Recommended Web Design Books

[iN8]

Can anyone recommend the best books for web design, including XHTML, CSS, Javascript etc.

Thanks

 

[michaelrjohnson]

The Visual Quickstart Guide Series:
- HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS
- DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web
- JavaScript for the World Wide Web

I own older editions of all three of these books, and I used them to teach myself basic web programming 8 years ago. These are great books. I highly reccomend them.

 

[Stampyhead]

The Visual Quickstart Guide Series:
- HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS
- DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web
- JavaScript for the World Wide Web

I own older editions of all three of these books, and I used them to teach myself basic web programming 8 years ago. These are great books. I highly reccomend them.

Yep, those are great books. I have many of those myself. Also check out www.sitepoint.com. They have a lot of really good books dealing with all aspects of web site creation, from HTML to CSS to PHP to marketing yourself as a freelance web developer. They also have helpful online articles and forums on various web dev-related topics. I am a professional web designer/developer and I have several of their books which I use for reference.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Definitely a second for HTML For the World Wide Web (this book is a must for anyone using WSIWIG Editors or handcoding):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...1/ref=cm_lm_asin/102-3200356-3338545?v=glance

and also Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability is a great guide written to be informal, but informative, and funny. I had a great time reading this book and learned a lot about design concepts.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/102-3200356-3338545?v=glance&s=books

And finally I must give a quick note to the CSS Zen Garden Book... even though you can see a lot from www.csszengarden.com it helps to have it in print in front of you:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...oblue-20/102-3200356-3338545?v=glance&s=books

 

[ham_man]

Speaking from a programming perspective, I swear by O'reilly. There books were concise, easy to read, and very well written. I am not too sure about their web design department, but if it anything near the quality of their programming, you cannot go wrong...

 

[iN8]

Thanks guys for your recommendations, much appreciated.

 

[xelterran]

not a book, but check out this presentation:

http://www.stopdesign.com/present/2004/ddw-seattle/tables/

You can find alot of information online for free..

http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp
http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp

http://www.brainjar.com
http://www.brainjar.com/css/positioning/default.asp

http://simon.incutio.com/categories/csstutorial/

 

[mrjamin]

And finally I must give a quick note to the CSS Zen Garden Book... even though you can see a lot from www.csszengarden.com it helps to have it in print in front of you:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...oblue-20/102-3200356-3338545?v=glance&s=books

I second that one, its a great book.

 

[theappleguy]

I've always found Sitepoint's books to be quite good. You can download sample chapters on their site to check they suit your needs before you buy.

 

[michaelklouda]

There are several books I can recommend, but it depends on where you are coming from. There are short reviews here on my site: http://michaelklouda.com/recommended_web_design_books.shtml but the books are:

Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman - which is a great foundational book for understanding the principles and reasoning why you should be building sites in XHTML and CSS instead of the now depreciated HTML.

Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook by Dan Cederholm

and

Stylin' with CSS - A designers guide by Charles Wyke-Smith

Good luck!

 

[mariahlullaby]

I really liked the "Teach Yourself Visually" books for jumping into basic HTML, etc. I used those one summer while in 7th grade to learn the basics. Very intuitive!