| Selection of HTML and Web Design Books |
| Master the Web with nothing more than a text editor! |
The best web sites are built using nothing more than a text editor. While WYSIWYG editors may seem attractive to beginners, all seasoned web designers agree that tweaking the HTML source with a text editor, is the only way to get things the way you really want it. It is no surprise: visual editors are position based, while HTML is flow-based, making it more portable across devices and platforms.
My own jgsoft.com web site is built with EditPad Pro, a fine text editor (which I also created myself). I used to directly write the final HTML, but now I am assisting myself with a Perl script (also maintained with EditPad) which will read my text files and expand home-grown tags into HTML tags. Only the graphics were not created with a text editor.
Don't worry if you are new to web design and HTML. HTML, the format in which web pages are written, is extremely simple. Getting your English right (or whatever natural language your web site is written in), will be far more difficult than getting your HTML right.
If you feel like buying one of the books, simply click on the title to add the book to your shopping cart at Amazon.com (based in the USA) or at Amazon.co.uk (based in the United Kingdom), two huge on-line bookstores. They offer very sharp prices and make sure that the books will be shipped to you as soon as possible. For best services, buy from Amazon.co.uk if you are living in Europe and from Amazon.com if you are living elsewhere.
If you change your mind about buying the book, or wish to order another one as well, just hit the back button of your browser to get back to this page.
HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Visual QuickStart Guide by Elizabeth Castro
4th edition - 384 pages - Peachpit press, October 1999
$ Buy "HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Visual QuickStart Guide" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "HTML 4 for the World Wide Web, Visual QuickStart Guide" from Amazon.co.uk
This book is a nice reference guide for beginning and intermediate users. If you like to learn by example, this is a great book even if you know nothing about HTML. Most aspects of HTML and web design are covered, and all items are illustrated with clear images, so you can immediately see what things will look like, without having to do a whole lot of experimenting yourself (which can be fun, nonetheless). Many topics are covered: basic HTML, formatting text, creating links and placing images, creating tables and forms, Cascading Style Sheets (more powerful formatting than plain HTML), basic Javascript (eg: rollovers), page counters, browser compatibility issues, etc.
Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours by Dick Oliver
397 pages - Sams, April 1999
$ Buy "Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours" from Amazon.co.ukThis book is a tutorial for wannabe web masters. It is conveniently broken up into 24 "one hour" chapters. Even after reading only a few chapters, you will be able to confidently enter cyberspace and set up a basic home page.This book is not as fast-paced as many other introductory HTML books and you can read it one chapter at a time. After working through this book, you will have a good understanding of the basics of HTML, and be ready to take up one of the advanced books listed below.
Learn HTML In a Weekend by Steven E. Callihan
Revised Edition - 409 pages - with CD-ROM - Prima Publishing, October 1998
$ Buy "Learn HTML In a Weekend" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Learn HTML In a Weekend" from Amazon.co.ukThis book aims at the casual computer user who wants to set up a web site in his or her spare time. Mr. Callihan know how to teach technical subjects to non-technical people. You will be surprised that anyone can set up a nice website during a rainy weekend. The CD-ROM that comes with the book contains several HTML editors and various tools like frame and form generators. Their use is explained in the book, so you can get started right away. This book does not explain all the details of HTML. For the more advanced subjects, like frames and forms, the book relies on the software that comes on the CD-ROM which will generate the HTML tags for you.
HTML: the Definitive Guide
500 pages - O'Reilly, August 1998
$ Buy "HTML: the Definitive Guide" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "HTML: the Definitive Guide" from Amazon.co.ukThis bestseller is indeed a definitive reference guide to HTML. Nearly all aspects of HTML, including Netscape and Microsoft extensions, are covered in detail, with many clear examples that you can easily apply to your own work.If you already know the basics of HTML and need a reference for the more complicated or exotic tags, this book is a must buy.
Web Design in a Nutshell by Jennifer Niederst
578 pages - O'Reilly, December 1998
$ Buy "Web Design in a Nutshell" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Web Design in a Nutshell" from Amazon.co.ukAnother O'Reilly bestseller. Not a reference guide this time, but a solid tutorial book. Note that the book does not aim at the beginning web designer, but at people who already have a bit of experience and want to greatly sharpen their skills.Web Design in a Nutshell is a very readable, informative and well thought-out. An excellent book for becoming an excellent web designer (still with nothing more than a text editor).
HTML: the Complete Reference by Thomas Powell
Osborne McGraw-Hill, March 1999
$ Buy "HTML: the Complete Reference" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "HTML: the Complete Reference" from Amazon.co.ukThis book is another reference guide to HTML, and it is indeed very complete.Again, not a book for beginners but a decent reference guide for intermediate and advanced web designers.
Dynamic HTML by Danny Goodman
1096 pages - O'Reilly, August 1998
$ Buy "Dynamic HTML" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Dynamic HTML" from Amazon.co.ukThe book makes an excellent reference, not only on DHTML, but also on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), since there is no doubt that you will also be using CSS on your DHTML web pages.A solid knowledge of plain HTML is required if you want to get the most of this book.
Javascript: the Definitive Guide by Flanagan
800 pages - O'Reilly, June 1998
$ Buy "Javascript: the Definitive Guide" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Javascript: the Definitive Guide" from Amazon.co.uk
Mastering HTML 4: Premium Edition by Deborah S. Ray, Eric J. Ray
1200 pages - Sybex, May 1999
$ Buy "Mastering HTML 4: Premium Edition" from Amazon.com
£ Buy "Mastering HTML 4: Premium Edition" from Amazon.co.uk
If you feel a particular book of great quality, is missing in my selection, feel free to drop me a message.
| Page URL: http://www.jgsoft.com/bookhtml.html Last Modified: 12 November 2000 | Copyright © 1999-2001 Jan Goyvaerts. All rights reserved. |