VRML Books

Excellent Service. Ordered this product internationally, and within the specified time as specified according to my shipment plan, was with me.

This book is NOT a concise guide as the editorial review says. It is cluttered up with wordy, conversational talk unrelated to learning html/xml. The author tells about him, his family, his friends, skateboarding, christmas toys, FOX news, and everything else under the sun, cluttering up the actual learning of html/xml. And he continually clutters up the text with phrases such as; as you can see, earlier I mentioned, as you know, as previously mentioned, earlier in the chapter you learned, etc.

If I had known this was written in a redundant, wordy style, I would not have wasted my money on it. This is the style the online computer course in XML I'm taking is written in. I'm failing it and bought this book hoping it was "concise" and to the point without profuse clutter in the text.

I was asked if I would be willing to teach web design as an advanced course offering for high school students. I'm not new to HTML, but I have been using a WISIWYG app to manage website for years. With this course, I felt it was important to start at the beginning in order for the students to have the solid foundation of web design and it' code, and then move into the current apps. I also fekt I needed a quick refresher. Thus I was looking for a book that would clearly explain the fundamentals of HTML and be simplistic enough for high school students. After seaching I came across this one.
This book clearly explains the basic HTML and much more. After reviewing the book, I felt confident that this book would meet my students and my needs.

One of those "should have known"

This is from Microsoft Press and when possible it speaks from a Microsoft perspective; not necessarily selling but certainly letting you know when Explore does this or Front Page does that.

It also spends too much ink on analogies and could have packed more technical content in all those pages.

Well, As A guy who has his own web page, I find that it is very important to have a neat looking website, in order to aquire an audience. However, getting a website to look excelent, requires hard work. So, After Checking This Book Out At the Borders Store, I thought this book might be a nessecity for my webpage. Basically, HTML is the origin of all web designs, and anything computer related. This Book Has NEVER let me down, and has become my new best friend! At First, I had to re-read a lot of things in order to get everything straight, but now its a lot easier! I think you should get this book, because believe it or not, It WILL pay off in the long run! Your shooting yourself in the foot if you DONT get it !!! So, what are you waiting for? Get This Book!

this is a great beginners book that will get you creating web pages fast. easy to understand. Tons of visual examples of your tasks at hand, plus it includes a cd-rom with web development tools. a good buy!

This book is extremely well organized. In fact, this book is so well constructed that it works perfectly as both a learning guide and a reference manual, later on. Each chapter is a single topic and only 1 to 3 pages in length. All topics are illustrated with examples. The examples are explained with the appropriate portions of the example text circled, so there is no confusion as to what the author is referring to. In the vast wasteland of computer books, this one stands out as how it should be done!

I have been working with HTML for nearly four years, but to teach it to a beginner is often mind boggling for it is like learning another language - worse, it is code and tags not words for people to relate to, for it is often intimidating to people wanting to learn but are floored when they first start.

This is THE book for people starting out. It covers all aspects in easy to understand terms, the directions are simply, clear step-by-step with screen shots, so you can see precisely what they are taking about.

Comes with a CD ROM as well. You will be creating web pages in no time at all and keep this to repeatedly refer to as you grow in skill.

As a newcomer to html this book allowed me to learn most basic html functions in about a week. the format of "here is the code=here is what happens" allows this beginner text to become an excellent resource for writing in html. visit http://www.htmlgoodies.com for extra help in this area. if you are logically-oriented then this book is excellent. only problem is : not in total compliance with the w3c standards (which take about 10 minutes to comply with...nest properly!!!). bar none the best i have seen.
--ben

I absolutely love this book. I learn best in a hands on environment but being able to see all the pictures they provided worked just as well. I actually got this book to go with a class I took with BNU online and have loved it all. Each topic is only a few pages long and it's easy to reference when you just need a quick peek to refresh your memory. I love the fact that the book gets right to the point and doesn't waste my time with fluff and information I'm not really interested in. This is a great book for beginners and perfect if you want to learn the basics to creating your own web page. I already have one for myself and am now going to have the opportunity to create two for friends who are going into business. Definately worth every penny.

Bought this book for a person who wanted to learn how to make simple web pages and it was a bad choice. New users benefit most from straight forward instructions and limited toolsets. This book imagines the user to be familar with (and own) photoshop as well as other tools. It would be much simpiler if the author stuck with simple, freely available tools.

This is a wonderful book that allows you to execute and learn good habits instead of walking you down a tutorial path. Its a quick read and excellent reference for basic tasks.

If you do want to buy this book, consider getting the series.

Web Page Visual QuickProject Guide Colletion (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Castro (Author)

The series was rewritten in 2006 and has the corrections to the errors in the 2004 books of the same name.

The series has the HTML quickproject, Flash quickproject, and Dreamweaver quickproject. Flash and Dreamweaver are MX 2004 based but happen to have the same commands and keyboard shortcuts as the CS3 and 8 versions.

