Book Reviews

Pro CSS Techniques

Pro CSS TechniquesAPress is far and away my favorite tech book publisher. You’ll probably hear (read) my say that over and over again. When I need to learn a new technology or just get better at an old one, I always look to see what APress has in their stable before venturing out anywhere else.

I’ve used CSS like the next guy. I started off just adding an in-line style or two. Then, I learned about external .css files. Then, I discovered the CSS Zen Garden and realized that I didn’t know anything. However, I still just muddled along, piecing together what I could, trying my best to separate structure from layout.

There are several good resources online to learn about CSS syntax and a few “best practices”, but nothing as comprehensive as this book. Pro CSS Techniques takes you from the base syntax of CSS to tons of nuances included in the latest version (CSS 3 as of the writing of the book, I believe). Also included are tons of “gotchas” for dealing with browser compatibility in a very pragmatic way. I would venture to say that many developers do not inherently follow the advice in this book and struggle mightily for it.

Pro CSS Techniques also includes tons of “real world”-type examples so that you can see how to put this in action. The code examples are also built in such a way so that you do work one way, find out why that doesn’t work, then correct it. I find that more helpful than just showing only 100% correct code and giving a passing explanation as to why other ways aren’t correct.

If you want to become a better web developer, want to learn more about CSS, and you aren’t Eric Meyer or one of the authors of this book, I recommend you pick it up.

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