[Kc] Book Review: Dynamic HTML, 2nd Ed.

Garrett Goebel garrett at scriptpro.com
Thu Jul 10 16:57:03 CDT 2003


Title: Dynamic HTML, 2nd Ed.
Author: Danny Goodman
Publisher: O'Reilly
Published: 2002_09_15
ISBN: 0596003161
Pages: 1500

Dynamic HTML is a colossal 1,500 page reference on HTML, CSS, DOM and
JavaScript. Published in September of 2002, the second edition has been
updated to cover the latest versions of all the specifications. Coverage of
some items such as Netscape Navigator 4's DHTML have been depreciated.

The text assumes the reader knows HTML fundamentals and JavaScript basics.
This section presents a nice tutorial dialog on the past, present, and
future of cross-platform dynamic html. The author also present various
cross-platform strategies for working with browser supported DHTML features
and planning for graceful degradation when browser support is lacking.

The remainder of the book is an indispensable cross-reference of the
specifications, what portions are shared across various browsers, and how
the browser implementations differ. The appendices include quick references
on colors, character entities, keyboard events, Internet Explorer commands,
and HTML/XHTML DTD support. In short, the reference section is
indispensable. 

In the preface, the author states that he wrote the book for selfish
reasons: "My brain could no longer store the parallels and discrepancies of
the hundreds of terms for HTML attributes, style sheets, and scriptable
object models. And no browser maker was about to tell me how compatible a
particular feature might be in another browser."

I can't pretend to imagine the amount of time and effort that must have gone
into writing this book. But I can appreciate it. The detail, insight, and
information density is excellent. You might buy other books to learn about
HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript, but this is the book you will want close at
hand when you work with them.


--
Garrett Goebel
IS Development Specialist

ScriptPro                  Direct: 913.403.5261
5828 Reeds Road            Main:   913.384.1008
Mission, KS 66202          Fax:    913.384.2180
www.scriptpro.com          garrett at scriptpro dot com

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