Web Books

Instead of reading this book from front to back I read the sections as needed. PHP isn't the only language I dabble in so I haven't had many opportunities to go through the book but the sections I have read are very well written, informative and easy to read.

I would say this book could be utilized by a novice or experienced PHP programmer. The author covers topics starting advanced enough not to bore the hell out of the experienced and thorough enough not to loose the novice.

I'm a bit of a novice PHP programmer still, and I found this book accessible and useful. The scripts are well commented, well explained, I have found them to be secure thus far (I have limited knowledge here but they seem to adhere to best practices), and I can find what I want quickly. When they have special needs like JavaScript or something, they explain why afterward. Each script also has a "How It Works" section afterward. Before each script, they have intro paragraphs saying what is needed in order for it to work, such as a pre-created directory or something.

I can recommend this book to other PHP programmers at the novice/beginner level as well as the more advanced levels.

Generally, I'm not a big fan of cookbooks (for programming!) but this one is really good. A great reference to have as you are coding and think "oh... how do i do X again?" or just to read and review. Another use - give a copy to your friends who STILL are writing PHP 4 code!

I highly recommend this book. It covers all aspects of PHP 5, including OOP, without getting bogged down. Though this book consists of contributions from four authors, it comes together as one smooth read. Its full of examples and hits its mark very effectively. It makes a great companion to the Zend PHP 5 Certification Guide. Well done!!

I normally don't write reviews unless I had a bad experience. However, in this case, the PHP 5 Recipes book is an exception! I love this book! The examples are CORRECT!! The information I need is very well organized - I really love the way that the book was organized! I wish all of my tech books for other languages were arranged in this problem-solution manner. The information you need to build a robust and well organized and valid website is here in the book! I definitely highly recommend that you get THIS book if you are thinking about doing some php work. The php code they have is on the mark! The authors included more than I needed by including a section on XML/XSLT with PHP. Definitely get this book!

I have purchased many books on web site design and usability, most of them more expensive than this one, and yet this book is the one with worn pages because I go back to it again and again. Many "how to" books give you plenty of tips but never tell you what to do with them. Not this one! This book gives you sound, no-nonsense advice about what works on web sites and what doesn't. Part 1 clearly explains the "hows and whys" of crucial web site elements, while Part 2 tells you how to put what you learned in action. And as if that's not enough, you also get real life examples of how it all comes together, whether you're selling products, are a one-person show working out of a home office, or a large corporation. I was so impressed with the level of knowledge demonstrated in this book that I recently participated in Marcia Yudkin's (the author's) Web Marketing Makeover mentoring program. If you want your web site to bring in business you should read this book and religiously apply what you learn.

I don't normally do reviews or read work-related books, so this has been an interesting process. After all, I sweated through college, marketing qualifications and I've run an internet business for three years, so why do I need to read what some American who I've never heard of thinks - after all, its not really relevant to a UK-based business... Wrong!

What a great book - I had to keep putting it down to make notes on changes needed for my sites. Marcia thinks about this stuff all the time, whereas most of us don't, and she really takes apart the whole site and marketing process. It's all about the detail, about how the site visitor sees our offer, one that we are over-familiar with but so often fail to get over in a few seconds. It is when you realise how massively you could increase the return on your objectives by making simple changes (what are the objectives of your website, by the way?) that you realise the power of this book.

Marcia takes you though all the elements of your site, step by step - why you have one, what you want it to do, the copy, design, style and real nuts-and-bolts stuff. Throughout she illustrates her point with screen shots of hundreds of sites - and there are some very well known ones in there that still fail to fully exploit the opportunity. Plus, a selection of make-overs - some seem minor, but have documented results, for example, $24,000 of extra sales in one month. Her style is very open, non-technical and moves at a pace that doesn't make assumptions on acronyms, jargon and your physical location - so often US books seem irrelevant to overseas readers. There are also lots of references to further reading, for example, on copy-writing, too many sites just lift pre-approved copy from printed brochures that fails in a new medium.

So, who should read it? Me, again, for a start. With specialist sections or even whole chapters for professional practices, membership or charitable organisations, local small businesses like B&Bs, organisations selling single or multiple products, there really is something for everyone. If you're the owner of a business, or the person that's directly responsible for websites in a business, you'll find it a useful read. Why not buy it for a colleague to read and report back on if you can't spare the time yourself? And the key point is change will not cost big money, so you really can see a return on modest spending - a couple of hundred pounds will make a difference to most sites. Perhaps that's the acid test of the book: whether you actually do anything after reading it that in turn actually pays off. If you don't do anything at all, then I think you've missed the point.

