HTML Books

Those who understand CSS will find a trove here. One may trudge through other one true holy grail bulletproof designs. They have their place.

Then, leap, at last, into this book. It's been sitting on your bookshelf, perhaps, undeservedly ignored, for a week? You peruse. You find the page for your problem. You read, carefully. A light bulb! "Of course," you may think! Or, "He's telling me, what I SHOULD have known!"

Yes, but, everybody needs SOMEONE to gather these essential prods. Here they are, distilled, a fine essence. Rock solid. No fluff. Problem, stated clearly; solution, stated plainly; sample code, crisp. Just what you need. Terse. Precise.

Hi

I have read about half the book and I find it very interesting and very practical. The book gives you patterns and approaches to solve the problems which designers confront daily. The index is also very helpful at the back, which points me straight to the solution of the problem which I am seeking. When compared to other books, this gives more than what every other book is giving, which I have seen. Generally all CSS books give various properties of the html elements, its possible values etc. While this book, has a different approach. This book discusses the affect of changing these element properties based on the context where the element is placed. It has very good discussion of the box model concept and positioning concepts.

Till now, I have loved this book and has become my reference for all my css needs.

There is some useful information in this book, but the author's rigid adherence to the format works against the presentation of it. I find that Andy Budd's book (CSS Mastery ...) is a much better book. They seem very different but I think that many developers will read them needing the same information.

Further, as is becoming more and more the case with new apress titles, the copy editing is substandard. It's a pity, as apress had such a good reputation for quality books, and this kind of thing is hurting them.

I often rely on readers reviews before making a purchase so I thought it appropriate to give feedback on this book.
I am a self-taught programmer who needed to take my CSS knowledge to the next level. This book clearly sets the bar high and helps me get over it almost daily. The models depicted are extremely accurate and on point, and foster a wealth of ideas that extend to some really nice models. Mr. Bowers research and implementation on cross-compatability between browsers is nothing short of excellent (a big learn for me). The style in which the book is written makes it easy to follow and learn from, as well as reference. As a new programmer, I am extremely pleased with this book as it has taken me to the next level of CSS.
I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has a general knowledge of CSS and wants to fine tune and hone their skills in CSS.

This book is a nuts and bolts CSS/HTML reference book, that you'll be pulling off the shelf frequently, when editing stylesheets and web pages.

Each entry is presented in this clear, practical and timely format, that allows skimming straight down to the section you want (borderless table format, not inline paragraphs):

Problem
Solution
Pattern
Location
Limitations
Advantages - (Some entries)
Disadvantages - (Some entries)
Example - (Some entries)
Tips
Related to - (Some entries)
See also

It doesn't waste your time with 1001 details of each tag, yet does give you the essentials you need to know about each tag (some entries have screenshots of the examples, mostly in Firefox, but some in IE7), so you can get to work quickly -- and not get bogged down by the hyped cheerleading, that fills many of these CSS/XHTML books these days.

Would've given this book 5 stars if the author spent more time with cross-browser support other than a few tip suggestions, especially with IE 7, as it uses conditionals instead of hacks to get around the box model SNAFUs. Cross-browser troubleshooting is essential, and not an after thought to be addressed with about 20 words -- more time is spent debugging than actually writing code, and it needs to be addressed accordingly.

Overall, this is the best CSS/(X)HTML reference book I've found to date. It's due to the presentation format above, that doesn't have you trying to find some remote reference in microprint, in a sea of 500+ pages!

While I've understood the basics of XML for some time, I've just not had a need until recently to dig into the nuts and bolts of working with it on the .NET platform. As an ASP.NET developer specifically, and with that need to know now on the table, I went on the hunt for books to help, and Mr. Wahlin's offering was an obvious choice.

First off, Mr. Wahlin is a terrific writer. The clear, friendly, and conversational tone of the book resonated for me, although I did find some of the verbosity and repetition a bit excessive in some spots.

The book begins with a good review of XML concepts, more than enough for a newbie, but easy to sift through for the more seasoned reader in need of a knowledge refresher. It continues through all the necessary concepts, including the XML classes in .NET, transformations, and of course, ADO.NET, the database core of the .NET platform. (On ADO.NET, it includes a general introduction, but of course focuses on it in an XML context.)

