Learning Web Design, 6th Edition

Preface

Look at you…reading the Preface! I’m impressed by your dedication! Hello, and welcome to the sixth edition of Learning Web Design.

It’s hard to believe that I wrote the first edition of this book 25 years ago. To say things have changed since then would be a vast understatement. Web design and development have gotten so much better! We have more and better tools at our disposal for layout, performance, interactivity, and efficiency than we did then. In fact, the development landscape has improved significantly even since the publication of the fifth edition in 2018. The inevitable byproduct of that evolution, however, is that it has become more complicated, and there is a lot more to learn.

If that feels overwhelming, don’t worry. Some say my superpower is taking big, gnarly, complicated concepts and making them clear and understandable. This book assumes you are starting from square one, with little or no experience with code. It begins with an explanation of how the web works, and progresses gradually, with exercises and quizzes in each chapter so you can apply and measure what you’ve learned along the way. By the end of the book, you will have a solid foundation in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image production that will serve you well as you learn and practice more on your own. Although I start as simply as possible, I’ll also introduce you to advanced features along the way, so you’ll have a good overview of the possibilities when you’re ready to explore them.