viaDigita

XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook

MINI-REVIEW:  A Comprehensive Resource by Ian S. Graham

An excellent reference guide for developing web sites and internet applications in XHTML and CSS.

XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook
(Paperback Edition)

Weighing in at 692 pages, XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook by Ian S. Graham is a comprehensive reference on the basics of how to set up web pages. Though this book is a bit dated in its descriptions of earlier browsers (Netscape 3!) and the general Internet world at the time of its publication in 2000, the basic information on coding with XHTML (or HTML) is still quite up-to-date and useful. I especially appreciate the book’s emphasis on formatting text using only Cascading Stylesheets or CSS, resulting in many benefits including easier site maintainability and greater site accessibility, to name just a few.

The book is divided into two parts. In Part One, chapters 1 through 20 present detailed information and progressively more advanced chapters explaining all facets of building web pages. Part Two is an extensive reference section containing two chapters and five appendices. The first chapter within this section (chapter 21) provides a concise summary of all the elements defined in XHTML organized alphabetically for quick access. This serves as a useful quick reference when you want to know how an element can be used, or what attributes it supports. Chapter 22 provides a similar concise summary of all the CSS formatting properties. The five appendices describe characters and character sets, the main differences between XHTML and HTML, special tags used to identify languages, color names and codes, and length measurements.

Despite recent excitement in the web development community about the upcoming HTML 5 markup language, XHTML 1.0 is still a valid recommendation by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Thus, XHTML is a solid and tested markup language that will be available for many years to come and, therefore, XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook can safely be your guide to building web pages using recommended, stable languages into the foreseeable future.

XHTML 1.0 Language and Design Sourcebook is out of print, but is fairly widely available from online booksellers, including those listed below.

HOME  ::  BLOG  ::  BOOKS  ::  CLASSICAL  ::  DESIGN  ::  ENTERTAINMENT  ::  ONLINE  ::  SOFTWARE