HTML is changing so fast it's almost impossible to keep up with developments. How do you know what's real, and how do you use it? The third edition of HTML: The Definitive Guide brings it all together for you. It is the most comprehensive book available on HTML today. It covers Netscape Navigator 4.5, Internet Explorer 4.0, HTML, JavaScript, Style sheets, Layers, and all of the features supported by the popular Web browsers. Learning HTML is like learning any new language, computer or human. Most students first immerse themselves in examples. Studying others is a natural way to learn, making learning easy and fun. Imitation can take you only so far, though. It's as easy to learn bad habits through imitation as it is to acquire good ones. The better way to become HTML-fluent is through a comprehensive reference that covers the language syntax, semantics, and variations in detail and that helps you distinguish between good and bad usage. HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition helps you both ways: the authors cover every element of HTML in detail, explaining how each element works and how it interacts with other elements. Many hints about HTML style help you write documents ranging from simple online documentation to complex marketing and sales presentations. With hundreds of examples, the book gives you models for writing your own effective Web pages and for mastering advanced features, like style sheets and frames. HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition shows you how to:

• Use style sheets and layers to control a document's appearance
• Create tables, from simple to complex
• Use frames to coordinate sets of documents
• Design and build interactive forms and dynamic documents
• Insert images, sound files, video, Java applets, and JavaScript programs
• Create documents that look good on a variety of browsers

A handy quick reference card listing HTML tags is included.

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HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  May 03 2006
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

I have to agree with Ryan. HTML is the stuff of the future.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  March 16 2000
Submitted by Steven Correll   [Respond | View]



I thought it safe to buy any O'Reilly book sight unseen, until I bought this one. It's padded by a factor of 4 or 5. (For example, instead of explaining once that it's unwise to use features deprecated by the HTML standard and then simply marking deprecated features with a symbol, the authors tell you over and over what "deprecate" means: such-and-such a tag is still popular, still supported by the popular browsers, but will go away some day, yada yada. They waste an entire paragraph on this as late as page 439.)

The book is incomplete (for example, the description of the MIME multipart/form-data type doesn't tell you how to get the boundary from the initial "Content-Type" line). It's disorganized ("pixel" is defined in a footnote on page 119, in connection with the horizontal-rule tag, which is hardly the first place one would look for a definition of a fundamental term) and poorly indexed ("pixel" doesn't appear in the index) so that it's hard to find anything.

Most disappointing, after you've read it, you will find yourself looking at moderately complicated web pages and realizing that you still have no idea how the authors managed to accomplish them using HTML. One problem is that the most complicated examples in this book are simple to the point of being crude (the notion of using tables to align form elements is considered by the authors to be a "trick", and doesn't appear till page 481, just 8 pages before the end of the text proper and the beginning of the appendices). Another problem is that the authors don't describe any real tricks (e.g., emulating the nonexistent vertical rule tag with a tall narrow table cell whose background color is set to black). And part of the problem is that real-world pages use Javascript, a description of which would have taken less space than all the needless repetition.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  February 26 2000
Submitted by tcaldwell   [Respond | View]



i want to thank musciano and kennedy for thier excellent "definitive guide" HTML computer book. after having scoured many incredibly crappy books and websites, subsequently wasting enormous amounts of time with authors who don't know anything--and write or teach accordingly--the "guide books" were a godsend; clear, concise, comprehensive--read the paragraph once, you got the message--and none of that idiotic dummies garbage complete with lame jokes. all other publishers on javascript, html etc. should first be drawn and then quartered for wasting everyone's time.

i've been through some material that must have been written by a martian and edited by forrest gump. they neglected the most important basic info, laid no foundation, and proceeded along like the reader was clairvoyant. your books are worth every penny. at the next book convention, kick all the other authors in the nuts for me, will ya? thanks.



HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  November 08 1999
Submitted by Ryan Dolby   [Respond | View]



I am using this book for a class at Western Washington University. The book is a great reference and tool for learning HTML. It gives clear examples on how to use different tags and tag-attributes. Great for the beginning HTML coder as well as a reference for the more advanced.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  October 12 1999
Submitted by eugene jars   [Respond | View]



This is an incredible book! I am a programmer, and needed to update my HTML skills. The last time I used HTML was when it was version 2; I needed a no-frills book to upgrade my skills to version 4. This book did it. Within one month of studying, I was able to pass Tekmetrics e-certification exam using this book. The book is clearly written, with interesting examples. Loaded with information, but not written in the typical dry academic style. Eugene Jars Tucson, AZ


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  September 28 1999
Submitted by Dave Bloomberg   [Respond | View]



I really think the book is better than most others I have had in my hand. Great job !