I have to say that one of the best outcomes of reading the book and experimenting with what I learned along the way is that many of the ADO.NET concepts that still seemed abstract to my not-quite-up-to-OOP brain suddenly fell into place and made much more sense to me when tied to the structures and concepts of XML.

No book is perfect, and I could have used some more detailed coverage in some areas. But overall, it's a great walk through the world of XML for the seasoned ASP.NET developer in need the grand tour. It sure was a help to me...

I just bought this book. But I don't know where to download the example code? Please help me.

Dan Wahlin is one of the top experts on XML, and this book is absolutely fantastic. Almost every question that I have ever had about working with XML and .NET has been answered... except that I don't use C#. So, I always need a translator.

If you use C#, this is the perfect book. If you don't, learn to translate from it, cuz this is the best book around.

This book does a good job explaining the ins and outs of XML programming with the .Net Framework.

These are the types of books you need to look for. Take a small part of the .Net framework and give it a decent amount of coverage. Overall, the examples are fairly substantial and apply very well to real world programming situations.

I bought the book a month ago and stayed idle in my library until I started using SQL2000 Web Notifications and needed some extra help on the principles.

And that was it. I can only tell you that it kept me reading it for three consequtive days, enough time to keep myself going, understand may parts, realise many possibilities/options and even optimise some code. This is not a book to solve a particular problem but it is a book to get you all excited about XML/XSLT/XLink/XPath and realise how this have been integrated to many of Microsoft Applications... (Notifications is one, CS2002 another).

I regret that I havent had that book before hand. It would have saved me many more hours of searching.

The only minus is that it makes you so excited that you end up spending another couple $$$ on other books to get into more details so I just shopped...
1 of: XPath and XPointer
1 of: Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming
1 of: XSLT and XPath On The Edge, Unlimited Edition
1 of: XSLT Programmer's Reference 2nd Edition

couple this with Professinal C# (2nd Edition) or even Beginning C# and you can do most things imaginable with c# and XML.

Thank you Dan.

I borrowed this book from the local library. Actually I was looking for the HomeSite 4.5 for the dummies, but had to settle for this one since I couldn't find it. The book says teach yourself in 24 hours and I think it really meant it. I managed to digest most of them in a few days working to about 24 hours in all. It's a very simple book to teach you the fundamentals on HomeSite. I found it to be too brief in some of the topics. Just teach you the most basic stuff. It could be better if the book could give more examples. In summary, this is a good book if you just want to know how do get started. You will still need another book on HTML to do the more advanced stuff.

Vety information, easy to read, and full of useful information. Lots of basics, and excellent tips and suggestions. I learned lots about the Web and HTML (even though I knew both already) while learning HomeSite with this book.

When I bought HomsSite, I was having some trouble understanding part of the program so I went looking for a book and found Forta's. When I got the copy, I went to the section where I was trying to solve the problem. (It had to do with the icons in the Resource window.) I got more confused because what Forta was telling me to do didn't match with the program.

After tearing out my hair for awhile, I found the problem: I had HomeSite 4.5 and Forta was writing about 4.0 and his book didn't show the changes, including exactly what I was trying to solve.

In short, I had wasted my money.

So be careful of the 4 in that title. If you are using 4.5, you might be in trouble. There is that much change between the two.

I have been a self-taught user of HomeSite for quite awhile now. I attended a HomeSite class but it was just too basic. I wanted to beef up my html pages with Image Maps and create forms which allowed for multiple selections.

I searched the web for the information but wound up going back to the HomeSite book. It was quite easy to find the answers I was looking for.

There are a few things that bother me about HomeSite such as, if I create an html file and save it into the directory, the file doesn't show immediately. Instead of looking for an answer in the book to that question, I figure it is something I would need to take up with Allaire Technical Support - the owners of HomeSite.

But, overall, the book has been a great savings of my time and effort and I'm pleased to have it in my library!!

I'm rating this book 5 stars because it does what it sets out to do. Plain and simple.

People who can't seem to find help with this book are those that can't learn unless they are in a curricular environment with its instructors.

Before purchasing HS 4.5 and this book ... , I had tried the trial version of the program from Allaire's web site. Granted I fell in love with the program and as DIY'ers do, I found my way around. But there were still questions I had so I bought this book. It pretty much answered any nagging questions that remained.

