There are lots and lots of books on CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), but Beginning CSS Web Development stands out from the crowd. It is a well written book that delves straight into the practical matter and gives broad coverage at the same time as it contains a lot of practical examples of good usable code. I have learned quite a lot from this book and used several of the smart solutions provided in it.
CSS is one of the most important technologies on the web today. It gives tremendous power in styling web sites and reduces the complexity of code as well as the time it takes to maintain and change sites – especially for large sites with hundreds or thousands of pages this is extremely important. CSS also gives web developers power to style web sites so that they are usable, compact, good looking, and consistent in layout.
In addition to the essential CSS basics – cascade, inheritance, contextual selectors, and specificity – this book covers advanced techniques like accessibility, hacks, and filters. It concludes with a case study, and features a CSS reference section that allows you to look up required syntax as quickly as possible. It also provides examples and code that is standards compliant and semantically good.
Collison’s writing style is relaxed, clear, and appropriately humorous. He even tells you (often — he’s English!) when’s a good time to grab a cup of tea. He presents complex topics very clearly.
Beginning CSS Web Development: From Novice to Professional by Simon Collison is the perfect book for newcomers to CSS and for those slightly more-experienced CSS designers who need a soup-to-nuts review. A very well organized and usable book, and a book that I am happy to have in my CSS library. I recommend it!


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