Web Standards Programmer's Reference : HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and PHP [Paperback]

Steven M. Schafer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764588206 | ISBN-13: 978-0764588204 | Publication Date: August 5, 2005 | Edition: 1

• This invaluable resource offers tutorials and real-world examples as well as thorough language references for Web markup languages (HTML/XHTML and CSS), and popular scripting languages (JavaScript, Perl, and PHP)
• Examines the role of JavaScript, CGI (with examples in Perl and Python), and PHP on the Web and shows how to best use them all
• Includes a valuable reference section on each technology that can be used for review and consultation

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Web Standards

HTML, CSS, JavaScript,® Perl, Python,® and PHP

Serving as both a "how-to" guide and a reference, this book is one-stop reading for all the essential Web standards—XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, CGI with Perl and Python, and PHP. In today's web environment, professional web coders and serious enthusiasts need to create documents and scripts that comply with published standards so your content can be viewed on as many web-capable platforms as possible. This book teaches the standards and technologies necessary to achieve that desired result.

Packed with examples for learning each of these standard technologies and followed by detailed references to each language, this book provides a total package for moving your web publishing to current standards-based coding.

What you will learn from this book

• A solid background and understanding of HTML and applying XHTML to format specific document elements
• Using CSS to select and format text, margins, colors, and other elements and position them on the page
• Applying JavaScript for client-side scripting and dynamic content delivery
• Using server scripts and CGI with the popular Perl and Python languages
• Publishing rich, dynamic content using the PHP scripting language
• The importance of following web standards to ensure compatibility with as many user agents as possible, including Internet Explorer, the increasingly important and popular Firefox, and the latest crop of mobile platforms
• How to avoid browser-specific code and deprecated tags and attributes that cause your documents to be unusable for many users

Who this book is for

The book is for programmers and web coders who want to learn web standards-compliant coding.

Wrox Programmer's References are designed to give the experienced developer straight facts on a technology, without hype or unnecessary explanations. They deliver hard information with plenty of practical examples to help you apply these tools to your development projects today.

About the Author

Steve Schafer is a veteran of technology and publishing. He programs in several languages, works with a variety of technologies, and has been published in several technical publications and articles. He currently is the COO for Progeny, an open source-based service and support company. Steve can be reached by email at [e-mail].

Product Details

• Paperback: 812 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (August 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764588206
• ISBN-13: 978-0764588204
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #786,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars replaces 6 books [one for each language], August 9, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Web Standards Programmer's Reference : HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and PHP (Paperback)

How the Web has grown! In doing so, and aiding its growth, has been the use and development of several languages. Naturally, Schafer starts with the language that birthed the Web - HTML. Actually this needs its dual ("twin") on a server, http. But Schafer discusses http in a later chapter devoted to CGI.

Hopefully, you should be able to appreciate that HTML is simple. In fact, of all that the book discusses, HTML is the simplest language. Several initial chapters walk you through HTML. It must be stressed that mastery of HTML is needed to make sense of the rest of the book.

The later languages either extend the scope of an HTML file, or they generate the file, roughly speaking. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) lets you easily factor out common definitions that are used across multiple web pages, where you can imagine that each web page corresponds to a file storing it. Schafer explains how to use CSS to simplify management of a set of HTML files. A centralised way to set common fonts and the like. More robust.

But HTML is a declarative language. Good, because laymen can more easily understand and write such languages. It's easier to say what should be done, than how to do it. But for the times when you need more expressive power on the browser, Schafer offers JavaScript. A procedural language that actually has nothing to do with Java. [The coincidence in names was a marketing ploy.]

Schafer does not ignore the server. CGI is given, as the first generation attempt at server side code. Its limitations spawned the use of Perl, PHP and Python for easier parsing of user input and generation of new dynamic pages.

Each of these languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, PHP and Python) is often the subject of its own book. No surprise then that Schafer explaining all 6 gave us a book of this length!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great beginners reference book for beginners!!, May 24, 2007

By 

Manuel Lopez "P.M.$." (Big Spring, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Web Standards Programmer's Reference : HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and PHP (Paperback)

This is a great reference book for beginners... I myself am a seasoned systems analyst and already had books that covered most of the basic topics discussed in this book. There were no real world examples and nothing about the pitfalls of using web standards before they are even supported by popular browsers. Like I said at first, it is a really great reference book; and if you need one to get started, this is it! You will still need a book dealing with the methodology variations in coding.

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of good information., September 20, 2010

By 

B. Jackson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Web Standards Programmer's Reference : HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and PHP (Paperback)

Tons of stuff covered in this book with a handy appendix for each major topic. Easy to follow and explanations keep things simple, allowing you to speed through many topics.