelf a bit of a rest... :)

Large books, by their very nature, can have good points and bad points. After all, if you have a couple or several hundred pages worth of material, you are bound to get some things right and some things wrong.
But these pocket reference books from O'Reilly are great. They aren't for learning, rather they are what they say they are: a pocket reference. (Nice to see some truth in advertising for a change.)
If you buy this book you will use it. A lot. Period.

I'm a big fan of the O'Reilly Pocket Reference series, but this one was a bit disappointing. While the basic content is there, the book is less than 100 pages and seems to only be a wrapper for three tables defining the common elements, character entities, and colors. Only the first five pages attempt to provide any foundation for the tables. Missing are more general references on forms, tables, scripting or even techniques for relative/absolute addressing. Probably most surprising was the lack of an index. For a pocket reference, that seems a pretty major oversight.

What kind of a reference book doesn't have an index? Sure, the tag reference is in alphabetical order, but that only helps if you remember what the tag is. Also, I had a brain fart this morning and couldn't remember the exact syntax for a comment (I work with way too many languages)- couldn't find it. That's what a pocket reference is supposed to be for, the little things you can't remember!

If you understand html/xhtml and have to edit html source code on occasion (but not necessarily what you do all day long), this is a great little reference. The descriptions are useful, but short enough so you're not wading through pages of superfluous verbiage.

I also like the notes for each attribute, which are things like "deprecated", "XHTML only", or "Nonstandard". While some people might be used to the "IE attributes vs. other browsers" notes in references like this, this reference makes no mention of browser supportability other than to note "nonstandard" attributes. I like the fact that it sticks to the spec and doesn't go into browser compatibility issues.

I didn't have the earlier version with css that another reviewer mentions. That would have been a nice addition for sure. But even without that, this is a handy little reference book for finding attributes and elements that you may not use every day. The quick overviews at the beginning provide a fast refresher. I also appreciate that each listing also notes whether it is nonstandard, deprecated, not in HTML5, etc.

Yes, this can replace a boatload of other books. And, yes, sometimes it's still faster to just do a Google search. But this book has earned a permanent spot next to my computer --until the next edition comes out.

The table of contents is minimal, and the real reference content is in one big section of tags in alphabetical order, so you have to page down until you get to what you're looking for. Also, the 4th edition of the book from 2000 had great appendices with CSS information, but that's missing from this reference. The lack of a good ToC or any index makes this not useful for quick reference.

I have read this reference book twice through in preparation for an exam. I know it's not set up to be read from cover to cover like a normal book, but it worked great for a quick and easy to carry around review for the exam.

This book covers all of the fundamental concepts of (X)HTML, including the differentiation between HTML and XHTML. You will get a complete list of elements (a.k.a. tags) along with all attributes that apply to each element. This book also does a good job of identifying the elements and attributes that are deprecated for XHTML. Examples of each element are included, but they are very generic and simplistic. Overall, you get the essentials of what you need to know about (X)HTML; therefore this book is a must have for web developers.

This book does not contain an index. As far as the elements are concerned, an index is not necessary. They are in alphabetical order, so an index of the elements would be redundant. Honestly, every time I needed to reference this book, I was able to locate exactly what I was looking for without the need of an index.

Hi there,

This is really a great book!

I needed a reference for HTML to help me work on my "invention" which is an HTML parser...It goes to web-sites, parses each page and finds the URLs embedded inside the HTML tags.

The main part of this book, HTML Elements, which covers 70 pages, is extra-ordinarily well made. It gives you all the information those monster +500 pages do but it is only pocket-sized and easy to carry.

I will use this book so that my "invention" knows the HTML syntax; and any other HTML projects I begin.

Big thanks to Jennifer Niederst Robbins and O'Reilly Media, Inc.!

'til next time,
Charles Darakdjian