Customer Reviews
A good reference let down by the index - By: D. Knox, 01 Apr 2008 
This is an excellent introduction to HTML 4.01. However, the XHTML 1.0 elements are less well covered & XHTML 1.1 is mentioned onlyin a few paragraphs. Although, to be fair, the differences from XHTML 1.0 are slight & only of interest to a few.
However, my main complaint is that the index is almost of no use for locating actual tags & their usagein the text. Additionally, the ordering of the topics means that this book should be seen more as a series of tutorials than as a reference from which information can be easily extracted.
A reference rather than a tutorial - By: , 10 Nov 2004 
If you need a handy HTML or XHTML reference, then this is the book for you. If you are a complete novice, then you need to read another book, such as 'Learning Web Design' by Jennifer Niederst (yet another O'Reilly book) first.
Did I say this was just a reference? Well, this is untrue. If you have some experience this book cuts nicely through the jargon & dogma & explains how an HTML document is structured, & then describesin detail all the elements (tags)in the structure. The book is organisedin such a way that the HTML Quick Reference at the back of the book is cross-referenced to the main text down to the exact page (as is the CSS Quick Reference).
When it comes to the issues about standards & deprecated attributes & tagsin the HTML 4.01 standard, Musciano & Kennedy are pragmatic & practical, rather than treating this as some form of religious debate. They are realistic enough to suggest that you should adhere to the standards wherever possible, but be prepared to make concessions where otherwise you would not be able to achieve what you want. There is also some good discussion on browser take up of CSS 1 & CSS 2.1.
The only beef I have is thatin Chapter 6, Links & Webs, the explanations of URLs & of TCP/IP port numbers are not as good as they could be. It seems the writers have sacrificed clarity for brevity. Be that as it may, I have found this book invaluable & use it on a daily basis.
The Bible for (real) web designers - By: Anne Greenacre, 13 May 2003 I was completely new to HTML, XHTML & WYSIWYG editors, & this book was recommended to me as the best place to start. I took it on holiday to Greece - & read it from cover to coverin a week, while everyone else was on the beach! - & it gave me a superb grounding on which to build a web design career. So, read it now, & read it first.
A non-patronizing guide to modern html - By: , 04 Sep 2001 
"HTML & XHTML: the definitive guide" will give you a thorough groundingin 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 - its treatment of forms, GET & POST, frames, CSS & tables are very clear.
The book is careful to delineate what it deals with & what it doesn't. Although it touches upon Java, Javascript, Applets & server technology, these tend to be pointers to the reader - saying what the various things do, evaluating the options & pointing you to an O'Reilly book to buy!
"Kule stuff" includes the chapter on XML (should be on your resume!), "tips, tricks & hacks", the tag reference summary & some rather excellent history on the internet & all the various parties that try & 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 & it hits the mark for me!
Essential Book in a web page designer's tool box - By: lee_steadman@hotmail.com, 12 Jul 2001 This book couldn't have been more perfect for me. I was on the brink of understanding HTMLin depth before buying this book. After reading I am now more fluent & more confidentin what I usein my pages. I have a more wide spread knowledge of what I can usein my pages with a better understanding of the standards that uniform the web. I am now creating pages to standards - not to browsers.
This book has given me a very opening & logical insight into XHTML & XML.
