Webmaster in a Nutshell (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Stephen Spainhour (Author), Robert Eckstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Today's Webmasters must be literate in a number of different--and ever-evolving-- languages and technologies. Webmaster in a Nutshell is meant as a tool for dealing with this demanding requirement. Although this title leans a bit toward freeware tools, it offers plenty of universal information as well.

This guide briefly tours the Web and covers basic HTML, tables, forms, and frames in a series of quick reads. (This discussion offers just enough information to jog the memory to proper HTML usage.) You'll get in-depth coverage of cascading style sheets (CSS), the Extensible Markup Language (XML), JavaScript, HTTP, CGI, and Perl. Stephen Spainhour and Robert Eckstein explore CSS in brief but do cover the pending W3C standard. They also provide a refreshingly quick overview of XML. To present JavaScript, the book makes excellent use of diagrams to illustrate the object hierarchy and the way the language works with windows and frames.

Webmaster takes on a decidedly public domain slant in its presentation of server configuration, primarily aimed at the freeware Apache server, and PHP, the freeware server-side scripting language. Even if you don't code with these tools, however, this book offers plenty of industry-standard reference. --Stephen Plain

Review
"Yet another title in the successful In a Nutshell series, this aims to bring together all the essential information in a single volume for Unix webmasters; although much of the content will also be relevant to webmasters working on other platforms? This book is highly recommended for thos who have already got to grips with the subject.- Mike Mallett, Cvu, August 2001 'This book provides a sensible introduction to the topics facing a web master. As with all of the O'Reilly sereis books, although it has a gentle introduction, this isn't a book you'll outgrow in five minutes.- Mark Brett, NUAnces, Decemeber 2000

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 536 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly; 2 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565923251
• ISBN-13: 978-1565923256
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #493,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2nd Ed now has HTML4, CSS + XML, but missing Perl Quick Ref, January 7, 2000

By	Andrew Oakley (UK) - See all my reviews

As an avid fan of the first edition, I was delighted to discover that the second edition covered HTML4, Cascading Style Sheets, XML and the new JavaScript functions.

The book excells as a quick reference to these and virtually all other webmaster areas, including Apache server configuration, CGI variables and much more. You just can't beat it. It replaces half a dozen books costing thirty or fourty quid each!

Once you've grasped the basics of HTML and JavaScript, this may well be the only reference book you ever need.

Now on to the nitpicking... and why I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

I was exceptionally disappointed to see that the Perl Quick Reference that I had been so fond of in the first edition had now been replaced with a mere overview of the cgi.pm module; and that a quick reference to the PHP scripting language appeared to have taken Perl's place.

Yes, I have other Perl references. Heck, I've *already* got the Perl Pocket Reference, Perl In A Nutshell and Linux In A Nutshell (which includes a Perl Quick Ref). But that's not the point.

The second edition, like the first, sells itself as the only book you'll keep on your desktop (as opposed to on your shelf). Sorry, but with the Perl Quick Ref missing, this just isn't true anymore. Perl is the number one CGI programming language and the number one quick fix language. Whatever you want to do, you can rattle up a quick and dirty Perl solution in seconds. PHP just isn't up in that category. I need a Perl Quick Reference on my desk at all times.

I just don't understand the decision to cut the Perl Quick Ref, since it only took up a dozen pages or so. It was as vital to any half decent webmaster as the HTML or JavaScript sections.

O'Reilly, *please*, put back the Perl Quick Ref and earn yourself the full five stars.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life easier, desktop manageable with 2003 THIRD edition, March 4, 2003

By	richardpinneau.com (Colorado) - See all my reviews

I invested in a copy of the THIRD edition and am DELIGHTED. This reference does a good job of putting all the day-to-day needed information in one place. It saves me froming having to keep separate references on HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, CGI/Perl, HTTP, PHP, Apache functions, etc. right in my face.

I really applaud the compact and accessible way each chapter organizes and presents the details of syntax: they are clear yet take up much less space (1/5 the pages of books that are billed as references to each of the subjects included here) while giving you 95% of what a "comprehensive reference" might. I had been concerned that the information might be too compressed to be accessible, but in fact this volume is so much easier to scan through for an answer than many other reference styles. (Kudos to the book designers at O'Reilly!)

Although a reference work, it is not only a listing of syntax (as helpful as those lists are). The authors have compiled pretty readable and thorough mini-backgrounds and basic principles for each of the enormous realms that they document here. These are providing some reminders for me as I am ramp up my knowledgebase and skills; plus there are hints that I have not yet seen elsewhere in weightier tomes (e.g., on performance).

Readers may save themselves some money and desktop/bookshelf space + save some trees: this Nutshell is a vast storehouse that may enable you to forestall buying reference volumes for each of the topics covered here. Thanks to Spainhour & Eckstein for some careful work!

Note to aspiring (novice) webmasters: this IS a REFERENCE book. That is not a bad thing. You'll still appreciate having it by your side because you're regularly going to have basic questions about formating ("how do I say this in CSS instead of HTML?"). However, as one young reviewer below discovered, to BECOME a webmaster (or master) is going to require some "Quickstart" books, some instruction in DESIGN, and STRATEGY, etc. Bon voyage!

[ Further note from my earlier review: be sure you are NOT getting EARLIER edition. Complaints mentioned (below) in reviews of this book are rectified in the THIRD edition (ISBN 0596003579 ). It's probably a good idea to be watching as the reviews of that December 20002 volume to see how the work has changed.
In any event, with browsers and markup languages changing so fast almost everyone can be advised to jump to considering the most current edition -- even though (as of this writing) new copies of this 1999 second edition are still available. ]

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference For Any Web Designer, June 24, 2000

By	Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As a part-time web designer, I'm always looking to learn more "web tricks" and WebMaster In a Nutshell allows me to do just that. The second edition of this book covers so many different aspects of web development. It devotes chapters to new developments in HTML (HTML 4) and JavaScript. There are also chapters devoted to Cascading Style Sheets, XML, CGI, Apache modules, and HTTP itself.

All current HTML tags and attributes are listed, along with JavaScript event handlers. Tables, frames, character entries and color values are also covered in various chapters. Very handy material!

While this is definitely not a tutorial book, it does contain lots of reference material and I learned a few new tricks reading through this book. It's one I'll know I'll refer to again and again when I have a question about how to do a particular task while working on one of my websites.

Also recommended: HTML 4 Visual Quick Start Guide by Elizabeth Castro; and UNIX in A Nutshell by Arnold Robbins.