Need to learn HTML5 fast? This best-selling reference's visual format and step-by-step, task-based instructions will have you up and running with HTML in no time. In this completely updated edition of our best-selling guide to HTML, authors Elizabeth Castro and Bruce Hyslop use crystal-clear instructions and friendly prose to introduce you to all of today's HTML5 and CSS essentials. You'll learn how to design, structure, and format your website. You'll learn about the new elements and form input types in HTML5. You'll create and use images, links, styles, lists, tables, frames, and forms; and you'll add video, audio, and other multimedia to your site. You'll learn how to add visual effects with CSS3. You'll understand web standards and learn from code examples that reflect today's best practices. Finally, you will test and debug your site, and publish it to the web. Throughout the book, the authors will cover all of HTML and offer extensive coverage of HTML5 and CSS techniques.
Studied Spanish, Catalan, and Basque at University of Pennsylvania and University of California at Berkeley. Moved to Barcelona in 1987, found job in computer company translating documentation and software. Started Página Uno in 1990: publisher of Mac related books in Spanish. Moved back to US in 1993 to edit 5th edition of The Macintosh Bible. Wrote first edition of HTML Visual QuickStart Guide in 1995, now worldwide bestseller with more than 1 million copies sold in many languages. Also written books on Perl/CGI, XML, Blogger, iPhoto.
Most recently, wrote EPUB Straight to the Point, and accompanying miniguides, to help people publish ebook versions of their books.
This book is a great review of HTML 5 and CSS 3. It's one of the few instances where the paper version is better than the computer version, the examples are well laid out and the important bits are blatantly marked in red, making it an easy skim.
Like all tech books it has a sell by date, but since it's good for reviewing basics, it's probably a bit longer than others.
Clear, precise and concise - this Visual Quickstart Guide didn't fail to get me to the heart of the HTML5 and CSS3 subject matter yet again. Kudos to Elizabeth Castro and Bruce Hyslop :)
In my search for a good guide to the new web standards of the HTML5 era, this one really stood out. Technical computing books like HTML 5 and CSS3 tend to be purely utilitarian, with little concern for the way their contents are presented. However, this book in particular is clearly written and has a nice, colorful layout. But it doesn't skimp on content- the authors pack as much into the text as you could ask for, especially for an introductory text. An essential theme of the book is the benefit of using web standards, both as a matter of theory and practice. The result of all this is a book that starts the reader with no knowledge of web design and leaves them capable of making a nice and modern site.
The book does suffer a bit from the way topics were organized. For example, I don't think the sections on formatting text and using web fonts needed to be separate. Granted, that's a minor gripe. I also would have liked to see a few more examples of fully-fledged sites, along with descriptions, although URLs to example websites were provided.
All in all, this is the book I would recommend to anyone looking to start out in web design without hesitation. It also works well as a refresher on the new stuff in HTML5 for those who already know their way around. It is by far the best book I have read on the subject.
I bought it because of the good quality of the 6th ed, but I am disappointed.
The typeset and layout are bad. Look at p170, all the text of the entire page are in bold fonts. Actually those "TIPS" should not be bold because there are too many of them. Look at the big blank window between p278 and p279. Double-column layout is OK but should never be abused like this.
Maybe it's not fair to blame the new coauthor Mr. Bruce Hyslop for the typeset and layout, since they might be decided by editors or designers of the book.
However, Mr. Hyslop should be responsible for his boring language (compared to Ms. Castro) and attitude. What's the point to use "I" instead of "We" for a coauthored book? Just indicating those new materials are written by "I"?
Chapter 18 Table has only 7 pages, less than enough. Chapter 19 Working with Scripts has 8 pages, which is OK because this book is about HTML and CSS, not JavaScript.
The quality of the paper is great, although it makes the book very heavy.
The content is more suitable for beginners. There are too many "type this, type that". Web developers aren't grade school kids.
Some references at the end of chapters are useful.
Some good stuff on HTML5 and CSS3. If you have a background in HTML, skip the first ten or so chapters. The discussion on styling for mobile and responsive web design is where this book starts to take off in a positive way. Lots of good resource links for further research.
I probably would have gotten more out of this if I was actually programming along with the text instead of reading it all and going back after the fact, trying to remember and apply what I'd read.
Still, this is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to start coding web pages.
This is a great book to read if you are a beginner in web programming or need to refresh some concepts. This book does a great job at explaining each part with fantastic examples that I used when refreshing up on HTML5 and CSS3.