I found a copy of Learning Web Design – a beginners guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics (4th edition) by Jennifer Niederst Robbins at my local library. Thumbing through it I saw some references to HTML5 and CSS3 so took it home for a further reading. The writing style of the author fits with my mode of reading with just the right mix of instruction, illustration, and code examples. I found it a refreshing read and even picked up a couple of new tricks and alternatives to some of my coding practices. The book is well laid out topically and could help someone with little knowledge of the web development get the basics as well as an introduction to some more complex methods. Each chapter ends with a quiz to help determine if you understood the content.
Novice and experienced developers can treat it as an all in one refresher course for HTML/CSS/Javascript. There is just enough HTML5 to get you started if you haven’t kept up to daye. The CSS2 and CSS3 items were well covered for most needs and were clear in their documentation and shortfalls. The text has great coverage of forms, layout strategies (including fluid/responsive designs), and image optimization.
Since HTML 5 will become more standard as we move closer to MSIE 10 and 2014 this book is a good resource to help transition ones skills or for beginners to understand where the web has been and where it is going. I found I was looking forward to the future standards.