One thing that may put you off is the legend `Poor Richard's' across the top of the book and the cover style - I've no idea who Richard is, nor his pecuniary standing and the folksy cover may suggest the book's audience is low-budget, but this does it a disservice. Its also not expensive - ...

So, in summary, the chapters that make up 200 pages of readable and thought-provoking writing, are organised in two parts - site elements and then implementation. I make no apologies for including the chapter headings as they help illustrate the breadth and relevance of this book: Elements: the name plate; navigation/on-site searches; copy; who are we?; building trust; content as bait; gathering leads/members/subscribers; order forms/customer service and graphics/layout. Putting it all together: single product sales; multi-product sales; solo service provider; professional firm; advocacy organisation; event reservations; local businesses and internet services. This is followed by a makeover checklist and pages of further resources in print and online. Go on, read it, implement it and reap the rewards - and tell me if I'm wrong!

Mark Wibberley ...

There are so many books on designing websites available today that it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume. Among these it is rare to find one that really stands out from the crowd. Marcia Yudkin's "Website Marketing Makeover" is an exception to this rule. She avoids a lot of the fluff that tends to be in other books and gets right down to the nitty-gritty of website design. One of the things that I particularly liked about the book is that she not only provides advice but also provides the means to actually accomplish the goal. For example, most of the website design books discus the need to see what your website looks like using different browsers. Marcia's book also makes this very important point. However, she not only makes the point but also points the reader to software and websites that can help determine what your website looks like in different browsers. When other books are saying what to do without telling you how to do it, Marcia is showing you how.

From beginning to end, Marcia lucidly explains what works, what doesn't work, and why. Although it is predominantly focused on how to "turn visitors into buyers" and so is most appropriate for a site that sells something, there is a lot of information that is also appropriate for any site including purely informational ones. "Poor Richard's Website Marketing Makeover" is a highly recommended read for anyone looking to create or improve their website.

I have been procrastinating in upgrading our website so I figured I'd read a few books... a great way to procrastinate some more. Well Marcia writes in a step by step practical way, creating a marketing foundation first then getting to the beef. I'm now educated and inspired, have a notebook full of notes and ideas that I'm actually implementing. It's getting done. I'm actually recommending this book to friends who are redoing their marketing message since the first two chapters do that so well... great book, not heavy, beefy info.

My mind is spinning; this book is awesome! I have been successfully selling on the web for 2 years and have even paid some "big names" to critique my site, but I have found TONS of ideas and changes I need to implement as soon as possible. Ms. Yudkin writes in a specific, down-to-earth manner; her suggestions make SENSE and she includes many before-and-after examples. The advice in this book will undoubtedly save me time and increase my sales.

Very good book - covered the material well. It uses detailed examples and steps all along the way, even showing VS.NET dialogs and what to do in each. I ran into a few issues to figure out on my own when actually implementing real workflows in professional code, but WF just carries a pretty steep learning curve and you have to pay your dues somewhat. No book could ever cover every possible scenario. The workflow manager class sets a good example, but you'll want to build one that's more robust and tailored to you own coding and design styles.

This is THE nuts and bolts book for Windows WF. The author is very good at communicating his point succinctly making all 684 pages a joy to read for those interested in WF.

All areas of WF are covered in good detail. You learn everything from developing a no-code workflow to developing dynamic workflow and also workflow that communicates with web services and much more. The author starts small, in the first 13 pages you develop a "Hello Workflow" app and he goes over all of the auto-generated code. From there the book takes off.

One thing I really like about this book is that it really does assume you are at least an intermediate developer. You don't have to read 1/2 a page on how to create a new project, he just assumes you know how. I don't know how many times i've read an "intermediate" book that introduces collections by chapter 7 and shows you an animal hierarchy by chapter 12. For once it's nice to read a book cover to cover and just learn the whole time. The pacing in this book is perfect. It's not too hard to grasp any of the concepts as they are being presented yet it's not the type of book where you have to thumb through 1/2 the book because you already know how to declare variables and apply conditional logic.

