, I found myself struggling and decided to purchase a more advanced book on CSS.

There are two chapters devoted to JavaScript on this book. From reading the titles of those two chapters I am under the impression that it will give you enough knowledge to download pre-written JavaScripts online and be able to effectively implement it on a webpage. I complete skipped these chapters as I had purchased a separate book on this subject.

All in all, this is a good book for beginners who want to gain the fundamental knowledge about building a website. If you want to become a professional this book serves as a good starting point, as it will equip you with the fundamentals and lead you to your next step in your studies to become a professional Web Developer.

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Rating: - Excruciatingly verbose
This will absolutely be the last Wrox book I bought. The annoying, condescending author's photo on the cover aside, this book is extremely verbose, to the point of distracting the reader from really learning anything. For example, it seems on every other page the author feels compelled to tell you that XHTML is just the successor of HTML (he must of thought of the typical reader as totally dumb) and he has a God-given talent of saying so in far more words than necessary each time. Another example: when he gives you some sample code, he would do it step-by-step, and each step would repeat teh same code that was already printed before! What's more, in teh "how it works" recap section, he would then re-print the entire code segment! This book weighs in at over 600 pages, but the contents could easily have fit on half that. Talking about killing trees.

The content quality itself is also quite lacking. The book is neither a tutorial nor a reference, but seems stuck trying to be both. For example, when a HTML element is introduced, say , the author gives you a little overview and then just lists the attributes one-by-one. Some examples are given, but these are often on a diffrent page from the definitions so you have to turn the page back and forth. Extremely annoying. The chapter on CSS is very confusing, and the two chapters on Javascript won't teach you anything. I don't know how anyone could have rated this five stars; maybe they are the author's friends and family.

In short, I totally regret my purchase. I should have gone with a O'Reilly book. I blame it on Amazon: when I wanted an HTML book Amazon didn't have any O'Reilly HTML books in stock!

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Rating: - Very thorough page turner
For being a technical book, this was a very nice read. Similar to other Wrox books that I have read in that their basic format is a thorough explanation of a subject, then a "try it out" where you are able to implement the subject, and finally a "how it work" where the "try it out" is explained.

In addition to teaching html this book goes into other parts of web programming including CSS, JavaScript, and XML. The two chapters on CSS are informative but I would suggest a book dedicated to the vast subject. Each chapter for JavaScript and XML are more of an appetizer to wet your appetite for a more thorough dedicated title.

Could have used some color, especially the HTML color appendix. I would also suggest, if it becomes possible and soon I would think it should, getting an updated addition of this book. This information is certainly up to date but there is much "errata" or errors. One must visit the Wrox web site to gather these "updates" to ovoid confusion. Also, there are several errors not covered in the errata that even I was able to discover. This, however, is part of reading technical books. I don't think anyone purchasing this title is looking for a literary gem.

If I had it to do over I would still get this book. If I lost it I would replace it. And you do stop getting creped out by the author's picture staring at you after a few days.

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Rating: - Excellent text for web programmer
This is a good intermediate level book for learning to design and write web pages. It might be a bit much for a beginner, but would still belong on their shelf as a reference.
I bought the book to update myself on XHTML and found it's approach perfect for my needs. It explained the transition from earlier HTML to today's current standards. It consistently covers the mix of old and new code necessary to ensure compatability with all browsers.
The author gives not just good technical information, but good advice on layout and content to help write professional looking web pages.
I would reccomend this book both for a personal reference and as a course textbook.