Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites
Schmitt, Christopher; Rob Cherny et al
New Riders December 24, 2007
ISBN 0321501829
288 pages
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About: Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites Let's be honest: today's Web apps should be written to conform to modern standards; you shouldn't be using tables for layout; you should be writing semantic (X)HTML. And that is very much the message of this book. It's remarkably easy for us to forget about the browser as we plough through our development with (insert server technology of choice). After all, so much of the resultant mark up and script code is generated for us that we often barely register the fact that we're writing Web applications. Schmitt, Cherny and co. really put the focus back on to what our code ultimately produces: the mark up that is rendered in the browser. And the guidance provided, along with the explanations, is very solid. Divided into two main parts, the book initially explains how to write good (X)HTML; how to use CSS; and how to structure and apply any JavaScript that you might want to use. It then goes on to present a couple of case studies to see how these ideas work in practice. On whole the book work well. The explanations are clear; the reasoning sound. Occasionally, and this might be a function of the number of authors involved with the book, I would get one of those " Enough already. I surrender!" moments as I read for the umpteenth time about how to name a CSS class or no use an inline style. This book is a deep technical references on CSS and Ajax, and it cover the major Ajax frameworks. So if you're looking for a nuts and bolts book on technologies, buy this book. However, if you've gone beyond the mere mechanics of CSS and Ajax and want to know how to structure your code for the long term, a few best practices, or even if you need to convince you boss about why standards matter, then it makes a great read.
Resources
Biography
Christopher Schmitt has been designing for the Web since 1993. He is the author of the award-winning CSS Cookbook, and the creative director of Heatvision, a small new media publishing and design firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kimberly Blessing is the manager of the Web development Platform Team at PayPal, where she is responsible for driving the creation and adoption of standards. Rob Cherny is a professional Web developer with ten years of experience creating Web sites and Web-based applications. Rob is currently a Lead Web Developer at NavigationArts, LLC. Merl K. Evans is a content maven who has written on various design and development technologies for numerous print and Web-based publications. Kevin Lawver has been on the Web for a lucky thirteen years, and writing Web applications for almost eleven while working for AOL for twelve. Mark Trammell has served as Web standards evangelist at PayPal and directed the Web presence of University of Florida. Feel free to ask him for music recommendations. Molly E. Holzschlag is a well-known Web standards advocate, instructor, and author. Molly works to educate designers and developers on using Web technologies in practical ways to create highly sustainable, maintainable, accessible, interactive and beautiful Web sites for the global community.Contact
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