At the time of this review all reviews have been 5 stars - and for good reason. If you're a developer comfortable with C# but have no knowledge of WF then this is the book for you.

I just wanted to heap on the praise for this book. It is complete, well organized, well-written etc etc. If you're new to WF, I highly recommend it.

This is a well written book that I have read in recent times. If you are .net developer and looking for the nuts of bolts of WF, you need this book. I have read only 3 chapters and already very impressed with the author. The author explains in DETAIL everything about workflow. In fact the author also explains about unit testing a workflow. Great Book!

This is by far the best book in the market on WF for a programmer. If you do its programming exercises it easily replaces a 5-day hands on training course. Now that is a great ROI. The book is very easy to read and understand.

I would recommend the Essential Workflow Foundation by Dharma Shukla as a companion book. This one gives an insight into what .NET 3.0 WF does in the background to make it all happen. Also if you were to try to use WF without Visual Studio, Dharma Shukla book would be the right one to pick as it does not use VS at all.

I've been using QuickTime for nearly ten years, and have often been frustrated when trying to explain to people that it is not just for video and sound any more. The frustration stems from the lack of examples and explanations to use these powerful features for non-programmers. This book changes that. It explains clearly and wittily how to use QuickTime to enhance your website or CD-ROM, and take advantage of over 10 years of cutting-edge digital media technology for free.

[Full disclosure - I work for Apple on the QuickTime Engineering team, and know the author - believe me I wouldn't endorse this book if it wasn't great]

This book is a must have if you plan on working with QuickTime to make multimedia content available! I call this book 'a rare find', as it is great for beginner through master, leaving few questions unanswered or stones unturned. The text is a good mix of "how to" information combined with "tips and tricks" to get your implementations to work.

I purchased this book for its material regarding steaming content over the Internet, and learned a great deal in the process. The chapter on QuickTime VR answered my "how do they do that?" questions, and has led me to explore the use of this technique for my upcoming projects.

The QuickTime VR chapter is a good example of the depth of knowledge used to develop this text, as it gives in-depth information on photography techniques that only a mid- to experienced photographer would know.

My only criticism of the book is that it only begins to explore about half of the knowledge needed to set up your own streaming web server, but I can hardly fault the authors for that -- it says right on the cover "A Hands-On Guide for Webmasters, Site Designers, and HTML Authors." It says nothing about being aimed at System or Network Administrators. If your main interest in this book is the setup of streaming servers, you might want to consider another book (or better yet, purchase this book along with another to round out your knowledge).

With the ... QuickTime Pro included, I can say without reservation that this is one of the best computer book values I have ever purchased. The book paid for the rest of the cost by showing me how to trick Microsoft Internet Explorer / Windows Media Player in such a way that it will not try to open your .mov files (great in a Windows-dominated environment)!

Highly recommended, even if you have only a passing interest in QuickTime.

This is an important resource for anyone who is serious about maximizing the potential of Quicktime. At Rayhawk.com we have been using this book to enhance our web productions and the results have been noticable, not only to us, but to our clients (KFC, Taco Bell, BMW, Porsche).

The book is full of useful info and the author is fun and helpful. He assumes we have little prior knowledge with either QuickTime or HTML and by the end of the book, he teaches us how to produce some amazing content.

Mastering QuickTime is essential to quickly and easily building exciting, dymamic and interactive web sites. This book (QuickTime for the Web) is essential to mastering QuickTime for the web. It has saved me more time and energy than any book I've bought in the last two years.

This book is a must have! From how to create VR with interactive sounds and sprites - to getting your video or photos streaming on the web - this book shows you how. As a web master of a site with over 100 different Virtual Reality and QT movies, I found this book (and the free tools and interactive sprites for my use) to be invaluable. I reccommend it without hestitation. Luke Wonderly, Web master - vrbakersfield.com

Compelling! The Tangled Web is my first ever "mob book". The pace certainly propelled me though it fighting off sleep to do so. The author's use of crime terminology brought realism to the page. His desciptive narrative brought color to the black and white of the time period.
I am a fan of murder mysteries which this was not. At times I thought the story was influenced by the fact that the author was also his brother and was "easy" on this corrupt man. Possibly he has been "too easy" on this character, Dick Cain, I thought but the last chapter changed my thinking. Dick Cain was clearly a sociopath from my perspective and they often have ingratiating personalities thus the portrayal.
Michael Cain writes brilliantly particularly noting his extensively poignant vocabulary. I do hope he continues to express himself with his writing talent.
The plan is to send this off to a friend who is anxious to read the book in Detriot. Linda Jean

I picked this up on a recommendation from a friend, and could not be more pleased that I did. Written by Michael J. Cain, this is the account of Richard Cain's life and times in crime. A Mafia solder for Sam Giancana, Cain worked both for and against the law to further his agenda. This is such a fun, interesting read that anyone can enjoy.

