Cascading Style Sheets: A Beginner's Guide (Paperback)

by James H. Pence (Conductor) "If you know anything about the Internet, you know that the vast majority of Web pages are written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)..." (more)
Key Phrases: slogan paragraph, following style rules, descendent selectors, Internet Explorer, Cascading Style Sheets, Machu Pichu (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Technology trainer and Web site designer James Pence clearly presents the Cascading Style Sheet essentials for programmers and Web designers, including structuring content for cross-browser presentation, building designs using selectors and declarations, and XML integration.

From the Back Cover
Essential Skills for First-Time Developers

Easily incorporate Cascading Style Sheets into your Web designs, using them to control Web page elements such as fonts, colors, and spacing. Cascading Style Sheets: A Beginner's Guide uses real-world examples to illustrate the essential principles of the CSS syntax, and how they structure and present Web content. Learn to create inline, embedded, and external style sheets; use properties and values to influence Web page appearance; and explore CSS design models so that you can develop Web sites and page layouts with style sheets.

This Beginner's Guide is Designed for Easy Learning:

• Modules--Each concept is divided into logical modules (chapters), ideal for individualized learning
• Goals--Each module opens with the specific skills you'll have by the end of the module
• Ask the Experts--Q&A sections throughout are filled with extra information and interesting commentary
• 1-Minute Drills--Quick self-assessment sections to check your progress
• Annotated Syntax--Example code annotated with commentary that points to the particular technique illustrated
• Projects--Exercises contained in each module show how to apply what you are learning
• Mastery Checks--End-of-module reviews that test your knowledge using short-answer, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and simple coding questions

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia; annotated edition edition (November 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007219295X
• ISBN-13: 978-0072192957
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,169,915 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating!, July 16, 2004

By	Babs L. Powers "babspace" (Arlington, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I swear the author of this book goes out of his way to make its readers feel incompetent. While full of useful information, this book is also just as full of typos and inconsistancies.

Do you want to know how frustrating it is to try and re-create a page using the code given to you in a book, have the page come out looking nothing like the example in said book, then finding out the reason for the discrepency is because the author actually coded their example differently? Well there's plenty of opportunities in this book!

I now have to learn inline CSS which I believe might have been covered to some extent in this book. I can't remember. That's how badly I want to forget this book! I'm sticking with CSS for Dummies!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Earnest & Thoughtful, but Repitious and Full of Typos, March 31, 2004

By	OpenMinded (Maplewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This book covers basic CSS. It succeeds in offering a very gentle and fairly comprehensive overview of CSS1 features, with some CSS2. However, his constant warning about the lack of robust support for CSS in browsers is somewhat dated and tiring. The book is also full of annoying typos that at times prevent examples from working--a missing period here, a misplaced semi-colon there. Perhaps to make the chapters (called "Modules" here) independent, there is quite a bit of repetition of the same ideas in many chapters. The gradual introduction of CSS syntax and techniques also seems to incourage the author to use examples that mix CSS and traditional html in ways that are not good CSS practice, just apparantely oversimplified examples to make simple points about transitioning from HTML to specific CSS features. That distinction could be lost on a lot beginners who don't get a more solid understanding of how to use CSS to build more complete and consistent pages and websites. I therefore wish the author would have included more comprehensive examples, rather than lots of smaller out-of-context and disconnected ones. This book is not terrible. I just think you could probably do better now. I would give it 2 1/2 stars if I could.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great textbook but needs to professional editing, April 17, 2004

By	julia (usa) - See all my reviews

It is a great hands on textbook. The author did a great job conveying concepts. Easy to understand especially talking about codes. However a lot of typing error and project data or instructional errors. Misspelled in a lot of places. Information inconsistency. Requires professional editing services. I think the author should continue to write these book. Pence is a good writer but need to make sure information, data or examples are consistent. It hinders the student when trying to do the projects.