Overview
Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans, and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your Web pages over time, and so your web pages work in all the browsers and mobile devices out there. Oh, and if you've never heard of CSS, that's okay - we won't tell anyone you're still partying like it's 1999 - but if you're going to create Web pages in the 21st century then you'll want to know and understand CSS.
Learn the real secrets of creating Web pages, and why everything your boss told you about HTML tables is probably wrong (and what to do instead). Most importantly, hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions how his HTML is now strict, and his CSS is in an external style sheet.
With Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking web-safe colors still matter, and the foolishness of slipping a font tag into your pages. Best of all, you'll learn HTML and CSS in a way that won't put you to sleep. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect: a visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, this book will load HTML, CSS, and XHTML into your brain in a way that sticks.
So what are you waiting for? Leave those other dusty books behind and come join us in Webville. Your tour is about to begin.
"Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of pragmatism and wit." —Ken Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Disney Online
"This book is a thoroughly modern introduction to forward-looking practices in web page markup and presentation." —Danny Goodman, author of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Guide
"What used to be a long trial and error learning process has now been reduced neatly into an engaging paperback." —Mike Davidson, CEO, Newsvine, Inc.
"I love Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML—it teaches you everything you need to learn in a 'fun coated' format!" —Sally Applin, UI Designer and Artist
"I haven't had as much fun reading a book (other than Harry Potter) in years. And your book finally helped me break out of my hapless so-last-century way of creating web pages." —Professor David M. Arnow, Department of Computer and Information Science, Brooklyn College
"If you've ever had a family member who wanted you to design a website for them, buy them Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. If you've ever asked a family member to design you a web site, buy this book. If you've ever bought an HTML book and ended up using it to level your desk, or for kindling on a cold winter day, buy this book. This is the book you've been waiting for. This is the learning system you've been waiting for." —Warren Kelly, Blogcritics.org
This unique guide fills a need for an entry-level book on web programming with HTML and CSS. It uses the engaging, multi-sensory "Head First" learning approach to deliver more insights into cutting-edge web design and development than is currently available.
Synopsis
This unique guide fills a need for an entry-level book on Web programming with HTML and CSS. It uses the engaging, multi-sensory "Head First" learning approach to deliver insights into cutting-edge Web design and development.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewYou learn better when you’re having fun. And Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML is the most fun you can have while you’re learning to create web pages.
What other HTML book would interview the href attribute (“I hope you aren’t offended, but what’s with the name? href? What’s with that?”) Or sponsor a “debate” between JPEG and GIF? Or introduce CSS with a reality TV show? Or uncover the mystery of <blockquote> and <q>, elements separated at birth?
Sound flippant? More like brilliant. Elisabeth and Eric Freeman know people learn best when they’re totally engaged, when they can’t wait to see what crazy thing is coming next. Like this book’s puzzles. Like its marvelous photo captions (if there were an Oscar® for creative use of stock photography, O’Reilly’s editors would win, hands-down.)
The Freemans skip some obscure stuff, but everything you need is here, from the basics (tags, attributes, elements, links, paths) to some fairly advanced techniques. You’ll learn how to move to XHTML (and why you would); how to use CSS to precisely control text, color, padding, borders and margins; how to build tables and forms. There’s even a quick look at HTML for blogs and mobile devices. Every chapter contains a “There are No Dumb Questions” section -- and the Freemans are weirdly clairvoyant about the issues that tend to confuse people.
By the way, they’re seriously into standards compliance -- but never prissy about it. (Check out their “driver’s ed”style insert full of Strict HTML 4.01 road signs. And remember: Always “feed your <body> only wholesome block elements!”)
The remarkable thing about this book: It all hangs together. Everything builds on what’s come before. By the time you’re done, you’ll really be comfortable with HTML, CSS, and XHTML. The fun has been carefully crafted to make sure of that, and it works. Bill Camarda, from the January 2006 Read Only