Dick Cain was my father's sister only son. I knew him very well. All the family ever knew about him was the good things. High police offical, polygraph expert, electronics nut, Bay of Pigs organizer, dependable friend, etc. I personally coveted his 1953 black Ford sedan when he used to hang around my father's warehouse. But then, I also lusted for a new 1949 army surplus jeep that I never got. When I was old enough I was given the opportunity to join the mob. He gave me a cousin to cousin talk convincing me this would be a bad career decision with the simple biblical phrase, "he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword." He also convinced my sister who had just lost everything in a bad divorce not to go into prostitution. He was a really great guy and I loved him.

Bob Todd
formerly Roberto Scalzitti

One of the most esteemed JFK assassination researchers, Dr. Peter Dale Scott has long been intrigued by the life and times of Richard Cain.
As both a respected cop and a ruthless murderer, Cain personified Scott's assertion that "deep politics," the shady nexus of elected power-brokers and underworld forces, determined the course of history in the 20th century.

As a made member of the Chicago Outfit who also rose to the position of Chief of Special Investigations for the Cook County Sheriff's Police, Cain clearly operated as a deep political player.

This new biography of Cain reveals that he was also an international operator whose travels took him to Mexico, Japan, Colombia and Cuba.
Although he has occasionally been named as a possible shooter and/or conspirator in the JFK hit, Cain is apparently exonerated by this new bio.

The book, with the wordy title "The Tangled Web: The Life and Death of Richard Cain - Chicago Cop and Mafia Hitman," was written by Cain's half-brother, Michael J. Cain. It includes eight pages of photos.
As a relative of his biographical subject, the author offers many personal observations of Cain as an aspiring Chicago PD cop along with plenty of family history. One amusing anecdote has Cain and his police partner attempting to stab a dead wino's body so they could call in the homicide cops to take the stiff off their hands.

Before Dick Cain rose through the CPD ranks and, in the 1950s, became a bag man for the Outfit delivering payoffs to fellow police officers while guarding the interests of his best friend, Sam Giancana.
As his focus grew national, Cain mastered the operation of the polygraph machine and also became an adept wiretapper, two talents that well-served both his upperworld and his underworld bosses. Cain taught those skills to Mexican authorities and also had considerable contact with CIA operatives whom he hoped to impress with his investigative capabilities.

In a chapter barely more than four pages long, the author deals with the JFK allegations by claiming that on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963 Dick Cain was waiting to testify to a grand jury in Chicago. But since he has turned up only one witness to that scenario, Michael Cain's mind remains open. "I welcome any new evidence," he wrote.

Anti-Outfit politicians and Judge Julius Hoffmann (famous for his role in the Chicago Eight trial) sent Dick Cain in prison during the late-1960s, but by 1973 he was back on the street and still scuffling between the Outfit and the Feds. Giancana had been exiled to Mexico, so Cain took up with a burglary crew led by Marshall Caifano, who may have eventually engineered Cain's murder in December '73, at Rose's Sandwich Shop, about a mile from The Loop.

"Corrupt cops lead complicated lives," the author writes, and later, "Dick Cain was a complicated guy, to say the least."
Even though "The Tangled Web" makes few direct contributions to our knowledge of what occurred in Dallas, it paints a vivid portrait of the deep political corruption that was epidemic in major metropolitan centers during the 1950s and '60s.

For that alone, the book sheds important light on a world previously cloaked in darkness, a world in which the killing of a president and the cover-up of his murder was no longer unthinkable but actually inevitable.

