Monthly Archives: November 2006

CSS Mastery: One Paragraph Review

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CSS Mastery by Andy BuddIn the introduction to this book, Andy Budd writes “There are an increasing number of CSS resources around, yet you only have to look at a CSS mailing list to see the same questions popping up time and again.” In that sentence, he’s neatly summarized this book. The material contained here is certainly available elsewhere, and will be nothing new to power users, but if you’re looking for a handy compendium of fairly advanced techniques, you’ll get a lot from this book. Particularly nice are the chapters explaining image replacement and multiple-column fluid layouts, as these methods are hotly debated online, and it can be difficult to find good information on which technique works best. Andy compiles the best methods here and allows you to see the benefits of each. (If this book were a college course, it would be 200 level.)

Web Standards Solutions: One Paragraph Review

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Web Standards Solutions by Dan CedarholmDan Cedarholm has written a very nice book introducing the reader to the concept of web standards. Unlike Zeldman’s book, which is nearly all theory, this book is heavily focused on markup techniques, with some basic introduction to CSS. Each chapter presents a variety of scenarios, such as how to mark up a grocery list. Several techniques are discussed, and the advantages or disadvantages of each are explained. If you’ve been in the web standards game for awhile, there’s nothing new in here, but if you’re just getting started, this can be a helpful guide to understanding the semantics of markup. (If this book were a college course, it would be 100 level.)

Designing with Web Standards: One Paragraph Review

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Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey ZeldmanIf you want to be a successful musician, you don’t just pick up an instrument and learn to play, you also study music theory. Similarly, if you want to be a successful web designer, you need to learn theory as well as code. Where most books cover code and technique, this book is the definitive guide to the theory of the web standards movement. Having co-founded the Web Standards Project during the height of the browser wars, Jeffrey Zeldman has been at this longer than most of us, and in this book, he shares his theories and best practices, along with a bit of history – like a grizzled war veteran sharing his experience. This book should be required reading for anyone looking to get involved in the web industry. (If this book were a college course, it would be 100 level, and required to graduate.)

One Paragraph Review?

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My idea was to call them “one paragraph reviews” to highlight the fact that they’re intentionally short. Annie thinks it sounds clumsy, and I can see what she means. Any suggestions for a better title? Maybe “30 second review” or “short review”?