Beginning XHTML [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Dave Raggett (Author), Jenny Raggett (Author), Ted Wugofski (Author), Cassandra Greer (Author), Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer (Author), Frank Boumphrey (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) is the next-generation base markup language for the Web. XHTML moves the now standard HTML to a valid XML syntax to fill the current compatibility gap between HTML browsers and XML parsers. Beginning XHTML introduces the reader to XHTML, but goes well beyond the relatively minor language differences to provide a well-rounded tutorial on Web markup.

This book easily meets the authors' goal as a "hands-on practical approach to learning how to build Web pages." Although the text begins with a straightforward explanation of why XHTML exists and its differences from HTML, most of its content explores particular markup topics such as frames, multimedia, style sheets, and scripting. Readers who follow the numerous examples closely will soon find themselves implementing the syntactical rules of XHTML, even if they are used to regular HTML code.

Plenty of tips and detailed explanations of important concepts distinguish this book from many of the other HTML books on the market. For example, the authors take the time to explain some of the subtleties of image size optimization like running solid colors horizontally in GIF files to maximize compression. Another quite useful example shows how to use JavaScript to pass data between separate pages in a frameset.

Tons of highlighted code snippets and screen shots illustrate the material, and the detailed blow-by-blow commentary gives the book a nice flow. If you're looking for an HTML tutorial, forget it and pick up this forward-looking XHTML title. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: XHTML history, linking, image formats and optimization, tables, frames, meta-data, style sheets, XML, site structure, page design concepts, XHTML-supported media types, multimedia integration, XHTML forms, JavaScript, Document Object Models (DOMs), Mozquito Factory, and FML.

Product Description
XML (eXtensible markup language) is the newest markup standard for the Internet - it is the new HTML. XHTML is a language that uses the vocabulary of HTML and the syntax of XML, and as such makes the best of both worlds. It allows you to markup pages with the simplicity of HTML, but has additional power, because it is extensible, which means that you can create your own tags. As we move forward to a world where we can access the Internet via devices other than the browser, XHTML will become increasingly important, allowing you to write the same content once, which can then be viewed in a variety of ways.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 700 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press; 1 edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861003439
• ISBN-13: 978-1861003430
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,197,242 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great beginners guide as long as you know some HTML, August 26, 2000

By	Jim Parshall (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This is a good book for learning XHTML. It is not as "programmer-ish" as the other two major contenders (XHTML: Moving toward XML and XHTML Language and Design Sourcebook). Containing both very good examples (yes, there are some mistakes name me a computer book that has none) and some of the best descriptions and graphics of difficult topics I have seen to date, this book illustrates a difficult (relative to HTML) topic well.

I have read through it twice now and paid particular attention to not just the text but the flow as well and must say it is well designed. Yes, I see the incontinuity here and there though I do not believe this is a major issue as it makes its points quite well.

It has excellent coverage of the media tag and also how the whole parsing process is done. As a person who has helped to write courseware for some pretty major companies I understand the challenges in covering a topic like this. It is bound to have some issues here and there as they are basically attacking a moving target. Yes, there is a specification put out by the W3C, but that does not make the topic stand still. If I were to pick one book to begin teaching someone XHTML this would be it. Then I would move on into others, like maybe reading the spec from the W3C itself.

The only caveat I have on recommendation is that this technology is NOT for beginners. One needs a grounding in HTML 4.1 before starting on this book. Go through a book on that first. A good one is the one by Peachpit Press "The Visual Quickstart Guide to HTML 4". Great stuff. You don't need to be an expert to go on to this book, but it would help to have some vocabulary and basic ideas down before reading this book.

Have fun with it and welcome to a new age of web design!

Jim Parshall

34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Actually, would give it four stars..., June 18, 2000

By A Customer

...but I want to make a point to Wrox Press. While the book is a valuable resource in terms of offering a fairly comprehensive overview as is commonly the case with the Beginning... series, there are two cases in which there is a glaring lack of professionalism. The most egregious of these is the chapter on FML. One of the authors has a company that produces a software tool that (ostensibly) allows you to make quick work of FML. This author wrote the chapter on FML. Surprise - the entire chapter is about how to use his company's software product. Furthermore, at the beginning of the book there is a passage that is essentially an indictment of Microsoft for alleged anticompetitive practices. I am not used to seeing such abominations as these in titles from Wrox Press; say what you will about Microsoft, the author's software, etc., the point is that none of it has anything to do with the subject at hand, on which Wrox Press typically focuses like a laser. The editors really dropped the ball in a couple place on this one - there were two authors who sorely needed to be kept in check.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Learning "Forward Compatibility", February 2, 2002

By	"snowwyrm" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

It is not for utter beginners. You need to know something about HTML and the Web before reading this book. That being said, it does a wonderful job of explaining XHTML, introducing XML and explaining where XHTML came from, and describing CSS. It also throws in a basic introduction to JavaScript and has a chapter on Mozquito, a program for producing XHTML Forms right now. The appendices are not reiterations of the book and are invaluable. For myself, the best appendix is the one on the XHTML DTDs. They clearly explain which element is supported by which DTD -- something which is not easy to find on the Web.

My critiques of this otherwise fine book are as follows:

1. It tries to cover too many topics.
For instance, the basic introduction to JavaScript was unnecessary, especially in light of the fact that Wrox publishes an excellent tutorial on the subject entitled Beginning JavaScript. The chapter on Mozquito is completely irrelevant to a person trying to learn XHTML. It's like trying to stick a chapter on Dreamweaver into an HTML book: it just doesn't belong.

2. It lacks an appendix on the XHTML character entities.
It's not a tragedy, but it is annoying since the character entities are just as much a part of XHTML as its elements and attributes are.

Despite these criticisms, I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in making their Web sites "forward compatible." Fortunately, the book can work both as a reference and a tutorial on XHTML.