Imagine having a half brother who was both a highly decorated police detective and a "made" soldier in Chicago's Giancana crime family. That is the story that unfolds as Michael Cain describes the double life of his half-brother Richard. Richard Cain was rumored to be involved in the CIA plots to assassinate Fidel Castro and he was also named as one of the mob hit men supposedly involved in the assassination of JFK. He was appointed Chief Investigator for the Cook County Sheriff's Department at the same time he was on the payroll of mob boss Sam Giancana. What is amazing is that Richard Cain's corruption was widely suspected yet it did not prevent him from moving up the ranks of law enforcement. Along the way he also found time to bug foreign embassies, pass himself off as a psychologist and become and informant for the FBI. The book is mesmerizing read and covers many aspects of organized crime in Chicago from the 1950's to the early 1970's.

I wouldn't say Flash MX is for the beginner, so if you are a fairly well versed PC user, and are trying to begin working with Flash, then this book will do the job. It offers a good table of contents which helps you find the information and directions you are looking for. It offers quality step by step instructions with illustrations to follow. It will help you to create a basic flash project, and does offer some advanced techniques.

Overall, I recommend this book as a good step by step guide. Just be sure you are really ready to take on such a powerful and often complicated multimedia program before you spend the cash!

I first got this book because one of my favorite websites recommends it. I got up and running pretty fast. The book made the learning curve pretty easy to ride. The only "negative" thing I have to say is that once you're up to speed, the book just fall short of one's appetite for power. But a good beginner book overall.

This book is perfect for beginners who are just starting out. You will learn Flash MX through step-by-step visual instructions. The book is excellently organized and has perfect chapters as you move on. By the end you will grasp all the great things you can do in Flash MX. It is an excellent way to jump in to ActionScript. Every lesson has a screenshot of Flash MX and show clear steps. So, get this book and see what this book can do for you.

This book is really easy to understand and easy to go about it. If you are a newbie and need some hints on "how to do", this is the book you need. Pretty simple, efficient and pack with a punch. For me, it was breeze and just to refresh things I had learned from past versions, yet I had never put it to use until now. If you are like me, and you want to know what is new on flash mx version. Be ready to breeze through, but if you are newbie. Be ready to dig in deep.

This is an excellent book, not just because its from a Canadian author. I picked the book up about a year ago but never gave it much chance. I finally decided that I wanted to learn Flash so I began to go through the book. In 5 days I finished the entire book and I learnt so much from this books style. Instead of the way alot of books are written, where you work on a project and apply a bunch of techniques to it, this book shows you all the functions and where they apply to without all the hassle of having to create a big project to learn new concepts. Excellent book for people who are new to Flash.

This an awesome book. This book is the to have for all web developers.

This text book is of very high quality and an engaging read. Apart from the expected target audience of web developers, I will suggest that website owners and non-developers should consider getting hold of this vital textbook.

The fact that it leaves you wanting more is a compliment to its quality. Even though it is bulky, I wished it had covered certain areas in more detail.

One small criticism relates to the javascript examples. The discussion of events refers to techniques that are questionable in terms of robustness and re-usability, issues that, to be fair, the author does point out. [Background; search for "addEvent considered harmful" in your favorite search engine.] Yet no definitive solution is given, and the reader is left hanging. More serious is the very poor quality javascript code sample given for the cssjs() utility function, which is poorly designed (needs to be repackaged, should be a class), is inefficient, and is fragile as it contains (at least) two immediately apparent critical bugs.

But such small gripes should on no account not put you off buying this text. The overall verdict, "Outstanding."

Anyway, the numerous authors are to be congratulated. Indeed, given the size of the field and the rapid pace of developments, a second "part II - advanced" volume would be a very good idea indeed.

If you are serious about accessibility (and you should be), this book will not dissapoint. The authors know what they are talking about, and do a good job and presenting both the facts and their opinions in a clear relavent way.

The only reasons I do not give it 5 stars is many items within the book are redundant (I think due to the great number of authors (11!), and perhaps they wanted the book to serve as a reference also), and because the presentation is generally dry. Good information, but not coffee-table reading.

Still in all, as a web developer I would highly reccomend this book to any other developer weather you just want a little understanding of accessibility, or a big dose.

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, written by eleven experts and released in July of 2006 by friends of Ed, is one of very few books about web accessibility. It is also the best. The writers include luminaries and pioneers in accessibility - Jim Thatcher, Cynthia Waddell; and technical experts - Christian Heilmann and Andrew Kirkpatrick, to name a few.

