Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself...in 24 Hours) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

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

Unlike many other topics in the computer world, there are a lot of options out there on the real-life and virtual bookshelfs for learning HTML. So instead of talking about what this book HAS, I think the better approach to explain why THIS book is a great option for learning both of these topics.

#1 Price - At this low retail price, you won't find many books that contain this much information (over 550 pages) for so little money. Many books out there will provide lots of the same information, but not for the bargain basement deal you will get with this text.

#2 Writing - SAMS has always been known for a great writing style. Splitting up sections into logical parts that make reading and learning easier for the reader, this book is structured in a great way for any person to learn from.

#3 Content - Most books will cover HTML and touch upon CSS, but few focus on it like this one does. Relating to bang for the buck, this book goes above and beyond what others do, going into great detail.

#4 Proven - With this being the 7th Edition, there is a reason why this book is around after so many years. They don't print a 2nd or even a 3rd edition unless sales are brisk enough to warrant it, so this alone should tell you that you aren't the first person to decide to try and learn HTML and CSS from SAMS Publishing.

The only downside? to this book is it's not aimed at experienced developers. If you already know HTML and CSS, you should pick up a more advanced book that covers things outside of the basics that this book does. Aimed at newcomers and amateurs, this book does what it says it does, and you WILL learn these topics in no time at all!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I gave the book two stars not to slam it but because, as others have stated, it does not build an example page and then develop it in the manner that a reader intends to do. I have been working with html, in a non professional way, for 10 years and CSS for nearly as many. As an explanation, the book's example of using float was, in my opinion, insufficient. I had read the chapter and was attempting to apply what I had read to a web page for my business. I recreated what was in the book in one set of pages, a linked style sheet and an html page. I used my editor to generate the page for my own site. This was to help with the more involved page I was writing for my business. The basic structure of both was the same, though my business page had much more content. The results were dramatically different, my page was a mess. After moving back from the keyboard and mentally confirming that the structure concept was the same, I compared the DOCTYPE statements of the two pages. The DOCTYPE statements were different. When I used the same DOCTYPE for each set of pages they render the same way
The relationship between the DOCTYPE and how each browser, even within the same browser, renders the page is very different. The "discussion" of DOCTYPE is a note on the side of page 234. This topic deserves a clear explanation. This type of information is the type of insight I was looking for and clears up a lot of coding problems. I believe that almost everyone, after seeing how just a few tags are used quickly gets the idea of how to use many of them.

The chapter on forms starts by stating that without the knowledge of server side scripting, forms won't work. I'd be willing to bet everyone that can handle server side coding can easily write the html forms. So the point of that chapter was certainly lost on me.

I have set the book aside and have relied on [...] for answers. No, I have no relation with them what so ever.
I would still like to find a better book.
I purchased Sam's after being disappointed with CSS, the Missing manual.
Good luck