Teach Yourself Visually HTML And CSS: A Book Review

Teach Yourself Visually HTML And CSS is a book that shows you how to write basic code in order to get your web site or blog (if there's a difference) up and running and keep it there.

You'll learn how to:

• view HTML code in a browser
• add and format text
• prepare images for the web
• insert links to other pages
• control layout with style sheets
• add JavaScript to a web page

I have used these type of "teach yourself visually" books for the last few years as they add that something extra that text alone often can't provide. That visual clue that leads to that moment of "Ah, that's what they mean." And if I wasn't so poor this book would definitely be sat next to my computer for when I get stuck (again).

The pictures and drawings show you how to deal with more than 175 different jobs involving HTML and CSS with each set of pictures showing how to deal with a single job. It can be so handy when something isn't doing what you expect or want it to do to simply pick up the book and flick to the right page and think, Aha! That's what I have to add to make it behave. It works a lot better than just swearing repeatedly at the computer, trust me, I've tried both.

It also comes with a really useful set of tables at the back that show a list of all the tags and attributes that you can apply. And while I know all this information is available on the Internet for nothing it can often take a lot longer hunting around through Google to find something you need to know than just picking up a book and going straight to the page you want.

If you are really keen on being able to sort out your own problems without being stuck for hours or even days - or even worse - having to pay some to come and sort it out, the "Teach Yourself Visually" has bigger brother "The Visual Blueprint" series of books which takes things to the next level.

Having had a copy of this from the library as well I can safely say it complements the "Teach Yourself Visually" series in an ideal way. If you can afford both not only do you get a wider range of information they also quite nicely back each other up as information in one which doesn't seem quite clear can often be explained more fully by the other. Whether it is to simplify it or to add more detail.

I would quite happily pay for both as I have found them so useful to have around. I keep renewing them from the library, but they will have to go back one day and life will be harder without them.

The language they write in is really clear and simple to understand, it isn't super-geek time, which is a big plus.

In short: this book Teach Yourself Visually HTML And CSS (and its bigger brother) comes highly recommended.