You know? There will ALWAYS be questions that you can never seem to get answered. That is life and you deal with it. I read one review of someone that said they bought this book hoping to find out why HS4.5 copies your html files and creates a clone file with the prefix of hs~(filename).html. This book didn't answer their questions so they slammed the book. I STILL don't know why HS4.5 does this but WHO CARES? It doesn't affect my sites. I don't have to upload them.

In a nutshell, if the manuals and online help that ship with HS4.5 aren't enough, buy this book. You'll need it and refer to it often. This book, HTML 4.0 Quickstart Guide, and a passion to learn more, and apply lots, are all you need to build sites with Homesite 4.5.

Quit running around looking for the RIGHT book.

Build some... sites.

Starts off at the very beginning, and leads the reader to learn html with lots of pictures and examples. This book is very organized.

Although this book covers pretty much all the elements of HTML, I discovered a significant number of incomplete syntax specifications. I was especially disappointed in its coverage of forms. The chapter just breezed through all the different types of form elements and didn't explain how data from these elements are handled when submitting a form. Because of the inadequacy of this book, I often find myself having to surf on the Net to find answers to my HTML questions.

QUE's "Unsing HTML 4" was and continues to be a great reference quide. It also has easy indexing for new HTML authors. This book is definitely the best choice for either experienced authors or beginners.

Before buying this book, I was wondering what could have been packed in it to make it around 600 pages more than the average HTML books I have read so far.....When I got it in my hands and started perusing its pages, I got the feeling that I have got back every penny spent on it ! The best book on HTML I have come across and it should be your HTML's reference book from now on.

I bought this book before I had a computer in my home. However, by the time I had finished the second chapter, I was already composing web pages in my head. Lee Anne does an excellent job of introducing the ins and outs of correct HTML coding. Not only does she bring you up to par with todays coding standards but, she uses keen far-sight to prepare you for the nuances and ever evolving standards of the web. If you are searching for a straight-as-an-arrow approach to web page building, then I highly recommend this book.

I bought the book to get a better understanding of the back-end basics of Ajax-piggybacked websites. We hear plenty about the compilation of technologies (asynchronous server requests, JavaScript, the DOM, etc.), but until this point I hadn't come across a book that was enticing enough in terms of its credibility now and down the road.

Bulletproof Ajax fills this void - Jeremy Keith adeptly walks through the technology and its components by defining Ajax and its appropriate objectives for a Web that is accessibility-conscious; gives an overview of JavaScript and the DOM; gets to the heart of Ajax by picking apart the XMLHttpRequest; discusses data formats for using Ajax on your site; goes over progressive enhancement (aka Hijax) for creating a site that is entirely usable for someone without JavaScript but that is enhanced for people who do have JavaScript; brings to attention the challenges and difficulties with Ajax; devotes a chapter to Ajax and accessibility; runs through the creation of an entire site (viewable at http://bulletproofajax.com/shop/ ) in PHP (though it's unnecessary to know the language) that utilizes Ajax gracefully using object-oriented programming; and finally discusses Ajax toolkits and frameworks.

Throughout the book, Jeremy uses good coding examples, and works through the idea of progressive enhancement in a way that anticipates the reader's questions of optimal programming practices with Ajax. The book prepares the reader for designing sites in a very reliable, professional, accessible way. And while the book is filled with functional coding samples of the various topics (which are then all pulled together in their completion at the end of the book), this book does *not* try to be the Bible of Ajax to go to for any obscure programming solution that a web programmer might imagine. It presents a methodology and gives the reader the tools for producing that solution on their own - to me, that is one of the great successes of the book.

A Brief But Thorough Tour of Ajax

Bulletproof Ajax will surprise you at first at its slim 196 pages of content. But as with any book, it's the density of good information and quality of writing that count the most. I find both to be on the mark in both respects. The content is timely, relevant, and very up to date. As we all know, the landscape in web design can make one thing hot and another not in a matter of months. It is a credit to the New Riders/Peachpit group that they could get such a relevant book on shelves while it still packed a punch.

This book is best suited to the newcomer to Ajax that will appreciate the entire survey of how it came to be, how the XMLHttpRequest limitations hold you back from accessing any other domain than the one serving up the page. However, Jeremy quickly shows you the workaround -- JSON and the script tag, which have no such limitations. This is an example of the dense and useful content I said this book is notable for.

