Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference

by Jennifer Niederst Robbins and Jennifer Niederst

Book Overview

Are you still designing web sites like it's 1999? If so, you're in for a surprise. Since the last edition of this book appeared five years ago, there has been a major climate change with regard to web standards. Designers are no longer using (X)HTML as a design tool, but as a means of defining the meaning and structure of content. Cascading Style Sheets are no longer just something interesting to tinker with, but rather a reliable method for handling...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596009879
• ISBN13: 9780596009878
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 826 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential update of a good book on web design technologies

This book focuses on frontend matters of web design and development: markup, style sheets, image production, multimedia, and so on. Ironically, despite its title, there is little in the way of "design" advice, per se. Rather, it strives to be a thorough reference for the technical details and requirements faced in day-to-day work designing and developing web content. Although it is a good introduction to all subjects covered, if you really want to dig into the details of any particular technology, you will probably need other reference books. As far as "big picture" instruction, though, I highly recommend it. I review the book further in the context of its table of contents. The book is divided into six parts plus appendixes, each covering a general subject area. Part I: The Web Environment Chapter 1, Web Standards, describes the current approach to web design and sets the stage for the entire book. It is essential reading. Chapters on designing for varying browsers and displays provide useful overviews of the unique challenges web developers face. Chapter 5, Accessibility, and Chapter 6, Internationalization, both serve as introductions to the ways web content may be created to reach all users, regardless of ability, browsing device, or language. Chapter 4, A Beginner's Guide to the Server, is a primer on basic server functions, system commands, uploading files, and file types. Part II: The Structural Layer: XML and (X)HTML This part of the book is about document markup, commonly referred to as the structural layer because it provides the foundation upon which presentation (styles) and behaviors (scripting) are applied. Chapter 7, Introduction to XML, covers critical concepts that guide the way (X)HTML is handled in contemporary web design. Chapters 8 through 15 focus on HTML and XHTML markup, including detailed descriptions of all the elements and the way they should be used in standards-based web design. Part III: The Presentation Layer: Cascading Style Sheets Part III provides a thorough guide to using CSS for controlling the presentation of web content with a focus on visual media. It begins with an overview of the fundamentals in Chapter 16 and continues on with an introduction to CSS selectors in Chapter 17. Chapters 18 through 23 provide detailed descriptions of all the visual properties in the CSS 2.1 specification. Finally, examples of how CSS is used in the real world are provided in CSS Techniques (Chapter 24) and Managing Browser Bugs: Workarounds, Hacks, and Filters (Chapter 25). Part IV: The Behavioral Layer: JavaScript and the DOM Part IV is all about adding interactivity to your pages with JavaScript. Chapter 26 is an introduction to JavaScript, and covers syntax, control structures, object-orientation, and the whys and hows of unobtrusive scripting. Chapter 27 introduces the Document Object Model and shows how to tap into it to manipulate both content and design. As a supplement to Chapter 27,a brief introduction to Ajax te

The Return of the Least Weasel

When a book is as good as this one, later editions can't improve it; they can only update it.That's what this one does. The second edition of Jennifer Niederst's comprehensive reference on web design now takes account of HTML 4.01; the stuff on browsers takes account of Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 6.And what else is there to say? Just like the first edition (but with a handful of additional topics and updates to the existing ones), this volume provides a thorough "desktop quick reference" on the entire spectrum of web design -- a general introduction to and overview of the Web itself; authoring using HTML, cascading style sheets, and server side includes; graphics (GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats, colors, and animation); multimedia (audio, video, Flash, Shockwave, and introductory Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language); and advanced topics like JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, WAP, and WML. The appendices still provide easily-thumbable tables of HTML elements, attributes, tags nobody officially likes anymore, proprietary (i.e., browser-specific) tags, a chart showing which browsers support which CSS features, and all the special characters you can use in HTML (you know, & #these; & #things;).And you probably also already know who Jen Niederst is; if not, go read my review of her book _Learning Web Design_, which you should buy first anyway if you're new to the subject. Anyway, she's a terrific writer with intimate knowledge of all the little details you need to know in order to do web design effectively; guides just don't come any better.You know all of this already if you have the first edition. If not, then all you need to know is that this is an updated version of -- no contest -- the best available single-volume reference on web design, written by -- no contest -- the person best qualified to write it. It's complete; it's accessible; it's well-designed; it's O'Reilly.Oh -- and the "least weasel" is the species of weasel pictured on the cover.

Not a starter book but superb as a reference

This is a nutshell book, plain and simple. It's not intended to teach you HTML but it will help you hone your coding and web design skills. I read this book after learning HTML from Sams' "Teach Yourself HTML in 4 Hours." The former provided the appetizer, this book provides the meat and potatoes. It's best feature is the tips and tricks sprinkled throughout each section, particularly as they apply to getting the same effect in different browsers. The book also highlights IE quirks and Netscape bugs for various HTML tags and provides examples for workarounds. Most invaluable are the various tables included in the text: "MIME Types and Subtypes by Extension," "Decimal to Hexadecimal Equivalents," "Colors w/ their RGB and Web-safe hex values," and a full listing of character entities (@=@). You may be able to find this info. elsewhere, but rarely in one location as it is here. I would highly recommend this reference for any webmaster's desktop library.

My "Desert Island" web book

I will only be repeating what other reviewers have said, but if I could have just one book on my desk, this would be it. I'm notorious for purchasing a new book each week on every aspect of information design and web development, but few catch my attention for longer than a week (yes, it's a vicious circle). It is rare that I'll reference one after my initial read.However, Web Design in a Nutshell has not left my side in the 18 months I've owned it. It was my introduction to CSS & layers, is a wonderful Javascript and HTML tag resource, and has just enough about Unix & CGI scripts to get me through.Let me put it this way: I refuse to lend this book out to people anymore, because I always end up reaching for it. I'm thinking of purchasing a second copy exclusively for lending out.

Comprehensive and complete Coverage

This was my first purchase from the Nutshell series and I was particularly pleased with the content. The layout is very tidy and easy to navigate.I would consider my knowledge of the internet and web design at an intermediate level, and I would recommend this book to anyone other than a complete novice. Each section is concise and to the point and does not assume too much.The section on CGI scripting and Server Side Includes, I found invaluable. It was easily explained in basic terms and provided plenty of examples to get these working. In addition there are lots of references in the book to resources available on the web.All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read, if you want only one web reference book on your desk this year, this should be it.