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Posted by Stan McCann on 08/05/06 15:08
Jack <mrdemeanour@nospam.jackpot.uk.net> wrote in
news:eb25sn$dpr$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk:
> Stan McCann wrote:
>> mouse@house.spam wrote in
>> news:fl07d25arhp4mr2p89aq31o2l4gannfuci@4ax.com:
>>
>>> I have some knowledge of HTML but almost none of CSS, only a
>>> little
>>> of Javascript etc. Basically I am looking for a book to solidify
>>> my knowledge of web design technologies. The two books which stood
>>> out at the bookshop today were;
>>>
>>> Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML by Freeman Internet & World Wide
>>> Web How to Program by Deitel
>>
>> I've seen neither book; I have looked at numerous books however
>> while
>> searching for appropriate textbooks when I was teaching (retired
>> now). I'll warn you that most textbooks, even those published very
>> recently, teach 1995 methods rather than modern. It was very
>> frustrating trying to teach modern methods with these books.
>>
>> Instead of books, why not:
>>
>> HTML: http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/ XHTML:
>> http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/
>>
>>
> You can't use either of those as teaching resources! Even as
> reference documents they are hard to read!
I disagree about the HTML. While I was teaching HTML, I introduced my
students to the W3 references within a few class periods. Specifically
to the element reference list where they could see all elements listed
and easily find out more about any of them.
I do agree, and probably shouldn't have included it, that the XHTML is
confusing and probably counter productive for a newbie. Most of the
books I reviewed were teaching XHTML and I had to tell my classes some
of the difference and to avoid it.
>> CSS: http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/
>
> The W3C material on CSS is better - but still not really suited to
> teaching.
This, I really disagree on. By the time my classes got to CSS, this
was the best reference for them. From the horses mouth so to speak and
not really difficult to understand with a little explanation.
> The Oh Really "Rhino" book on Javascript (Flanagan) is very good.
> Some would argue that it's the best. The reference sections are
> second to none. It's a fat book, but the subject is complicated.
In my more advanced classes where the students did learn javascript, I
used "JavaScript, second edition" by Don Gosselin. Not too bad of a
book. I'm not much into javascript though; we did some simple picture
pre-loading and that was about it.
>> PHP: http://us3.php.net/manual/en/index.php
>
> I don't like PHP as a server-side scripting language; all PHP
> systems I've seen have been a mess, and I think the fault lies with
> the language. I don't want to start a debate on that; but I think
> that a newbie web-developer doesn't want to be getting into
> server-side programming at all, really. That can wait.
Again, I concede that I probably should have left this out. I do like
PHP, but you are correct that newbies don't need to get into
programming too soon.
To the OP, sorry about recommending some stuff that really isn't for
beginners.
--
Stan McCann, RETIRED!!, "Uncle Pirate" http://stanmccann.us/
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A zest for living must include a willingness to die. - R.A. Heinlein
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