No index?
I'm a big fan of the O'Reilly Pocket Reference series, but this one was a bit disappointing. While the basic content is there, the book is less than 100 pages and seems to only be a wrapper for three tables defining the common elements, character entities, and colors. Only the first five pages attempt to provide any foundation for the tables. Missing are more general references on forms, tables, scripting or even techniques for relative/absolute addressing. Probably most surprising was the lack of an index. For a pocket reference, that seems a pretty major oversight.
Great Book!
Hi there,
This is really a great book!
I needed a reference for HTML to help me work on my "invention" which is an HTML parser...It goes to web-sites, parses each page and finds the URLs embedded inside the HTML tags.
The main part of this book, HTML Elements, which covers 70 pages, is extra-ordinarily well made. It gives you all the information those monster +500 pages do but it is only pocket-sized and easy to carry.
I will use this book so that my "invention" knows the HTML syntax; and any other HTML projects I begin.
Big thanks to Jennifer Niederst Robbins and O'Reilly Media, Inc.!
'til next time,
Charles Darakdjian
Indispensable Reference
Large books, by their very nature, can have good points and bad points. After all, if you have a couple or several hundred pages worth of material, you are bound to get some things right and some things wrong.
But these pocket reference books from O'Reilly are great. They aren't for learning, rather they are what they say they are: a pocket reference. (Nice to see some truth in advertising for a change.)
If you buy this book you will use it. A lot. Period.
Great little reference book (third edition)
Great little reference book. It is not intended to be a learning tool. If you want that, try the Head First book on HTML/XHTML/CSS that O'Reilly also publishes.
It's a super little time-saver, and also makes for a quick read when designing a new page or project, to see if something you haven't used previously could benefit your work.
Replaces five pounds of "other books"...
My bookshelf at work just got about five pounds lighter with the addition of this book... HTML & XHTML Pocket Reference (3rd Edition) by Jennifer Niederst Robbins.
Contents: HTML and XHTML Fundamentals; Alphabetical List of Elements; Character Entities; Specifying Color
This is a great pocket guide, and exactly what I look for in this type of book. No fluff, just well-documented information that's easy to find, with a small number of examples to show you the format. I really appreciated the documentation on which elements and parameters are deprecated. This comes in really handy if you're looking to code strict XHTML, but you're unsure as to whether a certain feature is going to be supported or not. In most cases, I know the general tag I want to use, but I might be a bit confused as to the exact format of the different arguments. With the pocket guide, I can find that tag in seconds, see the options, and move on. I love it.
The book I've been keeping on my shelf at work for HTML reference is one of those five pound doorstops that covers absolutely everything. The problem is that I have to check the index to find what I need, and I end up using a different book for CSS information. With this pocket guide, I can retire that book, gain more room for other titles, and give my poor shelf a bit of a rest... :)
(12 reviews)
