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HTML5 & CSS3 For The Real World

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HTML5 and CSS3 for the Real World is ideal for any web designer or developer who wants to start using the latest generation of web technologies in their everyday work. This book will teach you how This easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with lots of examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great websites from start to finish using HTML5 and CSS3. It also

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

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Estelle Weyl

19 books3 followers

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5 stars
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40 (31%)
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9 (7%)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Sarah.
96 reviews3 followers
June 27, 2011
This book is targeted towards people like me, who already know html/css/javascript and have heard about HTML5 but know little about what it is and why we should care. I came into this book thinking that HTML5 was merely a set of new tags but soon realized it has a lot more to do with giving more semantics to an html document. It does a good job explaining these concepts using a decent amount of examples. I think at times, I wanted to see more rendering alongside the html markup but not too often. I very much like the fact that it allays some fears about using HTML5 right now, as it offers information about what is and isn't supported yet by browsers (I'm looking at you, IE8 and below) and what solutions are available to ensure backwards compatibility.

I kind of skimmed through the CSS sections ... these were mostly explanations of new functionality, many of which I didn't care too much about, except how to create round corners. Perhaps these will be more relevant to me later.

Just FYI, this book will not teach you html/css or even go over best practices of html/css (though you can infer things from the examples, like using lists to mark up forms, which I'd never done before). As a person who is self taught in front-end development, I'd still like to a find a good resource for best practices in html/css ... this will only give you the HTML5 piece of that.

Overall, informative, clearly written and organized, and does a good job of what it sets out to do. But with its limited scope, I don't think I'll be keeping it on my desk as a reference.
Profile Image for Stoil.
48 reviews6 followers
July 8, 2012
Quickie review:

A great book and a good introduction to HTML5 and CSS3 if you're already familiar with these technologies.



Long review:

An all-round good book. The authors are reputable repositories of information and are fairly active in the Web concerning standards and web design tutorials. And they've got a great sense of Web humour.


This book isn't meant to be the ultimate guide to HTML5 and CSS3 specifications. It is meant as an introduction, a quick overview of all the new tools web developers have at their disposal. Also, what is very valuable about this book is that the authors give the low down on the best practices for utilizing these new tools, something you won't find in the dry specifications.


Furthermore, I very much appreciate the approach they've taken to introducing these concepts: build a real working demo website! They know full well that experienced coders would be itching to get their hands on the code. And it's probably the best way to learn! Also, they provide numerous online sources by other reliable blog authors and links directly to the specifications, as well as handily displaying current browser support at the time of writing. What's more, the added value of the book is that the authors give very valuable tips and tricks about using these technologies today, even though they aren't fully supported yet.


I'm a little embarrassed to say that reading this book was absolutely thrilling okay for me, geeky as I am already. It's all written in a concise, playful and enticing manner that makes me salivate at the thought of sitting down and trying these concepts on my own. There is no additional bla-bla, just pure awesomeness. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thriller of Lord-of-the-Rings proportions a balanced introduction into the world of the newest web technologies.

Profile Image for Rodrigo Amaral.
1 review
September 11, 2013
The purpose of HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World, as title says, is to help the readers face real world problems of website building process, giving practical instruction on the new HTML5 and CSS3 resources involved in each specific need. The strong semantic nature of HTML5 specification is highly emphasized, making the reader think about all the possibilites of a truly semantic web. Also, the book offers a fairly deep historic background of the evolution of the specs.

HTML5 new tags are discussed in detail, including examples of some common use scenarios. Also, there is a small website project to follow as an example. People who is really serious about learn and understand details should try to code it from scratch. The section about CSS selectors, for example, gives a formal and in-depth coverage of the subject. It becomes easier to understand what you are doing when creating your style sheets if you know how to categorize the different selectors. Chapter 6 brings a section on CSS colors that enlightened me on basic aspects of color composition and perception.

In case you want to get up to speed quickly, I think it’s ok to just skim over chapter 1, if you’re not interested in HTML/CSS historic details, and chapter 5, if you don’t need to work with audio, video and multimedia resources right away.

The only thing that could be a downside for some people is the fact that much of the valuable and comprehensive information you find in the book is written in prose, not structured by topics. So, if you want a mere reference book, maybe this one is not for you.

I don’t now if HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World surprised me in a positive way because I’m not primarily a front-end developer – and therefore was presented to new information that amazed me – but the fact is that I didn’t expect to read such a good book on the subject.
Profile Image for Irfan Mirza.
Author 13 books1 follower
August 7, 2012
With the exception of a few grammatical and typographical issues, the reading so far has been pretty satisfactory, above average so to speak. I am about to start the fourth chapter, and the content so far has been to the point and informative; it has basically lived up to the promise of no nonsense, no fluff, and to-the-point discussion of the latest features that are, probably based on estimates, going to be the most used elements.

As the GoodReads' monthly newsletter has been probing me for updates on this matter, so I have decided to share my secret with the rest of the world concerning the progress on this matter: vagaries of life, the ever changing scene which in certain cases can prove a bit more dramatic than the rest, has so far kept me away. Explanation you ask: Well, I was, for most part, extremely busy fine-tuning the layout of the PDF version of my first book. This version is now available on Issuu.com (http://www.is.gd/RightBrowser).

Now that most of the items on my agenda have been dealt with, I hope to start reading it within next week or so. Consequently, the review covering the whole book should be available soon.
Profile Image for Chris Chinchilla.
Author 4 books8 followers
April 25, 2014

HTML5 and CSS3 for the Real World is ideal for any web designer or developer who wants to start using the latest generation of web technologies in their everyday work.

This book will teach you how to:

understand the new semantic markup available in HTML5 use CSS3 to make sites beautiful without sacrificing clean markup or resorting to complex workarounds employ native HTML5 video and audio in your pages use web fonts to enrich a site's typography make web applications accessible using WAI-ARIA make the most of the new HTML form elements.

This easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with lots of examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great websites from start to finish using HTML5 and CSS3.

It also features:

details on all the new HTML5 and CSS3 elements and features information on the current level of browser support advice for creating great experiences for all users thanks to progressive enhancement.

**

Profile Image for Crystal.
499 reviews1 follower
September 26, 2012
Being new to development this book was great for me. I have read other review About needing some background knowledge before reading this book but that wasn't the case for me. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to get started in this kind of development, and if you get stuck on something google's an amazing tool to get you unstuck.
Profile Image for Abbas Malek Hosseini.
13 reviews1 follower
September 29, 2012
پرهام باغستانی

اگر میخواهید یک وب سایت را با جدیدترین فناوری ها و استانداردهای وب پیاده سازی کنید، نخستین قدم یادگیری HTML5 و CSS3 است، این کتاب شروعی مناسب برای کسب مهارت در این زمینه است. در حال حاضر یادگیری در عمل بهترین شیوه‌ی آموزش در جهان است.

Profile Image for Darrin Holst.
119 reviews3 followers
April 13, 2012
Good if you're starting out fresh and don't know much about what's available with html5. Not so good if you know more than not much.
379 reviews10 followers
February 4, 2012
Forse il miglior libro che abbia letto su html5. Spiega con esempi efficaci le novità introdotte dal nuovo standard, evidenziando sempre la compatibilità dei browser.
Assolutamente consigliato.
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