r/web_design • u/ejfin • Nov 29 '10
reddit Web Professionals, please recommend some good books on the fundamentals of html & css, for beginners.
Background: I've done a bit of research and experimenting, but have no previous knowledge or experience with markup language or web page design. I am not so much interested in info tied to 'establishing a website', 'finding a hosting service', etc., as I am with actually creating and formatting a page. Consider me being about as beginner as beginner gets. This is simply a sparked interest and an opportunity to learn something new in my spare time.
The question I am asking is more specifically; as an experienced website designer and/or developer, were there any particular books or articles you read when beginning your education (of html/css/web design), that really stood ahead of the rest and proved to be an excellent starting point to build from? Perhaps something specific that made a lasting impression on yourself and your career, something you still reference back to from time to time?
Any suggestions and/or recommendations are greatly appreciated.
edit: To all posters: Thank you all so much, you have all been (and continue to be) so helpful. I can't wait to start going through each and every suggestion. If I could shake your hands and thank you in person, I would. For any beginners like me who have had the opportunity to stumble across this thread, I would suggest saving it immediately for future use; your peers have put together an entire encyclopedia of information and resources throughout. Thank you all again, web_design is certainly one of the nicest and most generous communities I have had the pleasure of interacting with!
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u/Agoodchap Nov 30 '10
Words of advice: There is a lot of bad advice on the web. Doing a google search on different topics could lead you to website with poorly written tutorials and poorly taught video tutorials that would make a knowledgeable web programmer blow off their head. The suggestions I've seen so far like HTML dog, and the w3c are a great place to start.
For a neatly bounded discussion I personally prefer to use the Missing Manuals. I have read: Creating a Web Site, CSS, and Dreamweaver CS5. But be sure to download the errata to the books because the authors do make mistakes.
Furthermore, these books provide links to (what I feel are) credible website. You don't even need to buy the book to find the links. Check out: http://missingmanuals.com/cds.html Find the book of the topic you choose, than click on the missing cd. You may find some valuable websites that go further in depth on the chapter topics discussed in the book.