CSS books

lozza · 4 Jul 2006 at 23:08

Off on holiday in two weeks and as i'm trying to learn CSS i though maybe a good idea to try and get a book or two on it for light reading.

Any reccommendations?

Beansprout · 4 Jul 2006 at 23:11

I bought the CSS Zen Garden book ("The Zen of CSS design") and while it's not a "tutorial" as such - it's more explanations of the different CSS Zen Garden designs - it shows you the true power of CSS with real examples, so while it doesn't hold your hand it does show you what you can Actually Do with CSS and explains a little about how it works.

Al Vallario · 4 Jul 2006 at 23:28

I've got Web Standards Solution by Dan Cederholm (ISBN: 1-59059-381-2) and it's a great read. It's not quite what you would expect from a CSS guide; no long lists of all the different attributes and intimidating stuff like that. He runs you though what web standards are — and why they are so important — then uses real world examples of how certain elements are used and styled. He assumes basic knowledge of HTML, but goes on to recommend best practices both in CSS and HTML (writing semantic code, separating content from style, making your websites compatible with mobile devices/print/screen readers through the use of stylesheets etc.)

I can't vouch for whether or not it's suitable for a beginner — I had prior knowledge of most things web standards when I picked it up — but it certainly makes for a good read, and Dan Cederholm is actually a web designer by title; not just some author branching out into web design

Augmented · 4 Jul 2006 at 23:40

The Zen Garden books great, but pretty weak on the technical side of CSS. It's a very nice design book, but personally I feel it works better as something to enjoy when you're familiar with the finer points of CSS.

If I was to recommend a CSS book, I have to do it blindly, and suggest "CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions" (ISBN: 1590596145) by Andy Budd. You'll be getting an up-to-date book, since was published only a few months ago, written by one of the highly respected designers about (and a Brit to boot). Seems to be fairly well received, looking at customer comments.

v2^ · 5 Jul 2006 at 00:06

i got Core CSS

Great little book.

lozza · 5 Jul 2006 at 00:21

Beansprout said:
I bought the CSS Zen Garden book ("The Zen of CSS design") and while it's not a "tutorial" as such - it's more explanations of the different CSS Zen Garden designs - it shows you the true power of CSS with real examples, so while it doesn't hold your hand it does show you what you can Actually Do with CSS and explains a little about how it works.

Not sure it's worth getting that book at this stage as i can access most of it online - but definately one for when i know what i'm doing!

Al vallario said:
I've got Web Standards Solution by Dan Cederholm (ISBN: 1-59059-381-2) and it's a great read. It's not quite what you would expect from a CSS guide; no long lists of all the different attributes and intimidating stuff like that. He runs you though what web standards are — and why they are so important — then uses real world examples of how certain elements are used and styled. He assumes basic knowledge of HTML, but goes on to recommend best practices both in CSS and HTML (writing semantic code, separating content from style, making your websites compatible with mobile devices/print/screen readers through the use of stylesheets etc.)

Looks interesting, i have basic knowledge of HTML, my first 3 sites were hand coded with note pad along time ago but recently i've been using dreamweaver (almost at the end of my evening class!) so i think i'll get that one.

Augmented said:
If I was to recommend a CSS book, I have to do it blindly, and suggest "CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions" (ISBN: 1590596145) by Andy Budd. You'll be getting an up-to-date book, since was published only a few months ago, written by one of the highly respected designers about (and a Brit to boot). Seems to be fairly well received, looking at customer comments.

Almost got this one in waterstones today, but thought i'd check here first, think that will be on my list too!

v2^ said:
i got Core CSS

Mybe a bit too advanced for me at this stage

Cheers for all the reccommendations