Dont make the same mistake I almost made and buy this individually. I paid $1 and got it all! Its was cheaper and I obtained two other books.

I have other books by Liz Castro, and she continues to make life easier for all of us who want to know more about coding and controlling our own web sites. Great introductory book on XHMTL and CSS.

Excellent book for anyone who is creating their first web page or who wants step by step help to make a web page.

I have been messing around for a year(!) trying various WYSIWYG software to create the simple website that I wanted. The software was much harder to master than was HTML as Elizabeth Castro explains it. I first did the projects in this book, then with the help of her HTML, XHTML & CSS book, I have finally been able to make the site I've had in my head for so long. If you are using a PC, I have one suggestion--use Notepad instead of Word to create your web pages, because it's harder to mess up on Notepad. Three cheers for Elizabeth!

If you are looking to buy just one book on HTML and RELATED technologies book, then this is it. A COMPREHENSIVE book. Explains every thing in a very lucid way. Easily assimilate complex topics with this book. The future is in HTML/XHTML and Javascript. Get this book and get ready.

If you are starting out with HTML/XHTML, you might be advised to get a tutorial. This work appears to begin with basics, but even the early chapters provide much more information than a novice wants or needs. (The "Links" chapter--Chapter 4--for example, describes all types of links, many of which a beginning web page author probably won't need to know about until he or she has acquired quite a bit more experience.
That said, this book is a good reference with lots of helpful tips. It may not be as complete as other reviewers hoped, but I have found it quite handy for learning many advanced topics. And, although the edition I have (the 4th) has been out a couple of years, the material is still mostly uptodate. In short, it is a very good resource.

I spent many hours reading through books on xhtml to find the best reference manual. This is the book that I chose. I find it very easy to locate the data I need and exceptionally thorough. There are plenty of good clean code html & xhtml examples. But what makes this book a book that you will keep, are the tables in the back defining everything from attributes to special character codes. It is after all a reference manual. Like most technical subjects, each book seems to have an area where it shines. None have it all. However, this book is the best overall.

This book is a good reference if you are doing a web page. It shows html, xtml and java language. It's a very good dictionary to find terms for diferent things that you would like to put in your web page as music, backgrounds, links, etc.

This Reference is very very comprehensive. It also covers CSS 2.0 (completely, no need to buy a CSS 2.0 reference unless you need a learning book or a pocket reference).

It also covers XML to an extend most Web Developers need to know without becoming an Authority in the subject.

A lot of examples that are not always useful. The Appendixes for HTML and CSS are among the best I have seen. Browser Compatibility is also addressed in easy to read "grid" like format.

Una GRAN pequeña guía de referencia. A lo mejor se echan en falta algunas palabras reservadas pero por lo general es una maravilla poder consultar de forma rápida y ordenada la duda que buscas.

The product got there 2 days earlier than other items I ordered the same day. The condition was good.

After I figured out there structure of displaying information, this tool has become a valuable asset. Definately recommend.

What kind of a reference book doesn't have an index? Sure, the tag reference is in alphabetical order, but that only helps if you remember what the tag is. Also, I had a brain fart this morning and couldn't remember the exact syntax for a comment (I work with way too many languages)- couldn't find it. That's what a pocket reference is supposed to be for, the little things you can't remember!

This is an excellent text and well illustrated. I am sure an updated edition will come out soon.

This is the best book I have found for Freshman/Sophomore-level HTML and JavaScript. I use it with PERL and CGI for the World Wide Web (2nd Edition) by Elizabeth Castro for a complete Sophomore course in designing Commercial-Quality websites with server-side processing. Hint: Be sure to get the Second Printing (First Edition), as there are a lot of typos in the HTML section of the First Printing. The author has an excellent support website at cknuckles.com, which augments some of the problems and provides solutions to some of the exercises.

Can anyone tell me what the website is for this book's lessons. It references it many times but I cant seem to find out where it is actually "Stated" in the book.

Thanks in advance

if u already know something about setting up web pages using html and u wish to add some interactive features to yr web pages,this will be a very good book to start with.This book contains very clear and simple explantions for javascripts.Many concepts are explained using simple yet relevant analogies....if u are hardworking enough u can learn good javascripts in one or two weeks using this book......definitely value for money.

I haven't read the book, but I find it suspious that every review posted so far was outrageously positive, and posted within an 8 day period. In addition, most of them are anonymous. Perhaps the Publisher or Author is trying to boost sales with duplicate reviews. Buyer Beware.

Before reading this book I had no idea how to use the internet, let alone design a web page. However, this book is written on a level that even the most computer illiterate person, such as my self, could follow and understand. Now I can develop interactive web pages that almost look professional. I strongly recomend this book to any one how wants to learn internet programming.

