Head First: HTML with CSS and XHTMLISBN 10: 0-596-10197-X
Cool: Aimed at newbies but still gob-smackingly interesting for the professional.
Uncool: Not a lot.
Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman offer up another choice book in the Head First Series and this one is very funny and very insightful. I was touched by the authors' perserverance in making every step of the learning process an enjoyable experience for their readers. And, I found that even from the book's dedication that I was chuckling to myself and wanting to read more. (To the W3C for saving us from the browser wars and for their brilliance in separating structure (HTML) from presentation (CSS)... And, for making HTML, CSS and XHTML complex enough that people need a book to learn it.
If you've ever wanted to learn HTML, CSS and XHTML but were too afraid to ask or didn't know what to ask ... then this is the book for you. Aimed at complete newbies but providing humour and techniques for the Professional as well ... I fell head over heels for the funky, diversified and seriously educational elements in this book ... and if you browse the chapter headings below, you'll see that they pretty much have it all covered:
- The Language of the Web: getting to know HTML
- Meet the HT in HTML: going further with hypertext
- Web Page Construction: building blocks
- A trip to Webville: getting connected
- Meeting the Media: adding images to your pages
- Serious HTML: standards compliance and all that jazz
- Putting X into HTML: moving to XHTML
- Adding a Little Style: getting started with CSS
- Expanding your Vocabulary: styling with fonts and colors
- Getting intimate with Elements: the box model
- Advanced Web Construction: divs and spans
- Arranging Elements: layout and positioning
- Getting Tabular: tables and lists
- Getting Interactive: XHTML forms
- And, the Appendix: The Top Ten Topics (we didn't cover): leftovers
Each Chapter has something a little different, from hand drawn sketches to crosswords to cartoons to puzzles to code correcting and tag naming exercises ... and they're all there with the aim of teaching you something ....
Seriously, if I'd found this book when I first started learning HTML way back in 1997 I would have been in heaven ... I know HTML has come a long way since then but to have all my questions answered in the one spot, to have learning exercises specifically catered for the non-internet literate, to have "humour" ... eh ... what am I saying, no book could possibly have ALL that!! Well, it appears this one does. Its a keeper ... and I imagine it will become well worn in my personal library.
So ... as you can see the book earns a double thumbs up from me ... I'll leave you with something else from the Head First team ... "Learning isn't something that just happens to you. It's something you do. You can't learn without pumping some neurons. Learning means building more mental pathways, bridging connections between new and pre-existing knowledge, recognizing patterns, and turning facts and information into knowledge (and ultimately, wisdom)."
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