Rating:  - Just what's needed for those HTML questions you have...
If you do web development, you should have one solid HTML/XHTML reference guide on your bookshelf. This one ranks up there... HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide (6th Edition) by Chuck Musciano and Bill Kennedy. Although the CSS and XML sections are a little light, the core HTML and XHTML information is all you could ask for.
Contents: HTML, XHTML, and the World Wide Web; Quick Start; Anatomy of an HTML Document; Text Basics; Rules, Images, and Multimedia; Links and Webs; Formatted Lists; Cascading Style Sheets; Forms; Tables; Frames; Executable Content; Dynamic Documents; Mobile Devices; XML; XHTML; Tips, Tricks, and Hacks; HTML Grammar; HTML/XHTML Tag Quick Reference; Cascading Style Sheet Properties Quick Reference; The HTML 4.01 DTD; The XHTML 1.0 DTD; Character Entities; Color Names and Values; Netscape Layout Extensions; Index
This book does a good job in blending a bit of tutorial information with a lot of reference material. All the HTML tags that exist are documented, along with whether it's an extension/deprecated/archaic, what type of browser support is involved in using the tag, and all the attributes and locations where it can be used. I found that I was catching some tags and nuances that I had overlooked in the past, even after having done web coding for many, many years. The book also has material on Cascading Style Sheets and XML, but I found that less useful than the HTML contents. The basics of those two technologies are covered, but not at the level I'd want in a definitive guide. While I think that you can't ignore CSS in an HTML book any more, I just wouldn't recommend this as an "all-in-one" book to cover both. But other than that, this is a book that I'll want to keep around for those strange times when my HTML tags just aren't working like they're supposed to...
Rating:  - Definitive Guide, Indeed
Calling this book "The Definitive Guide" is not a misnomer, for that's what it is. I guess you could learn HTML and XHTML from scratch with this book, but I wouldn't advise it. (If you are just beginning you should check out O'Reilly's "Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML.") Weighing in at over 600 pages means that if it ain't described in here you probably shouldn't be doin' it! And if it is described in here, it's described clearly and accurately.
Rating: - HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide (6th Edition)
When I opened this book I was a bit surprised, it wasn't quite what I expected. I have gotten use to O'Reilly books having lots of examples and codes snippets. And the first thing I noticed about this book was that it contains a lot more words than code. That said, this is my first "Definitive Guide" O'Reilly book, so this format may be the norm, I don't know.
This book does a thorough job of going over each of the HTML/XHTML tags and their attributes one at a time. The authors devote a couple of paragraphs to each tag describing its function and outlining its future in HTML/XHTML and once and awhile they throw in a line or two of code.
While the authors do devote most of the book to HTML / XHTML they take a brief look at cascading style sheets, executable content such as JavaScript, dynamic content, mobile devices and XML. While I would expect to find such information in a book like this, I would like to note that readers shouldn't expect to get more than a preface or introduction into those topics from this book. The book concludes by discussing XHTML and providing the reader with some useful tips.
Like many books the jewel is found at the end. This book includes eight appendices some of which I found quite interesting and useful. The appendices are as follows: A: HTML Grammar; B: HTML/XHTML Tag Quick Reference; C: Cascading Style Sheet Properties Quick Reference; D: The HTML 4.01 DTD; E: The XHTML 1.0 DTD; F: Character Entities; G: Color Names and Values; H: Netscape Layout Extensions. The DTD sections I found very interesting, it was neat to see the definition side of HTML & XHTML. And of course the quick references are always useful and usually the section of the book I turn to when I pull it off the shelf.
CONCLUSION
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Like I mentioned at the beginning, I was surprised by the format of the book, however I do think it is a good resource for HTML/XHTML. While it is "The Definitive Guide" covering all of the markup tags and attributes it is definitely not a Cookbook or Nutshell book. I would recommend this book to those looking for a reference that is detailed and in a dictionary type format. If you are looking for lots of examples and recipes you will want to look at other books in the O'Reilly library. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I think it is a good reference, but in my opinion I didn't find the format very appealing.
Rating: - Excellent reference
This book is what one expects, a comprehensive coverage of HTML/XHTML. There are perhaps more easily digested books on the subject, but this is well structured and readily understood reference work. It is my primary source of accurate HTML information.
Rating: - HTML & XHTML
This is a good book for moderate to experienced computer users with programming experience. The code snipets are helpful to illustrate the topic, but a less experienced person could easily get confused.
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