A great companion to the HTML Stylesheet Sourcebook, Dynamic HTML from O’Reilly fills in a lot of the gaps, especially in the areas of the DOM and JavaScript. This book is ideal for developers who are already comfortable with HTML and style sheets. I would not recommend it as the main learning resource for someone new to development, as it serves more as a reference book than a tutorial. But that is fine, we all need dictionaries right? Right.
Bookshelf
HTML Stylesheet Sourcebook
This is one of the oldest books on my development bookshelf that is still useful. I picked up the HTML Stylesheet Sourcebook in 1997 with the intent of learning the new fangled concept of Cascading Style Sheets and DHTML. While the subject was a bit overwhelming at first (there were a lot of differences between the implementation of CSS within Netscape 4 and IE 4), I was able to ramp up on the technology in short order, due in large part to all of the work Mr. Graham put into this book.
As I said at the top of this post, the HTML Stylesheet Sourcebook is still useful. While a lot of Web sites provide this information, and many other books (including some in my library) cover the same topic, I find myself returning to this one when I need a quick answer.
My Development Bookshelf
I have added a new section to the Web Development category titled Bookshelf, which is to hold reviews of the various books that I use in my day-to-day Web development and design projects. Hopefully my thoughts on the books will prove useful to others as they look for the right book(s) for a specific project, or to learn a particular technology. While I will do my best to provide some detail with each review, I must admit that I have a few books that sit on the shelf unread. For the most part, these unread volumes are review copies, often covering technologies that I just haven’t had the time to pick up. Such is life. I will update these sparse entries when I have had a chance to use the books.
I would also love to hear any recommendations for alternate, or companion books on the subjects covered by each. So, please post a comment, or send me your suggestions!
Beginning PHP4
I just picked up this book today to help me with the address book project I’m doing for the Brightwells. It looks like it will prove quite helpful. And, if my 20 minute perusal of its contents at Borders is any indication it should fill in the gaps left by my other PHP book (A Programmer’s Introduction to PHP 4.0).
For some reason the Amazon information to the right is pulling the wrong book. The right one is here.
Eric Meyer on CSS
I consider myself pretty well-versed in the use of CSS, the browser issues associated with it and the ways around those issues. But every time I read something from Eric Meyer I learn something. He is a master.
Eric Meyer on CSS contains an amazing amount of knowledge explained through 13 projects. Though the work details some CSS which isn’t currently supported, the details are practical and lay a good foundation for the use of the technology. Most of the projects do render beautifully on IE 6 and Netscape 6, and I have incorporated many of the tips in this site and others I work on.
There is a great companion Web site as well which provides errata and all of the code detailed within the book.
If you are responsible for Web-based user interfaces this is a must have. One note, this book won’t teach you CSS/DHTML, it assumes you have the basic knowledge of the technologies and their use. It is labeled “Intermediate – Advanced”.
A Programmer's Introduction to PHP 4.0
This book has proven quite handy of late. I flip through it’s pages at least once a day, and quite often more than that as I’m building my personal site as well as a couple of sites for clients. I have a pretty solid foundation in programming concepts from Perl and JavaScript as well as PHP, so I am using the book as a reference manual as opposed to a linear text-book. There are some concepts which I’ve had to look up on the Web as they were considered basic knowledge.
I recommend the book for those who are comfortable with some programming, but not those new to the language.