The book is an overview of accessible best practices in web technology, and the legal landscape it inhabits. It was compiled with several target audiences in mind.

Certainly, it is intended for developers - newcomers as well as veterans. This is the group that most needs to understand the technology, and unfortunately, seems to "get it" the least.

Another audience is the managers and administrators; that group that should be most adverse to risk and whose responsibility is to keep their government and corporate employers out of the courts and headlines (like those that have embarrassed [Target retailer]). Covered in some detail are the ADA section 504 and section 508 requirements, and in lesser detail international laws.

The technical information is very current. There is a chapter on accessible JavaScript (most would consider that term an oxymoron) even though it has only recently seen coverage in articles and blogs online. Likewise, there is good information on making Flash content accessible.

A book assembled as a compendium of contributions begs to be updated frequently. The next release, for example, could add much needed chapters on AJAX and Web 2.0, podcasting, and learning management technologies. Regardless, all practitioners of accessibility will find this book valuable.

Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance is the
perfect reference for any site development team. Everything you've
wanted to know about Accessibility and the Web is here in a single text.
Each member of the team will find necessary information and practical
solutions in one or more of the thorough discussions here. For the
designer/developer who works alone, Web Accessibility: Web Standards and
Regulatory Compliance is the all-in-one reference with the most
up-to-date information and techniques. Thanks to the clear organization,
two tables of contents, and index, all information is easy to find as
well.

For those of us who like background and theory, the book contains lively
discussions of accessibility standards, of the intent of the standards,
and suggestions for using the standards. For me, though, the heart of
the text is in the practical discussions and how-to guides in order to
improve accessibility of every common web technology -- from PDF to
Flash, from javascript to data forms. In addition, we finds clear
descriptions of the law and web accessibility. Importantly, these
discussions are international in scope.

The collective experience of the authors of this text is impressive.
These are the experts to whom we've turned to assist us with accessible
design and development for years. In this text, we have a collection of
the most knowledgeable voices on the subject of accessibility, who speak from a real-world
perspective. They share freely their best techniques, so that we can
create the "best possible experience for the greatest number of
visitors."

For me, Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regularory Compliance is a
must-have.

I am not an expert developer but I have a fair amount of experience building financial applications in Java and C++. I spent quite some time looking for a book that would get me started with Web technologies. It is not easy. Yes, there are many books that describe one or another technology but I wanted to find one that puts these technologies in prospective. I was very pleased when I found this book. I can always dig deeper in one direction when I need to but this book helps me to understand how to get started and where to concentrate my efforts. I like it, I think it is very useful.

I have to disagree with the reviewer who disparaged this book's emphasis on history. The background on TCP/IP protocols explained how HTTP came to be and why servers and browsers work the way they do. Discussion of how web development platforms evolved provided insight into the problems newer approaches tried to solve and the problems some of them created. The authors may have gone overboard spouting the merits of "separating content from presentation" and touting the praises of MVC approaches, but their point is a valid one you can really relate to if you've worked with page-centric platforms like ASP and JSP. The historical review of different approaches explained the authors' reasons for ultimately choosing an MVC approach with Struts and JSTL, and offered insights into how development platforms may evolve in the future. This is a book that starts with basics and builds on them, covering protocols, markup languages, and development platforms. The history helps drive the points home. Personally, I learned a lot from this book. I agree that they could have provided a CD-ROM, but it turns out their website (webappbuilders.com) is pretty good and has other good info aside from the app's source code, including some articles from the authors.

This book is an ideal text for providing intermediate-level web developers with a solid grounding in architectural principles and more advanced techniques. Before going into why I like this book I do want to offer one caveat - the authors' approach is towards the Model-View-Controller paradigm, and is based on Java Standard Tag Library, Jarkata struts and Apache. These are solid elements, but if you are working in a different environment you will not appreciate this book as much.

The historical material in this book is not fluff if you approach it with the intent to gain a fuller understanding of the major components of the Internet and web. This material is rich with details about why the core web technologies developed and evolved, including design choices the pioneers made in the face of constraints. In a subtle way this part of the book is a primer on design and architecture.

What makes this book so valuable is the non-trivial application that brings this book alive. This is a refreshing change from other books that use thinly contrived snippets of code or trivial applications. The code for this application can be downloaded from the book's supporting web site, which also contains errata (thus far there are only two entries), and articles that are valuable resources with or without this book.