The author then explains his methodology for gracefully degrading Ajaxed pages that he calls the "Hijax" approach. You would be right to ask, why do I need the author to tell me about degrading? I just want to Ajax everything on my pages. But the author gives you insight into the hodgepodge of support the various Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari browsers provide, each with their own quirks. This is a real timesaving chapter. Learn from the author's research on this topic.

Lastly, the book gives you a full beginning-to-end tour of applying all you have learned in the book in a chapter they title "Putting it all together." As a "just get me to the code" kind of guy, this is the chapter I immediately turned to when I opened the book for the first time. I definitely think persons new to Ajax will covet this chapter. It assembles all the building blocks for Ajax in a way that will make it click for most developers.

In summary, this book is brief, and not exhaustive, but that's the very reason I purchased it. It doesn't get wordy, the chapters are accurate and information-packed, and the book concludes with a nice bringing-it-all-together example that lets you see a tangible manifestation to everything you have learned. This books comes with my strong commendations.

Bulletproof Ajax is an excellent intro to Ajax. It covers both coding Ajax and also design issues and other considerations, all in a very clear style. The coding examples start simple and are extended step-by-step so they're easy to follow.

So I heartily recommend it to anyone looking for an easy high-level intro to Ajax.

Two concerns:

The title is odd. You'd think "Bulletproof" would have to do with oh say... bulletproofing. But it doesn't. It's a broad high-level intro.

Jeremy strongly believes that the right approach to incorporating Ajax such that it's not required for the site to be usable. So, if say javascript isn't enabled on the browser the pages still work fine as traditional fetch-new-pages-from-the-server pages. He calls this the "Hijax" approach and the examples are structured this way. To me this makes sense and I wouldn't quibble, but it is a design choice and not the simplest one for starting with and learning Ajax.

This is an outstanding book. It is well written and easy to read and follow. I especially like that the author builds up the examples as he goes along rather than just putting the whole of the example code at the end of the section. It is another well written book from the Friends of Ed.

It you're looking for an introductory book into Ajax, then read this book. Good overall intro about "what Ajax is" and how the term "ajax" came about. Nice Javascript primer, the DOM concepts, and finally bringing it all together for some simple Ajax. Read entire book in one sitting.., reading the DOm Scripting which is a bit more advanced...

Stanek did something 'heroic'. He wrote an overview in which every topic is written down in a clear and understandable way. The book is not just a summary, but it shows how several 'languages' could be used in web publishing, how to choose for a language, it's pros and cons, and how they can cooperate. It was about time that such a book was written, because many people could be overloaded with information without knowing what to do with it. By buying and reading this book you won't get 'overloaded'. Stanek takes you to a point from where he shows you what the possibilities are, what the differences are and how to make decisions in good design. For newbies and experienced people who are working in the field of webdesign, marketing and programming business a must! (Mr. Stanek, I owe you one..)

This book was great when I first started reading it....2 years ago. The author was well organized and very informative in his descriptions. If you want basic knowledge, and then to expand on present material, this is the book for you.

I just purchased this book, I am also a web designer, although it is already outdated the theories presented by the author makes this book relevant to newer versions of HTML etc.This book is still a must for designers and a would be CLASSIC!

Although this book has great content, the information is too outdated. According to this book Java and frames, are not supported by IE. This book is still teaching HTML 2 and HTML 3 (not 3.2). Don't expect to learn that much about Java and CGI from this book either because it explains what they are more that it teaches how to create applets and scripts using them.

I bought this book after taking on the task of learning *gasp* all of the facets of web programming and design, hoping this would be current information. A lot of it is. If you're still developing and writing HTML in the 3.0 version. I was surprisingly let down by this part of the Unleashed series, which is usually known for high quality info. Not that it isn't a good book, it's just out of date. ** Wondering how to get money back now **.. My advice.. keep looking. This one is just not current enough to be useful for so much of what's new now. Sorry Mr. Stanek, et al.

Now a days, creating a web site is more about design than development; resources exist on the internet where millions of web developers will share their ideas and creativity for free - but how does one access it and where are these resources located?? The Missing Manual Series, Creating Web Sites addresses these questions and more. This book is an excellent starter book for those who are just getting their feet wet in the world of web design, development and programming, but that's not to say that an expert wouldn't find this book a handy resource. Creating Web Sites also answers a lot of questions that I had about different aspects of web development. The section on e-commerce and the other web resources referenced within the book, points you to the right places in which to grab code, and get ideas to build great web sites. The Missing Manual series is one that I recommend to everyone (this is the 2nd book from the series I own) - all the books are very thorough, but easy to follow; if you're a novice this book should be required, if you're a pro this should be a handy resource to add to your library.

