Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Ed.

3rd edition update: The third edition took a bigger leap from the second than the second took from the first. Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd ed., comes with a greater focus on Web standards and cascading style sheets (CSS). In fact, the book opens with a chapter on Web standards, whereas it was merely a footnote in the previous edition.
Rather than a sole chapter on HTML, the markup chapter blends HTML and XHTML. The chapter comes with notes explaining the major differences between HTML and XHTML. The greater emphasis on XHTML ensures newer designers dive right into XHTML and improve their chances of designing standards compliant Web pages. Furthermore, the appendix includes HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0 and 1.1, and CSS 2.1 references.
Ajax and WCAG 2.0 have barely been around in terms of publishing time. While the Ajax process isn’t new, but its terminology and popularity are recent. Both items are covered, albeit briefly. Had Robbins wrote the book now, Ajax would not likely get huge coverage as it’s a little advanced for the book’s purposes and target market.
Accessible forms, mobile devices, internationalization, JavaScript with document object model (DOM), and document structure also gain more attention in the third edition. On the same token, the book reduces coverage of concepts that have gotten less attention such as the Web palette (Web safe colors), SMIL (synchronized multimedia integration language), frames, and DHTML.
Part III is devoted to CSS, which contains 10 new chapters — a must as CSS becomes a design standard not something to play with. The third edition superbly reflects today’s Web development environment and still sticks to its main purpose — helping new and intermediate designers get up to speed on Web design. The book continues its role as a valuable reference.
Title: Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Ed.
Author: Jennifer Niederst Robbins
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 0596009879
Date: February 2006
Format: Paperback
Pages: 826
Cover Price: USD: $34.99 Amazon: $22.04