IT's a good read! — Part 2: Art & Science of CSS (free until 02 December 2008)

Tony Austin
Friday, 21 November 2008 05:08

Opinion and Analysis

Continuing an occasional series recommending some excellent, serious IT publications that are available for the asking via the Web. This article is tells you how you can learn the Art and Science of CSS.

Nearly all of the books that I review in this series are permanently free, but today's book is an exception.

I wanted to tell you about this one right away, because it's only available as a "freebie" for a very limited time.

In fact you'll have to move very quickly and get it by 02 December 2008, after which the offer expires.

It's a new publication by SitePoint Pty Ltd who are an online media company and information provider targeting the Web professional market, specifically Web developers and designers. They have offices in Melbourne, Australia, and in Lancaster, California.

SitePoint have produced an excellent series of books on HTML, ASP .NET (with C# and VB), CSS, JavaScript, Web design, AJAX, project management and more.

Their latest publication is The Art & Science of CSS and you can get it as a free PDF download — until 2nd December — from here.

This book contains seven chapters that engage with the fundamental elements of the web page (headings, images, backgrounds, navigation), as well as applied styles such as those used in forms, rounded corners for content boxes, and tables.

Let's face it, computers are pretty dumb. There are still lots of intricacies and tiny details in the design and development processes. A book like Art & Science of CSS has to cover these, and it does a good job.

Chapter 6, for example, explains the nitty-gritties involved in setting up boxes (content containers) that have nice-looking rounded corners, while maintaining the essential flexibility required for the containers to expand to cope with variable amounts of content.

It's a very nice looking book, so you see the lessons put into practice. (Underlying code is available for download from the SitePoint site.)

The motto of the book, as displayed on the front cover, is to "Create inspirational, standards-based Web designs" which is a laudable objective.

Get in quick and obtain your copy before SitePoint's free offer expires. I've got mine already!