Some of the introductions are a little dated (i.e. jokes that reference beanie babies, etc.), but the other content of the book is still pretty current. This is a really helpful book for the beginning web designer. It is definitely a good reference to have, espically for design students. This book covers things that appear in the software Dreamweaver. It discusses codes for things such as CSS, HTML, etc.

A great book for any novice trying to build a web site. The book is divided into clear sections each giving excellent advise and information. I recommend this to anyone starting a web site. If you are fortunate enough to have Dreamweaver software for web creating I also strongly recommend "Dreamweaver 8 - The Missing Manual.

I have been searching for a good, fairly insightful, starter book on what to do to set up a website, that wasn't too advanced or way to boring.

This is it! The author knows his stuff, brings it into the learning forum in such a way that you are excited to read the next section and re-read for additional insights previously completed sections.

I am going to use this book, and will probably buy more by the same author/publisher.

The book is clear, concise and comprehensive. It covers from how to get a domain name to how to accept credit card payments.I like the emphasis in formating using CSS instead html. This was a new concept for me. The author introduces java scripts and dynamic html. I missed a chapter about how to organize, and keep update the whole web site (sometimes with hundreds of web pages, pictures, icons, etc...). It was one of my first book about the topic and I really think that it's a powefull introductory book.

This book really impressed me. I've read many web design books and out of them all, this has been one of the most valuable and rewarding. The colorful illustrations and useful real-world examples enhanced the material a lot. But that is to be expected of a book on this subject. The thing that impressed me most was how the authors somehow managed to take the most important aspects of web design and the most useful techniques and fit them all in a nutshell of less than 300 pages.

The way this book progresses is excellent. It starts off with classic HTML, then goes on to site navigation including the incredibly useful rollOver effects and client-side image maps followed by coverage of graphics and colors. All of these areas alone were enough to drastically improve the way I approach desiging my websites and make purchasing this book worthwhile. What this book does is give you a whole new mindset about what good web design really is by talking about practices that work and those that don't and reiterating their points through helpful real-world examples.

The reason I have given this book 4 stars rather than 5 is because of it's second part. I feel that chapter 8 tried too hard to be almost a Dynamic HTML tutorial rather than an overview of the important subjects which they had been excelling in doing all along. I think that the DHTML coverage became too detailed and specific at certain points. If you want a complete tutorial on DHTML, I strongly reccomend Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Resource by Danny Goodman.

All in all, I feel that Mrs. Ibanez and Mrs. Zee did a superb job at cutting the fat and getting to the important stuff so that you could instantly become a smarter web designer. I strongly reccomend that you buy this book.

The authors have striked a nice balance between usefulness and inspiration. The book is both a showcase of various web designers' works and interviews with them about web design, typography, getting inspiration, being creative, etc, and the book also offers detailed explanations about some nice design and HTML techniques that you can apply on your webpages.

I first thought i would just read it and then it would sit on the shelf. But i was wrong. Even though i have several HTML reference books right next to this one on the shelf, i keep getting back to HTML Artistry, because it is well-written, nicely illustrated and so easy to understand and apply the techniques.

A nice book for those just beginning to build webpages, and an inspiration for experienced designers! I enjoy using it very much!

This is not really a book for learning HTML or Javascript or any of the tools used to create the sites profiled, and it's not a reference book either. Rather, it's a book for getting inspiration on innovative ways of doing things. Other books in this category include "Click Here" by Raymond Pirouz, "Web Design Studio Secrets", and probably the original one of this type, "Killer Websites" and its second edition by David Siegel. All books of this type tend to be opinionated but perhaps this one is a bit less obvious than some others. However it's important to keep in mind that it's the authors that selected the sites to include. And of course everyone has a different opinion as to what constitutes good, innovative design. So the question is...what can you get from books like this that you can't get from surfing around and viewing the source code of sites you like? Well, this book does include lots of sample code and some useful appendices, and the instruction parts are quite clear. Most of all it leads you to sites you may not have been aware of that are pushing the design envelope on the web. Last but not least, it's quite well written. It's probably most useful to intermediate + web designers.

