Web Standards Solutions
I have a number of Photoshop books but very few that deals with markup and web technologies. As a nice alternative, I got a chance to read Dan Cederholm's Web Standards Solutions this week. Dan's website is SimpleBits, a well known site with regular post about xhtml, css and the standards of web development.
Why is the <strong> tag better then simply <b>? When should you be using an ordered list compared to a definition list? Web Standards Solutions does a good job of explaining the advantages and disadvantages of all these options in an easy to read book divided into chapters that are mostly only 10 pages long.
Who is this book for?
You probably should know the basics of html first but I would go as far as saying everybody that adds markup to the web will benefit from this book. The content of this book is not a brand new concept and could be a repeat for some that already know css very well. Others like me who know css enough to create valid pages but not nearly enough to write a book about will learn a number of new ideas, methods and even tags to experiment with. If you are still writing html 4, complicated table layouts, looking for a good description on the box model hack or creating pages that don't validate at all, this is almost a must read for any serious developer.
- Reduce Markup
- Separate Content from Presentation
- Accessibility
- Future Compatibility
The benefits from everybody coding with a standard set of rules comes with a long list of advantages. Right from the opening remarks, Dan uses a comparison to your house hold appliances. You don't buy a dishwasher and worry about adjusting the kitchen based on the brand or model because they come in standard sizes. Just because browsers are so forgiving doesn't mean everybody should invent their own coding practices.
You may not agree with everything but at least you'll know what's available. I originally designed this site while learning css for the first time over a year ago and after reading this book I sat down tonight and rewrote my entire style sheet eliminating 160 lines. Just a few more tweaks left but the site almost looks identical but with a new cleaner and cooler style sheet.