Broad book, covers a little html, a little CSS, a little javascript - RSS, XML, MySQL etc. A lot of functional and usefull PHP hacks.

If you've worked with PHP for a while, you probably already know some of the hacks in this book - I did. But it did give me several ideas and I definitely picked up some new tricks and tips from it, so it was worth the buy for me. I love the "hack" books - I always learn something new!

When trying to figure out how to implement something, do you ever wish that the examples you find would just 'cut to the chase'? ... skip the theory & just show me a rough idea of how to go about it?

This book contains 100 hacks/recipes, satisfying the above need. Each is 2- 3 pages, which can (mostly) be run right from their folder (~100 folders in the downloaded code samples, of course). A hack-folderName cross-refernece would have been nice, but, hey ...

They put you on the track in moments - no need to read the whole book for any hack/recipe - just jump right in (to the problem of your day) ... and you can modify/enhance, as your needs dictate.

Code documentation is non-existent and explanation is sparse; but, they do, indeed, satisfy the need for quick examples in 2 - 3 pages!

`lovin it! NICE format ...

It's very packed full of php solutions that, instead of having you thinking: "I might need this particularly obscure thing later, but then again probably not", like a lot of other books, you'll very likely consider getting a lot of use out of at least 75% of the "hack" recipes eventually.

They're not really hacks by the way, in the negative sense of the word. (Maybe the Recipes book came out first and "Hacks" was the next best word for the title, who knows). But these hack/tips are based on fundamental technologies such as reading/writing XML, preventing double submission on ecommerce sites, making use of design patterns in PHP, great UI tips ( I immediately put one of them to use, which had a url to a popular dhtml library I didn't even know of).

A major portion of the hacks involve excellent user interface advice such as dhtml menus, generating images, etc..

Excellent real-world MySQL tips that include a basic login system, or a PHP recipe that you can use over and over to auto-generate sql CRUD (create/read/update/delete) PHP code. And the other way around. Auto-create mysql code from xml files that contain the schema for the tables.

Also recipes that involve basic knowledge in adding a paypal buy button, php unit testing, testing with simulated users. I shouldn't even attempt at trying to be specific with the types of tips. There are so many of them, varying through different levels of categories

I'd consider it a must-have for all PHP coders. And the reason why I say this, is it's very likely that you will find value in your situation, in at least 2 or 3 of the included "hacks", that would easily cancel out the price of the book. But that's a worst case scenario

The hacks (PHP scripts) may be good ones, but who is this book for?

If you need to learn PHP, get a tutorial book. There are several. This is NOT one. Strangely, it walks you through installing PHP as if you were a beginner, but then it dives right into the hacks with no real discussion of the language. And there are no details about the lines of script within each hack -- you're essentially being asked to take each hack as a wonderful black box from on high.

If you already know PHP pretty well, then you know you can find nearly an infinite supply of great scripts for free on the web (for example, at PEAR, the PHP Extension and Application Repository). Many of them are updated based on feedback and have detailed explanations and discussions to go along with them. Why pay for a small sampling from a book?

And if you're a PHP programmer and want a reference book for looking things up quickly, well, this certainly isn't THAT either.

So I'm again left wondering, who does that leave?

(Edit: I think O'Reilly is a great book company. I own several other O'Reilly books, recommend them highly, and use them all the time. I just have reservations about this particular book's value given that PEAR is free, has user feedback, and is constantly updated.)

Great book, if you want to learn HTML - it will teach you. Simple to understand, step by step.

I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to anyone I know who wants to learn (X)HTML, and basic CSS, I read this in a few weeks, did most of the examples, and found myself feeling sad when the book ended. I wish all technical books were written like this, I would definitely buy other books by Michael Morrison or Dick Oliver again.

I thought it would be so much harder to learn HTML, but with this book, it was relatively painless. This book, and the knowledge it has helped me to attain, has left me interested in learning more about XHTML, CSS, and possibly some programming.
This book is definitely for beginners, I don't know how useful it would be for someone with a knowledge of XHTML, and I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't be useful to someone who already knows some CSS, since it really just touches on style sheets. But, as I said, it is a perfect book for beginners.

Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours has not only refreshed me on the ins and outs of XHTML but also given me a great introduction to CSS and how it works and is put to good use.

If you are looking to start making web pages with HTML and CSS this is definitly the first place you should look. The book dips first into the basics of XTHML (and HTML -- basically the same thing.)Later, it moves to Cascading Style Sheets and really educates you on how they can be used effectively and efficiently, without overdoing it super quick.

If you are new to web design, this book is for you.

Buy this book!!!!!

As usual, I needed some additional infomation and I turned to Sams Teach Yourself books for the assistance I needed. Thank you for a good intro for HTML and CSS. It was just what I needed at just the right time. Thanks again.