I went into the bookstore looking for...well, I wasn't exactly sure what, but it turned out to be this. It fit the niche I was looking for to a T. In between design inspiration and coding. I disagree with other reviewers (even though they're all positive!) who imply that this book isn't good for learning code. True that is not its main intent (to shove code down your throat), but presented in this volume is exactly the way I like to learn code (html, cgi, javascript, etc.)--little snippet examples tied to actual applications, examples from which I can extrapolate or that I can use as a foundation for looking further into a given technique if I choose to.

I do agree with those who say the main intent here is to keep you in mind of the bigger picture: dreaming up intriguing and appropriate ways of creating a dynamic and "alive" interface for your site.

The fact that the design of the book is every bit as pleasing as the design and functionality of the sites covered in it just adds to the impact. And their own companion site is a really dynamite tool, the icing on the cake. And then of course the tone and humor of the copy from Ms. Ibanez and Ms. Zee also helps to keep a potentially dry subject interesting. It's hard to read though...you want to put the book down and go design some cool sites quick! I'm definitely looking forward to Volume 2 due out in April 2001.

First off, it's a decent book. It's full of great ideas, theteaching methodology works and, of course, it's beautifully designed-- that's the whole point, really.

There is, however, a lot to gripe about. This book was pretty obviously rushed to press (No surprise there; at two years old, it's already something of a relic); there are clues to this throughout. The most obvious of them is the "Chapter 8" footer that you find running through Chapters 1 & 5; yes, they split up Chapter 8, but they forgot to rewrite its footers. Those last-minute reshufflings might account for why you've got some impossibly indecipherable code as early as Chapter 2 (The authors say at the outset that their objective in each chapter is to build on what they've covered so far; no joy there).

Every page has got at least one thing wrong with it -- murky graphics, graphics as many as five pages late, irrelevant graphics subbed in for the real McCoy -- never mind the bad grammar. And then, of course, there is the title: "HTML Artistry". There is at least as much JavaScript in this book as there is HTML.

My copy I managed to pick up cheap in an amazon.com auction. Would I have paid full price not knowing what I know now? No, thankfully. If you yourself aren't sure whether or not you want to then why not check out its accompanying website first. You like what you see ...?

In all fairness, the second half of the book is a complete reference, albeit not a very handy one with its confusing examples. And I never did find out how to use the "onselect" attribute for a radio button, something that one would think would get a thorough explanation in these days of trying to make our web pages more dynamic.

Powell's style is about as clear as mud. Just when you think you are finally going to learn about, for example, what the XML fuss is all about (ch. 17) he leads you off into some dull, pedantic discussion of, . . . well I never did figure out what he was talking about. Other chapters are equally disappointing.

Here's an example of Powell's style. In Chapter 8, Frames are discussed. One attribute for frames is called _parent. Powell writes, "The _parent value enables you to overwrite the parent frame that contains the nested frame, without destroying any frames that the parent may be nested within."

Got that? Powell also explains that the _parent value isn't encountered very often. With explanations like the above, I think we can sort of understand why :-)

If you really want to learn HTML (and need a quick reference) get the book by Laura Lemay. Her style is much clearer, to the point, and the examples are not only useful, that actually work. When you are done with her book it may then be time to come back to Powell's stogy tomb, which tries to be all things to all people, and fails miserably, IMHO.

It's been about 3 years since I wrote my original review of the book HTML Programmer's Reference, 1st Ed. [see post November 19, 1999]. Since that period, I've developed and deployed several web sites all from having obtained the basic knowledge and practical application of the syntax and tag constructs from this modest book. The direction of HTML development is moving forward with the wide usage of XHTML. And, again the authors show insight into the industry trend by updating this REFERENCE book with the latest version of XHTML 1.0.

If I must say something negative [seeing that the publishers market this book as an "idea book"], the examples shown are a bit basic. For example, the "target" attribute within the "I use this book when I have forgotten the exact construct of certain tags, or when the pages are rendered in several browser products [like IE or Netscape]. If your beginning to think about designing web pages, this is only one of several books you'll own. There are plenty of "how-to" books that cover the syntax and tag construction in a more reader-centric format. I must state that this is a reference book and is probably not intended to begin your exposure to web development services [only the authors will disagree]. However, this book is truly a gem and worth every cent of the price, and like fine wine, will hold its value well into the future.