Overall this is one of the better books on web application design and development, and one that dives into code and technical details.

I've been writing Windows-based mutlimedia applications since Windows 95 was released. I've been looking for a good book to help the crossover to web application development, and I found that this was just the ticket. Explanations were solid and presented in a way that made experimentation easy (both from the browser and server side). Quite simply, this book served as a great jumping off point for deeper exploration into session management, security, web services (both SOAP and Rest), etc. Definitely a great introduction for folks with a software engineering background.

I always thought Amazon search is good but I stumbled upon this book at a store. It's a useful summary, but not a reference. I particularly like the examples and the way they build up from trivial to complex. The level of detail is right. Altogether, very refreshing.

I learned 2 semester classes from this book in a week and I recommend every book Maneesh comes out with.

Thanks Man!

I already had a lot of background on Web Design before I read this, but it is definitely a great reference! I did learn some new things, too. I think it's a great reference for people who already know HTML and a great way to start learning about web design!

I've always been interested in web design and this is the book that explained it step by step! With Web Design for Teens you'll learn how to create your own website within days! And, not only that but it teaches you how to create your own pictures for your website and shows you how to do neat things to them! If you're interseted in learning HTML, this book is for you!

Forget teens: this is an outstanding source for anyone and everyone. These days, knowing the essentials of web design is necessary for nearly everyone on the professional job market. Get this book and get to work, and you will be much more valuable to the world.

This book greatly added to my knowledge of web designing and was very fun and easy to use. His other great book, Game Programming for Teens was also very rich in content concerning all kinds of helpful hints and ideas. With Web Design for Teens, even pre-teens like me can build our own websites. [...]

I was a little disappointed in this book, I thought it was a list of things to do. It was more like vague suggestions with web sites to check out. Several of the web sites were no longer working. I didn't find a lot of new information that I have not already read about. This is more of a beginners guide for going green. I would have gotten a lot more out of it several years ago. So if you are just starting to find options for going green, this is a book for you.

Most people want to do whatever they can to make the world a better place and protect the Earth. For them, marching in demonstrations or engaging in direct action is not an option. What to do? In subjects ranging from Air to Water to Food to Global Warming, this book lists many web sites with more information to get the reader involved in protecting the environment.

Perhaps the reader just wants to find out what sort of recycling facilities are in their town. One of their first stops should be to www.earth911.org. To look for reusable or biodegradable diapers, visit www.organicbebe.com. The Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org) has a very distinguished record in conserving endangered species. For those who have compost heaps, Starbucks will give you their coffee grounds. Details are at www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost, or talk to your local manager.

A handy wallet card on produce and pesticides called "The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" (bring it with you when shopping) is available from www.foodnews.org. A good site on global warming is www.climatestar.org. The Busy Person's Guide to Greener Living can be found at www.greenmatters.com. Do you have stuff you no longer need that someone else may want? Before that trip to the landfill, visit www.freecycle.org. Adopt a lobster (and help ensure a continued supply of lobsters) at www.lobsters.org, the Lobster Conservancy.

This is a wonderful book. It's small (it really can fit in your back pocket), it's well laid out, and the reader can pick their level of involvement. It is very highly recommended. Saving the environment does not get much easier than this.

Whether you are young or old, rich or poor, environmentally challenged or conscious, teacher or student, computer savvy or not - you will like this book. It provides real-life resources and contacts, anecdotal examples and insight on how YOU, the reader, can easily help sustain Mother Earth. Great for students of all ages!

As is the list of environmental problems so overwhelming and the scale so global, so is the feeling that one person can't make a difference. And, even in the trying, the choices are so many and the information so contradictory, that it's hard to know where to start. Here, at last, is the logical successor to "50 Simple Things...," better, more evolved, and yet easier. A wealth of choices that can be tailored to match what you feel you CAN do now, what you MIGHT feel you can do later, and what you SHOULD be telling your friends-- in short, a compendium of answers on a scale that any of us can comprehend.

This little book is simply amazing! It is a wealth of information,contacts and web sites regarding the environment and ways we can do our part to help. It is like the spark of desire, that hopefully, ignites the fire of action, encouraging us to seek out and "embrace a more environmentally friendly lifestyle". It is witty, informative and easy to navigate. A perfect gift and an exceptional manual for a meaningful life.