As an IT professional that has built and maintained personal web sites for several years, I decided I needed to better understand what I was doing. I have used Front page for years to build the basic structure of my web pages, then venturing into the HTML to modify and add functionality. I never have taken a class or read any other books on HTML, if I got stuck, I would do a search and find a solution. Before purchasing this book I would not say I was a beginner, but I also knew my skill level was not that of an expert.

Authors of how to books must decided who they are writing for. In this case the authors chose to write to beginners, a category I don't personally fit neatly into. Each chapter is about twenty pages long and includes Q&A, quiz, and exercise sections. Each hour is intended to take an hour to read and complete the quizzes and exercises. However since I am not a beginner I find many sections require much less time. I don't feed the need to practice inserting an image onto a page when I already can accomplish the task.

But if I can already do the task, why read the hour? Well for starters, I'm not skillful enough to assume I know anything beyond the basics. Not only that, this book is teaching XHTML when and where it can. I may know how to insert an image, but making the code XHTML compliant is not something I was previously aware of. Not only can I add an image, but now I can easily explain the whys and hows to others if they should ask.

As I progressed through the hours, the subjects got more complex. Even so the chapters where presented and the subjects explained in an easy to understand manner. Each progressive hour builds on the previous ones, however if I wanted to, I could skip ahead to a different chapter and still be able to understand the lesson.

If you are a total beginner to HTML and CSS, this is the book to get. If you are not quite a beginner like I was, this book will take you to the next level. If you are an expert looking to brush up on your skills, look elsewhere. An expert may learn a thing or two from this book, but it is clearly not written for experts. As for me, I have no doubt this book has helped be become a better web master.

PROS:
Very well written and structured in a way that promotes learning
In-depth discussions of CSS
Thorough list of subject matter
Worth every cent I paid and then some
Improved my skill level

CONS:
I didn't get this book sooner

I am in a beginning html and css class at a college, and have checked out numerous books from the library on html and css, all of which have their good and bad points. One other recommended book was good only after you got past the introductory 100 pages, which included history of html, as well as touting their friends' books. Too many of the books try to be funny, which is not what you need from a good computer book. I came across this book accidentally at the library. It may be written by "computer geeks," but it explained clearly what CSS is and how it fits in with html, gives all the correct terms for selectors and such (for us new users), tells you when something is case sensitive or not, and gives clear examples of good code and how it will show in a browser. I finally grasped what the em unit is and how and why its used, and the difference between class and ID attributes. My only complaint are the typos, but they were mostly obvious and haven't caused me any problems yet. I got this book at the library, but plan on ordering a copy to keep and highlight!! I think this book is great for beginner through intermediate users.

This book is a well written introduction into the world of css and pinpoints key concepts of css. It's by far one of the most readable texts that I have picked up out of all the technical books I've read in my few years of being alive. The book lacks a little in having some references to an example on a previous page while the reference to it is one to pages after the example. This discrepency is understood though since it is hard to keep everything together and not spill out onto other pages when planning the layout of a book. Overall this is a good book on css, and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to start into css.

I would have given this book atleast 4 stars if it weren't for the misleading typos! here's a few - Chapter 6 Pg 127 refers to Figure 6.2 (which doesn't exist!) instead of Figure 6.3; Chatper 10 Pg 228 the example "H1 {color: #ff000 }" is plain wrong (needs a extra zero at the end) and will not work.

Otherwise, it is a very good book. I especially like Chapter 4 - describes CSS selectors in great detail.

ritten by the authors of CSS, at first I found it a bit heavy in dialogue and backgrounds. Not until you open the book to the index does one actually realize the wealth of information in the book. Do not expect this book to show examples of the next great page, but as a resource in trouble shooting it helped explain alot of questions I either was too lazy to look up in Dreamweaver Help or couldnt find the right type of answer elsewhere. My level is pretty much entry intermediate, but with this book, it took me a bit higher. I am getting rid of my introductory CSS books and using this one as my main go to guide.

CSS is covered in detail (20 pages on CSS colour alone) and the explainations are straight forward. The most valuable chapter is "Spaces around boxes". Running over 30 pages, this is a well thumbed section that explained to me where I was going wrong with a layout CSS I was doggedly trying to force to do what I wanted. Once I went through this section, it became clear my folly.

This book now has an honour of being well coffee stained and front and center on my resource shelf.

If you are an IT person, or someone with an IT mindset, and you want to get into CSS, this book is for you. This is the best for you. This book does presume knowledge of markup (HTML/XHTML).

However, this book does not cover advanced layout, which was never really included in CSS (there is hope in CSS3). Discussions of layout will need to be found in other resources.

On the other hand, if you are an artsy person who likes to learn by doing, this book is not for you. It would be better if you searched for Eric Meyer on CSS, which takes you through implementing CSS on a project like basis. Eric Meyer on CSS does presume knowledge of markup (HTML/XHTML) however.