Product: CSS: The Missing Manual (2nd edition)
Publisher: O’Reilly
Date Reviewed: 3-15-11
Retail Price: $43.99
Price Paid: $23.99
The Missing Manual series, started by NY Times technology columnist David Pogue, was created with one chief goal: to make computer books more approachable to the average person. With the tag line “The book that should have been in the box”, the Missing Manual series attempts to present technical content in an entertaining, practical and forthright manner – without obfuscation, buzzwords or unnecessary fluff.
(NOTE: If you’re completely new to HTML and CSS, I’d strongly recommend Headfirst HTML with CSS and XHTML. It’s excellent and approachable – particularly for first time learners. CSS: The Missing Manual is meant for folks who already have some HTML/CSS experience.)
My background with Cascaded Style Sheets (CSS) can be classified as “intermediate”. Over the years, I’ve gathered my knowledge about the subject through a piece-meal format: from various books, websites, articles, and even trial and error. I have always yearned for a more formal approach to understand “the big picture”, to fill in the vast gaps of knowledge I had about the subject.
I’m pleased to report that CSS: The Missing Manual, by author David Sawyer McFarland, fills that gap – and fills it well. Whether you are new to CSS entirely or have an intermediate knowledge of the subject, you will find plenty to learn and apply into your own web design projects. The book, clocking in at over 521 pages, is clearly organized into 5 logical sections, each with individual chapters:
- CSS Basics
- Applied CSS
- CSS Page Layout
- Advanced CSS
- Appendixes
CSS Basics focuses on the structure of CSS and how it fits in with HTML. You’ll learn the anatomy of a CSS style, and the difference between external and embedded style sheets. Also covered in the “Basics” section are classes, IDs, advanced selectors, inheritance, pseudo-classes, and the “Cascade” nature of CSS. Each chapter ends with a practical example where you can apply what you have just learned.
Applied CSS delves into formatting text, the box model approach (with an in-depth coverage of margins, padding, and borders), adding graphics to webpages, CSS navigation and formatting tables and forms.
CSS Page Layout covers the how’s and why’s of using CSS for positioning elements on the page as well as building float-based layouts, while the Advanced CSS section discusses CSS for the printed page and how to properly write and document your code.
The Appendixes are divided into 3 chapters: CSS Property Reference, CSS in Dreamweaver CS4, and additional CSS resources.
CSS: The Missing Manual does a good job uncovering CSS standards and exceptions (i.e. dealing with older browsers, like IE6), with each tutorial pointing out how to adjust the code to insure compatibility with older browsers.
I’ve learned quite a bit of information from this book – from descendent selectors to using negative margins to adjust spacing. The practical examples demystify certain CSS tricks I’ve seen on various websites, and I feel like I’ve truly leveled up in my own understanding. It’s also really fantastic to use as a reference – if you have already wield some HTML / CSS knowledge, you can simply jump to the appropriate section without worry.
In short, thanks to its light overall tone, its well-written chapters and practical tutorials, I found CSS: The Missing Manual to be a very solid book on the subject. If you’re looking for a genuinely useful, easy-to-understand text to level up in your CSS skills , this is the one to get.
CSS: The Missing Manual earns a solid 5 out of 5 Bob Weiners.
