27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid introduction to web front-end programming, Nov 17 2004
By Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Paperback)
I really like O'Reilly's Dynamic HTML, but this book is good as well. This book is more of a step-by-step walkthrough of HTML, through XHTML, CSS, layout and at the end an introduction to Javascript. The text is somewhat terse, but it's workable. Screenshots are somewhat heavy, but you would expect that in a book about a visual medium like the web. Some coverage, like Javascript, is a little too light to be genuinely complete in comparison with books like Dynamic HTML. Overall, a solid introduction to HTML, XHTML and CSS.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Bad, but could be improved, Jun 21 2005
By Gopher - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Paperback)
As a person who already has some knowledge in html, I have found the book to be useful, if not entirely what I was hoping it would be.
The book starts at the entry-level of web development and through the course of the book adds to your knowledge base with each proceeding chapter. Chapters go over important features, as well as defunct features you might run into if your looking at the source code of someone else's site and some features that have no function now, but are expected to be useful for the next version of web browsers. For the most part, the information is good though from time to time you will get descriptions that would only make sense if you had played around with web development before.
The book also has the annoying habit of mentioning a feature and then saying "But you'll learn all about that in chapter " which becomes annoying after you've read this and similiar lines for the 20th time. There are also some exercises where you'll find yourself using features the book hasn't gone over yet, but fortunately, it tends to talk about it a little later in the same chapter.
The Appendices in the back do a reasonably good job at grouping everything you've learned for quick access, but often forgets to provide decent details so if you don't remember certain things about an XHTML element for example, you'll find yourself having to flip through the index and rereading that section of the book.
I would recommend this book to someone who is an intermediate web developer or someone with some experience developing websites, but for someone who is a beginner, I'd suggest looking around for a different book.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very thorough page turner, Nov 16 2005
By B. Warrick "Benjamin Warrick" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Beginning Web Programming with HTML, XHTML, and CSS (Paperback)
For being a technical book, this was a very nice read. Similar to other Wrox books that I have read in that their basic format is a thorough explanation of a subject, then a "try it out" where you are able to implement the subject, and finally a "how it work" where the "try it out" is explained.
In addition to teaching html this book goes into other parts of web programming including CSS, JavaScript, and XML. The two chapters on CSS are informative but I would suggest a book dedicated to the vast subject. Each chapter for JavaScript and XML are more of an appetizer to wet your appetite for a more thorough dedicated title.
Could have used some color, especially the HTML color appendix. I would also suggest, if it becomes possible and soon I would think it should, getting an updated addition of this book. This information is certainly up to date but there is much "errata" or errors. One must visit the Wrox web site to gather these "updates" to ovoid confusion. Also, there are several errors not covered in the errata that even I was able to discover. This, however, is part of reading technical books. I don't think anyone purchasing this title is looking for a literary gem.
If I had it to do over I would still get this book. If I lost it I would replace it. And you do stop getting creped out by the author's picture staring at you after a few days.