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  June 08 1999
Submitted by Tom Wilkinson   [Respond | View]



Being a self taught HTML coder, I found myself
constantly wondering "how do I...?". This
generally led to a (usually) lengthy web search
for what I needed and the usual 2,698,409 web pages
matching the query, most of which did not offer
any enlightenment. This book, although quite
repetitive in some areas and dwelling a bit too
much on items that ONLY worked on the latest
NS and/or IE browsers, is a great reference.
It has saved me the cover price in time alone.

I think anyone in need of HTML
documentation would be well served by this
resource. -Tom




HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  March 26 1999
Submitted by Tim Horton   [Respond | View]



Good, readable, but not up to the usual OReilly
standards for economy of prose (incredible
repetition, paragraphs saying little or nothing).
The authors should have taken their own copious
advice about focus and brevity.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  March 06 1999
Submitted by George Papanicolaou, Greece   [Respond | View]



Great work!In this book I found everything to start
HTML. Everything is well-presented and the examples
are very enlightening.Congratulations!


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  February 25 1999
Submitted by Philip J. Bailey, Ayrshire, UK.   [Respond | View]



I am a self taught HTML Author, currently studying Web Development at the University of Paisley. I have found this book an indispenceable reference for those who want their pages to display indentically on both Netscape and Internet Explorer, and to validate to HTML 4.0.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  January 14 1999
Submitted by Carmen from North Wales, UK.   [Respond | View]



I had a fair amount of HTML knowledge before I bought this book but now that I have it, I find it covers all the information that I need to fill in as well as reiterating the stuff that I knew before, all without any patronisation and all thoroughly entertaining. (I never thought I'd be able to laugh reading a technical book.) I've been able to get into areas of web authoring that I thought might have been beyond me with both confidence and ease. Thanks alot guys!


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  December 25 1998
Submitted by Bas Broekarts (Netherlands)   [Respond | View]



Excellent work. After spending many a night surfing the net to find cross-browser DOM specs, I need to surf no more. Typically, the references found on the net fall short in many ways. If you want to understand CSS and DHTML, and have some previous experience with JavaScript this titel is a must for anyone coding web pages.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  December 10 1998
Submitted by David C.   [Respond | View]



This book is an execellent guide, especially for those new to publishing on the web. I had my web page up and running the same day I bought the book. Now I am adding new features to my page as I continue my education through the book. The book assumes no knowledge of HTML or web publishing and is perfect for newbies. The examples are excellent and the authors give examples and have the reader conducting "hands on" exercises from the start to build the confidence of the reader. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to get on the WWW.


HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  October 22 1998
Submitted by Kjetil B. Thomassen, Norway   [Respond | View]



I have been using the first edition of this book for quite
some time, and when I saw that the HTML 4.0 recommendation
was out, I knew that there would be a third edition of this
book covering that recommendation. One thing to note here
is that it covers the recommendation and not the draft.

So, I have been anxiously waiting for this edition, and
now that I finally have had some time to take a look at it,
I find it to be perfect for me.

It covers the HTML 4.0 recommendation in detail, and
explains all the things that are defined by the standard and
what are extensions implemented by the most popular
browsers. It even explains which parts of HTML 4.0 is not
implemented by any browsers yet, and which parts are.
This means that this book will help you out whether you want
to support a particular brower or be fully conformant with
the HTML 4.0 recommendation.

The best thing about this book, though, is that it is a very
good book for actually learning HTML from the start.

I will conclude that no-one should publish on the W3 without
having this book. It is excellent.




HTML: The Definitive Guide, 3rd Edition Review,  January 31 1998
Submitted by rob   [Respond | View]



Although the book states that both Navigator and Explorer (v.4x) can use Css, I have personally found that only my Explorer browser (v.5) can use them. When opening my website, none of the specs in my style sheet are used to format the page when I use the Navigator browser (v.4.08).

Furthermore, my text appears as a text string that stretches across the entire page.

While these problems are troubling me to no end, I found the book to be EXTREMELY useful, and for the most part, very well written.

Thanks O'Reilly!

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