Introduction

Every aspiring web developer should learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript. There are plenty of tutorials available on the web related to the aforementioned topics. However, many of the articles teach only the fundamental concepts and are scattered over various websites. Hence, there is a great need for a book such as Murach's HTML, XHTML and CSS, which discusses all of the concepts related to not only HTML but also JavaScript, XHTML and CSS in a detailed manner.

Inside the Book

The book is divided into 3 sections. The chapters in section 1 introduces the basics of web development, usage of HTML and CSS including the steps required to edit, test and validate a web page.

Section 2 examines the usage of links, lists, images, tables and forms in detail. You will also learn how to embed audio, video and other related media with the help of chapter 11. While chapter 12 enables you to learn how to print using HTML, chapter 13 examines the usage of JavaScript as well.

The author also provides coverage of advanced techniques such as Image Swapping, Slideshow creation, data validation with the help of complete source code. This section also examines the role of Photoshop in image editing with screenshots including coverage of the creation of favicon and image maps.

The final section provides a detailed overview of the design and deployment of a website. I would suggest the author to include a short coverage of Microsoft Expression Web, which is widely used by many web developers. However, the author has covered some of the freely available tools such as Notepad++ and TextWrangler.

The book also includes an appendix which discusses the usage of various free tools and also provides information regarding usage of source code which is available for download from the website of the publisher. The book examines each concept in a unique and uniform manner.

If you look at Page 226, the author provides a detailed overview of the creation of a navigation bar with two screenshots followed by relevant source codes and related descriptions in bulleted format. I noticed that his approach has been followed in all chapters.

Each chapter concludes with the related summary and exercises. I noticed that the exercises clearly provide detailed procedure to perform the related tasks, which I hope will be highly useful for beginners.

Conclusion

Murach's HTML, XHTML and CSS will be useful for beginners and for those who want to explore HTML and JavaScript deeply. It can also be used by computer training centers as a learning material to deliver short term courses for their students.

About the Reviewer

Anand Narayanaswamy (Microsoft MVP and Technical Editor of ASPAlliance.com) is the author of Community Server Quickly. He works as an independent consultant based in Trivandrum, India and runs www.learnxpress.com and www.dotnetalbum.com

About the Book