Rating:  - Excellent
This book truly is a definitive guide and anyone interested in web development should have this on hand! The authors cover every single tag along with all the related attributes, even those deprecated in the HTML 4.01 standard, and unlike several other books I've looked at, they do not restrict the topics to the purpose of these tags but also advise the reader on when and where to use them. Clarifications of browser differences help the reader be more cautious when writing HTML. Furthermore, the book offers insight on effective design, both of the web page and of the HTML code itself, which I found to be very helpful. Also included is information on CSS, character entities, history of HTML, and HTML DTD's. Something else I found interesting is the assertion that HTML is not a programming language. I applaud the authors for making that distinction- it is a widespread misconception that HTML is a programming language, but actually, it is not.
The cover may be unattractive and the reader may think that the book is dry and technical, but that's not true. The authors do take a conversational approach, occasionally adding humor and sarcasm (but not in a condescending tone like other authors!) making the book fun and easy to read.
HOWEVER-- I would NOT recommend this book to the absolute beginner. The organization is not exactly suited to the needs of a beginner; the book gives more information than is necessary before moving onto the basics (in fact, even while discussing the basics of HTML, the beginner might be confused) Instead, this book should be read by someone who may have dabbled in HTML but now wants to be a serious web designer. For someone just starting out in web design, you might take a look at something from SAMs or the popular HTML Goodies by Joe Burns. (Just make sure that you get something that is up-to-date, as HTML standards are continuously under review and subject to frequent modification.)
Rating:  - Authors are stuck in a 1986 CS lab...
If you are looking for a technical summary of the W3 HTML specification, this book is for you. If you are looking for a book which will teach you terrible design principles, this book is for you. If you are looking for a book to teach you HTML/CSS/Javascript/etc for practical purposes, i.e. if you want your pages to have any aesthetic value whatsoever, this book is _not_ for you.
I'm serious, folks. There is a two-page discussion of whether or not background images or background colors should be used. There are discussions of Mosaic and Netscape 2.0 compatibility. The authors admonish HTML authors to _avoid_ making their pages look good. "Don't mistake style for substance", they say, in an effort to discourage any style formatting whatsoever. Have the authors never heard of graphic design, or visual art? Communication is not the same as information. Information must be presented well in order to communicate.
To top it off, after discouraging the use of backgrounds, the authors speak about the wonderful potential background audio has for the web.
Hmmm...
Rating: - The HTML Book for Answers, Not Lectures
This book is very helpful if you don't write in HTML everyday. Everything is included from simple font style design to complicated web forms. The quick reference cards at the end of the book are helpful and the index is priceless. I looked at serveral books on this subject before I saw this book as the easiest to follow without having taken a college course on the subject.
Rating: - Lives up to its title
The authors cover every aspect of HTML in deliberate detail, including a bit of history, current standards, browser support, recommendations on style, and, of course, every tag and attribute in the markup language. They also include one-chapter introductions to cascading style sheets, XML, and XHTML. The useful appendencies include HTML and CSS quick references, HTML grammar, a table of character entities, a list of common color hex values, and the HTML DTD in both SGML and XML.
HTML and XHTML: The Definitive Guide is well-organized with one relatively independent topic covered per chapter. As such, the book is useful both as a textbook for the student and as a reference book for the experienced HTML programmer.
On a side note, this is the first O'Reilly book that I had the pleasure of reading. Their reputation as a premiere publisher of technical works is completely justified.
tpm
September 4, 2001
Rating:  - A non-patronizing guide to learning modern HTML
"HTML and XHTML: the definitive guide" will give you a thorough grounding in creating web pages. XHTML, by the way, is just HTML5 - the more mature version of the whizzy dynamic HTML4.
This book does not patronize - not that it's not "for idiots". It doesn't have cartoons, or annoying icons saying "kule stuff" either.
What it does do is to take you through the process of creating websites - from your first steps through to the deep end of HTML. Each element is detailed with sufficient examples; nothing is glossed over. Particular strengths are are the trickier areas for the non-pros - its treatment of forms, GET and POST, frames, CSS and tables are very clear.
The book is careful to delineate what it deals with and what it doesn't. Although it touches upon Java, Javascript, Applets and server technology, these tend to be pointers to the reader - saying what the various things do, evaluating the options and suggesting an O'Reilly book to buy!
"Kule stuff" includes the chapter on XML (should be on your resume!), "tips, tricks and hacks", the tag reference summary and some rather excellent history on the internet and all the various parties that try and work together to make it work. It's a neat book - personally, I'm an XML-type who's having to reverse-engineer my know-how down to HTML and it hits the mark for me!
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