Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
Book Review: HTML, XHTML, CSS - Superb Read!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was was by far one of the most enjoyable learning experiences I have had in recent times. It literally does throw you in "Head First" but it's unique style and sense of humour manages to pull it off. It starts of with the basic introduction to the web and HTML tags, browsers but the way it teaches you is so clever, emphasing the logic and need for industrial strength code which is unusual for informal books like "Dummy's" series (which I can't stand!!). I must point out that this book is based on real HTML 4.01 strict form, moving on to XHTML 1.0 and CSS. If have experience in previous legacy versions of HTML then the hardest thing will be to un-learn what you already know. Experienced or non experienced, this book is designed to be read from cover to cover and is not a reference and it by no means covers everything but it does cover the main topics/standards and does get quite advanced while retaining the terrible (but strangely amusing) sense of humour. On top of all this there are a couple of website design scenarios that develop througout the book as you learn more which covers practical aspect of things.I highly recommend this title, Superb.
Book Review: Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML
Summary: 5 Stars
i am absolutely glad i bought this book. with no experience in html, i must say, this book taught me in details how to write a website and gave exlplanation every step of the way. this book is very interesting and keeps you interested all way through unlike some books which makes you yawn after a few pages.
it is a book i will recommend to anyone, be it a novice or an expert.
this is one the best books..... i am waiting for other books from headfirst.
Book Review: The Freemans have done it again - another superb Head First
Summary: 5 Stars
Head First books have the power to induce unrestrained enthusiasm from their devotees. Expect much raving below.I am an utter HTML newbie and I've never read any other books on HTML or CSS, so I can't comment on how complete the coverage of the book is. However, after having read this book, I had a poke around a few HTML and CSS files, and understood what they were doing, so it must be fairly complete. As a brief indicator of the scope, the book takes you from HTML no-hoper to designing a multi-columned web page considering different float, jello, and fixed CSS styles. The last two chapters cover tables and forms (that's things like radio buttons and text areas), but doesn't cover scripting or server side programming.
I also ran a few web pages through the W3C validator, and then felt extremely smug when I understood when they failed. I look forward to making myself very unpopular with my web-designing colleagues with this newfound knowledge.
What I can comment on with more confidence is the learning experience. I started reading this on Friday evening, and finished it on Sunday afternoon. It is a joy to read.
If you've read a previous Head First book, you know what to expect, although this book has the added bonus of full colour pages and higher quality paper. Curious about HTML, XHTML, CSS? Buy without hesitation. Nice to see the Five Minute Mysteries from Head First Java back, too.
If you've not read a Head First book, then expect a tutorial rather than a reference. Calling it a tutorial does it a disservice, however. There is little in the way of traditional exposition in Head First titles. You will never see a page of plain text.
What you will see are a succession of engaging scenarios with slyly waggish pop-cultural references; recurring characters setting tasks, asking the questions, and playing out the concepts you're introduced to; copiously annotated fragments of code and the resulting web pages; small puzzles and crosswords. Even when there are multiple ways of doing the same thing, instead of a simple table listing the pros and cons, you're more likely to see an anthropomorphised head to head discussion or an interview.
Sounds a bit gimmicky? Sound like it'd be really annoying? It's not - it's almost perfectly judged, and it's the secret of what makes this a compelling learning experience. Everything is conversational and humanised. The pacing is spot on, and there's an energy to this that has you wanting to read just one more chapter.
For a book about CSS, this is no small achievement. If you're interested in building your own website or simply just curious about what HTML can do, buy it without hesitation.
Book Review: Great Beginners book but can be improved
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received the book and already using it. The level for which it is written is perfect for a beginner of HTML who is quite confident using a computer(like myself), does not enjoy idiot books with the many pages of large type, limited information, and the price tag that matches the number of pages. The layout is excellent. Each concept is introduced then you get to practice it and finally you are provieded the reason for what you just did. Plus there are additional excercieses to reinforce what you have just learned. As I started my leaning of HTML I did find one obstacle. The obsticle I did find is the instructions are not always clear. For example in chapter 2 you have to download a zip file from their site that is used through the rest of the book. However the book does not state where on their site you can locate it nor does it give you the complete path for the file. I spent 30 minutes trying to find the area on the site to download the file and then try to figure out what file to use. Luckily I read a bit further and the information I needed was located on another page a bit further down. Had the information been a bit clearer I would have easily given this book 5 stars.
Book Review: Very clear very clever
Summary: 5 Stars
Be aware this is a book for beginners, you have to know how to use a computer but if you already know html then this is unlikely to tell you much.However, if like me, you've been wanting to have a go at making a website for some time but have seen those enormous teach yourself websites in 24 hours type books that are dense with text and screenshots, and low on humour and have thought, this is too much, this is the book for you.
All the lessons are laid out in such a way that it takes you through the basics and explains what you need to know without overloading you with tags and hyperlinks and validation very smoothly. Little lessons, and you may find yourself wanting to push ahead sometimes, but they stick with you. Some of the talking heads pieces seem a little like overkill but I can see their value.
The book covers html, which is the basic language that makes websites, css which controls the style of the site and xhtml which will help your website remain viable even with the constant changing those guys who come up with these things insist on introducing.
It's a very good book and I would heartily recommend it.