Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML

When I got the review copy I was surprised at the size of the book. As this is a beginner’s text I expected it to be smaller. That’s not a complaint, just an observation. This is a meaty volume that covers how to write the code in web pages quite thoroughly.

By Elisabeth Freeman, Eric Freeman
First Edition December 2005
Pages: 694
Price: $34.95

With all the buzz about the Head First series in the web design world I was interested to see if this series really offers something new. The short answer is yes. The authors have attempted to make learning HTML and CSS easy and fun. That’s a big order, though they have succeeded as well as anybody and better than most.

Instead of pages and pages of dry text, Headfirst HTML interjects lots of images and learning games. There are exercises in matching, even crossword puzzles to keep the material from getting too dry. No prior knowledge is expected and all terms are well defined.

Some people have complained about the repetition found in the book. It is certainly there. The authors even mention this in the forward. For the most part it is well done. Learning requires repetition and learning requires repetition too. Having taught web design to adults, this has become very obvious to me. Fortunately the authors do a better job of repeating themselves in different and interesting ways than I am able to.

Will this book work for everybody? No. It does make good use of modern learning theory to break the material into digestible chunks that are offered in a logical and sequential manner. I’m very impressed. But as with any training sequence it needs to be followed and worked.

If you like to try things out yourself then check a reference book to get you past your stuck points you would be better served by something like the “HTML for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide” or “Web Design in a Nutshell”. If you are good at following training programs in order and take the time to work through this book you will know more HTML than most web designers. And your knowledge will be current and standards compliant.

This is an excellent training manual but a poor reference book. So, if you are looking for solid, well designed sequential training course, I highly recommend this. If you won’t take the time to work the book, look elsewhere.

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