Customer Reviews

Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was my first purchase from the Nutshell series and I was particularly pleased with the content. The layout is very tidy and easy to navigate.

I would consider my knowledge of the internet and web design at an intermediate level, and I would recommend this book to anyone other than a complete novice. Each section is concise and to the point and does not assume too much.

The section on CGI scripting and Server Side Includes, I found invaluable. It was easily explained in basic terms and provided plenty of examples to get these working. In addition there are lots of references in the book to resources available on the web.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read, if you want only one web reference book on your desk this year, this should be it.

This is a nutshell book, plain and simple. It's not intended to teach you HTML but it will help you hone your coding and web design skills. I read this book after learning HTML from Sams' "Teach Yourself HTML in 4 Hours." The former provided the appetizer, this book provides the meat and potatoes. It's best feature is the tips and tricks sprinkled throughout each section, particularly as they apply to getting the same effect in different browsers. The book also highlights IE quirks and Netscape bugs for various HTML tags and provides examples for workarounds. Most invaluable are the various tables included in the text: "MIME Types and Subtypes by Extension," "Decimal to Hexadecimal Equivalents," "Colors w/ their RGB and Web-safe hex values," and a full listing of character entities (@=@). You may be able to find this info. elsewhere, but rarely in one location as it is here. I would highly recommend this reference for any webmaster's desktop library.

I'm amazed at the range of topics covered by this book, especially because it was published in early 1999. It contains information on HTML 4, PNG, animated GIFs, multimedia, JavaScript, dynamic HTML, and XML. There are several noticable gaps, however. For example, the <!DOCTYPE> tag is not described, and information on character sets is very limited. But almost everything that most web developers need to know is covered.

The book's biggest weakness is that much has changed in the past two years. HTML 4.01, XHTML, Java servlets, MNG (animated PNGs), Internet Explorer 5.5, and Netscape 6 have appeared. Of course, this book doesn't mention any of these. If you want to stay informed of the latest technologies, you'll have to buy a more up-to-date book in addition to this one.

I will only be repeating what other reviewers have said, but if I could have just one book on my desk, this would be it. I'm notorious for purchasing a new book each week on every aspect of information design and web development, but few catch my attention for longer than a week (yes, it's a vicious circle). It is rare that I'll reference one after my initial read.

However, Web Design in a Nutshell has not left my side in the 18 months I've owned it. It was my introduction to CSS & layers, is a wonderful Javascript and HTML tag resource, and has just enough about Unix & CGI scripts to get me through.

Let me put it this way: I refuse to lend this book out to people anymore, because I always end up reaching for it. I'm thinking of purchasing a second copy exclusively for lending out.

In my quest to find the best all-around book for HTML learning and reference, all roads seemed to lead here. I was fortunate, therefore, to have stumbled across it over a year ago, in Israel, of all places, where a friend of mine was teaching himself everything about the web entirely from this book. I figured if he could go from zero web and programming skills to a relatively accomplished web guy (which he did), the book would probably be of good use to me. I was right.

Granted it is NOT for pure beginners... if you barely know how to switch on your machine, this book will be daunting. But even if you are just starting out at web design or making the switch from Print to Web, this is an invaluable book, going into useful detail about web-specific issues, print-vs-web stuff, as well as a very complete reference which never leaves my desktop.

This whole "In A Nutshell" series has been a constant companion for me in the last few years - they are absolutely wonderful.

Very comprehensive, and a great reference for techie-types who are diving into web design and development. I keep one copy on my desk at work, and one next to my computer at home. Niederst captured a number of things better than most authors: the 216-color web-safe palette, image types, HTML forms and tables, cross-browser compatability, and live space (the amount of space, in pixels, you have to work with depending on monitor resolution, platform and browser). If you want to take your understanding of web design to the next level, buy this book.

This one covers it all--from web design to working with image files to HTML coding to designing a file system to configuring Apache. There's a lot of stuff that's in here that ISN'T in O'Reilly's "HTML: The Definitive Guide"--including configuring server-side includes (a glaring omission in the other book). Not a beginner's book (the Visual QuickStart guides from Peach Pit Press are better for beginners), but if you need a quick reference for web design, this is the one.

What a great book! <lots of praise>

Concise, just great. There are already 46 reviews so I am not sure what more I can add, I just want to say that it is very worthwhile.

If you're having doubts and browsing the reviews, as I do, then let me assure you it is a great book.

Firstly, it will serve as a good reference when you know it all.

Secondly, it will help you learn it all.

WARNING: if you are very very much a beginner, you might also want some other beginner books to get you into it. I still recommend it, but perhaps with another, beginner book as well.

If you are computer literate it will help you learn FAST ... rather than wade through lots of nonsense.

Read the other reviews - nearly everyone thought it was great, except 2 people and I honestly think they are confusing this book with some other book ...... perhaps they just came out of the nutshell.

If you are working in IT you should have heaps of cash anyway so get it ... lol

This has to be the best reference book around for web design. It covers all concepts of web design and includes a full list of tags in the HTML 4.0 specification plus what is and isn't proprietary to a particular browser. From CSS to Javascript to Images and SSI, this book brushes the basics on everything. It isn't a book for learning about web design, it was written for those who already know something but need quick look ups. I keep this book next to my computer at all times and even take it with me on the road if I know I'll be working on design. I always refer to this book first when I have a question on web design. It is a must have reference book!

The nutshell series books has another winner. Nice compact book that fits on your desk with a wealth of concise, useful information. In 30 minutes I found 6 things that I had be trying to figure out how to do for a year. Covers what works in what browser, really well. Very readable too.