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Summary: A non-patronizing guide to learning modern HTML
Review: "HTML and XHTML: the definitive guide" will give you a thorough grounding in creating web pages. XHTML, by the way, is just HTML5 - the more mature version of the whizzy dynamic HTML4.This book does not patronize - not that it's not "for idiots". It doesn't have cartoons, or annoying icons saying "kule stuff" either. What it does do is to take you through the process of creating websites - from your first steps through to the deep end of HTML. Each element is detailed with sufficient examples; nothing is glossed over. Particular strengths are are the trickier areas for the non-pros - its treatment of forms, GET and POST, frames, CSS and tables are very clear. The book is careful to delineate what it deals with and what it doesn't. Although it touches upon Java, Javascript, Applets and server technology, these tend to be pointers to the reader - saying what the various things do, evaluating the options and suggesting an O'Reilly book to buy! "Kule stuff" includes the chapter on XML (should be on your resume!), "tips, tricks and hacks", the tag reference summary and some rather excellent history on the internet and all the various parties that try and work together to make it work. It's a neat book - personally, I'm an XML-type who's having to reverse-engineer my know-how down to HTML and it hits the mark for me!
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Summary: Very good HTML book, but with annoying XHTML additions.
Review: This book is a perfect way to learn HTML, but it could have done without the XHTML remarks throughout the book. XHTML is dealed with in a seperate chapter, and they should have kept to that. Additionally, because the books layout is based on a subject/tag system (per html subject the used tags are dealed with) you read the same information about attributes over and over again. That can be a real pain, but when you use the book to review certain subjects that comes in handy. As said by other reviews, the book could've used a few more examples. Overall, still, the book is very complete and understandable.
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Summary: A Good Coverage, but less example
Review: The book shows a good, complete coverage on HTML 4, and its implementation on IE and Netscape. A very comphrensive guide which should go better if more example (especially color) are available. Good for intermediate which would like to learn further. This book is bit tough for beginner which need to scan at least 488 page to learn html.
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Summary: Easy reading - easy reference
Review: This book is easy to read, even for relative beginners, and can usefully be read to find out what HTML is all about. It is nicely set out with tables which show the tags that can be used and the choice of attributes available, so that the book is also useful as a reference text.
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Summary: even for a beginner like me...a real help in xml...
Review: A book every new (and not new one) html practicioner has to have as near as possible...even me as a beginer...
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Summary: Useful Book!
Review: If you already have HTML experience and want to get into 4.01 might as well learn XHTML and this book provides a great reference. May not be a beginners guide put is worth having if you are already working in the medium. Wish I had just bought this book first.
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Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: I'm not sure whether to advise this as a good "first" book for people looking to learn mark-up for the web, since it was not mine. However, having already learned the absolute basics about HTML, tables, frames, etc., and a small bit of XML, I found the book of considerable value. Lighter on examples to make room for intelligent discussion of web design, the book has already set me straight on some of the many "bad" habits I have picked up, and proved a painless and rapid transition to XHTML. Much of the focus is on understanding why it's good design to do something a certain way, and the reader is alerted to soon-to-be-deprecated tags and attributes, as well as good discussion of the newer ways of doing things. I honestly believe that if you have never used HTML before, with this book and the ability to search the web for its many tutorials on HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, etc., a newbie could rapidly begin designing web pages effectively. Although there is a clearly logical progression through the book, each chapter stands on its own, such that it is quite possible to jump straight to one of the last subjects in the book and begin targeting the area of your choice.
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Summary: good book... for a specific group
Review: This book is wordy and has partial script, just to demonstrate a concept of a keyword. i don't think a beginner could learn from it although it's very html detailed. it should only be used as a reference. impatient people who wants info straight to the point will find this book slow and frustrating, like me.
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Summary: Classic HTML reference beginning to show its age
Review: In the early days of the Web, this O'Reilly book was THE reference for HTML. It's still the best available, but now in its fourth edition, HTML & XHTML is beginning to show its age. While I would still recommend it for Web professionals who need a reference, I'm not sure I would suggest it to folks just starting out. The art and science of Web creation are going through fundamental changes. HTML is slowly being supplanted by XML, and structure and presentation are finally and irrevocably being separated. I would suggest that within the next three years this book will need to be replaced with a similar broad introduction to Web authoring, something that covers the basics of XML, CSS, XSL and JavaScript, with little mention at all of HTML. But we will see. In the meantime, this is still the book to grab when you have an HTML problem to solve. The appendices, in particular, are invaluable.
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Summary: Possibly Definitive, but not entirely Practical
Review: Technically, this is probably the best book on HTML (and now XHTML) around. However, it falls short in explaining related topics adequately. For example, the chapter on multimedia devotes several pages to GIF, but doesn't bother to inform you that you must pay a royalty to Unisys when you use GIF, or even mention the new PNG graphics format that is replacing GIF partly for this reason but mostly because it's just better than GIF. The chapter on tips and tricks doesn't include the most important tip: run your HTML through a verifier to ensure that it's well-formed. If you're looking for a book that tells you how to create web pages, perhaps a less definitive but more balanced book would be best.
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