CSS, The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition, O'Reilly
Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio
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C# Online.NET Book Review
As I have written elsewhere, I know many Web developers are still using HTML tables to accomplish all their fancy layouts. However, they are doing it the hard way. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a powerful way to accomplish all that can be done with tables and much more. You will be much more productive once you are proficient with style sheets. They are not difficult to learn and are incredibly useful. And, style sheets give better separation of content and presentation.
Although the title has changed, this book is effectively the third edition of Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide. This third edition covers both CSS2 and CSS2.1. However, it does not cover the CSS3 modules—some have achieved Candidate Recommendation status—;because, few browsers have implemented them to any degree. And, the book has been updated for Internet Explorer 7.
This is a good reference book; but, it works as a tutorial as well. The book begins slowly enough; but, the reader should pay attention; because, topics accumulate layer upon layer until the inattentive will be lost. And, this is—probably—the most accessible of his books on CSS. The payoff is a working knowledge of CSS and a firm foundation for more exotic forays. And, readers will return to their well-worn copies whenever layout and style problems arise.
The examples are clear, concise, and easily followed. For maximum benefit, the reader should have a working knowledge of HTML.
The author is a CSS expert with several CSS books and numerous articles to his credit. He is a frequent speaker and a tireless promoter of Web standards. Also, he is a founding member of the Global Multimedia Protocols Group. His writing style is conversational and quite readable. But, his larger talent lies—perhaps—in organizing the material for easy access and in devising simple examples.
Perhaps the next edition will feature a section on cross-browser support—specifically, Internet Explorer and Firefox. There are some very confusing differences between the two which need to be catalogued along with reasonable solutions or work arounds. And, there are diagrams which would benefit greatly from a little color. And, the index still needs work (Where is Firefox?)
Bottom line
CSS, The Definitive Guide is the definitive guide to CSS.
Publisher's description
CSS: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition, provides you with a comprehensive guide to CSS implementation, along with a thorough review of all aspects of CSS 2.1. Updated to cover Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's vastly improved browser, this new edition includes content on positioning, lists and generated content, table layout, user interface, paged media, and more. Author Eric Meyer tackles the subject with passion, exploring in detail each individual CSS property and how it interacts with other properties. You'll not only learn how to avoid common mistakes in interpretation, you also will benefit from the depth and breadth of his experience and his clear and honest style. This is the complete sourcebook on CSS.
Simply put, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a way to separate a document's structure from its presentation. The benefits of this can be quite profound: CSS allows a much richer document appearance than HTML and also saves time -- you can create or change the appearance of an entire document in just one place; and its compact file size makes web pages load quickly.
The 3rd edition contains:
- Updates to reflect changes in the latest draft version of CSS 2.1
- Browser notes updated to reflect changes between IE6 and IE7
- Advanced selectors supported in IE7 and other major browsers included
- A new round of technical edits by a fresh set of editors
- Clarifications and corrected errata, including updated URLs of referenced online resources
About the author(s)
Eric Meyer is the author of the critically acclaimed online tutorial "Introduction to HTML", as well as some other semi-popular Web pages. He is a member of the CSS&FP Working Group. He has authored several books on CSS.
Table of Contents (abbreviated)
- 1. CSS and Documents
- 2. Selectors
- 3. Structure and the Cascade
- 4. Values and Units
- 5. Fonts
- 6. Text Properties
- 7. Basic Visual Formatting
- 8. Padding, Borders, and Margins
- 9. Colors and Backgrounds
- 10. Floating and Positioning
- 11. Table Layout
- 12. Lists and Generated Content
- 13. User Interface Styles
- 14. Non-Screen Media
- A. Property Reference
- B. Selector, Pseudo-Class, and Pseudo-Element Reference
- C. Sample HTML 4 Style Sheet
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