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"Essential update of a good book on web design technologies", This book focuses on frontend matters of web design and development: markup, style sheets, image production, multimedia, and so on. Ironically, despite its title, there is little in the way of "design" advice, per se. Rather, it strives to be a thorough reference for the technical details and requirements faced in day-to-day work designing and developing web content. Although it is a good introduction to all subjects covered, if you really want to dig into the details of any particular technology, you will probably need other reference books. As far as "big picture" instruction, though, I highly recommend it. I review the book further in the context of its table of contents. The book is divided into six parts plus appendixes, each covering a general subject area.

Part I: The Web Environment
Chapter 1, Web Standards, describes the current approach to web design and sets the stage for the entire book. It is essential reading. Chapters on designing for varying browsers and displays provide useful overviews of the unique challenges web developers face. Chapter 5, Accessibility, and Chapter 6, Internationalization, both serve as introductions to the ways web content may be created to reach all users, regardless of ability, browsing device, or language. Chapter 4, A Beginner's Guide to the Server, is a primer on basic server functions, system commands, uploading files, and file types.

Part II: The Structural Layer: XML and (X)HTML
This part of the book is about document markup, commonly referred to as the structural layer because it provides the foundation upon which presentation (styles) and behaviors (scripting) are applied. Chapter 7, Introduction to XML, covers critical concepts that guide the way (X)HTML is handled in contemporary web design. Chapters 8 through 15 focus on HTML and XHTML markup, including detailed descriptions of all the elements and the way they should be used in standards-based web design.

Part III: The Presentation Layer: Cascading Style Sheets
Part III provides a thorough guide to using CSS for controlling the presentation of web content with a focus on visual media. It begins with an overview of the fundamentals in Chapter 16 and continues on with an introduction to CSS selectors in Chapter 17. Chapters 18 through 23 provide detailed descriptions of all the visual properties in the CSS 2.1 specification. Finally, examples of how CSS is used in the real world are provided in CSS Techniques (Chapter 24) and Managing Browser Bugs: Workarounds, Hacks, and Filters (Chapter 25).

Part IV: The Behavioral Layer: JavaScript and the DOM
Part IV is all about adding interactivity to your pages with JavaScript. Chapter 26 is an introduction to JavaScript, and covers syntax, control structures, object-orientation, and the whys and hows of unobtrusive scripting. Chapter 27 introduces the Document Object Model and shows how to tap into it to manipulate both content and design. As a supplement to Chapter 27,a brief introduction to Ajax techniques is included that will help you on your way to building richer Internet applications.

Part V: Web Graphics
The chapters in Part V contain essential information on working with RGB color and choosing the appropriate graphic file formats. The chapters dedicated to GIF, JPEG, and PNG graphics offer practical tips for graphic production and optimization based on the compression schemes used by each format. The Animated GIFs chapter is a further examination of GIF's animation capabilities.

Part VI: Media
Because the Web is not limited to text and images, Part VI is included to provide a basic introduction to adding audio, video, and Flash movies to web pages. There is also a chapter on printing from web pages using print-specific CSS style sheets as well as an introduction to the PDF format for document distribution.

Appendixes
The Appendixes in this book are very useful. Appendix A is an alphabetical listing of all elements and attributes in the HTML 4.01 Recommendation, as well as a few nonstandard elements that are well supported and in common use. Appendix B is an alphabetical listing of all properties defined in the CSS 2.1 specification. Appendix C lists all the character entities defined in HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 with their numerical references. Appendix D provides a detailed explanation of the color names and RGB color values used both in (X)HTML and CSS. Finally, Appendix E describes the future of XHTML and Microformats.

"Web Design in A Nutshell and its usefulness", A great book for any beginning to advanced web developer/coder, a must have reference. Find the info you need quickly with this book, from a simple tag you forgot to the property you can't remember. Also perhaps one of the best features, semantics and standards! I would recommend this to anyone interested in web coding/development.

"VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!", Are you a new or experienced web designer? If you are, then this book is for you. Authors Jennifer Niederst Robbins, Tantek Ýýelik, Derek Featherstone and Aaron Gustafson, have done an outstanding job of writing a 3rd edition of a reference book that shows you everything you need to know on how to create concise web pages.

Robbins, Ýýelik, Featherstone and Gustafson, begin by describing the current approach to web design and set the stage for the entire book. Then, the authors provide n introduction to the ways web content may be created to reach all users, regardless of ability, browsing device, or language. Next, they discuss basic server functions, system commands, uploading files, and file types. The authors continue by discussing document markup, commonly referred to as the structured layer, because it provides the foundation upon which presentation and behaviors are applied. They also provide a thorough guide to using CSS for controlling the presentation of web content with a focus on visual media. Next, the authors highlight adding interactivity to your pages with JavaScript. The authors also focus on essential information while working with RGB color and choosing the appropriate graphic file formats. Finally, they provide a basic introduction to adding audio, video, and Flash movies to web pages.

This most excellent Nutshell book focuses on the front-end matters of web design and development: markup, style sheets, image production, multimedia, and so on. More importantly, this book strives to be a thorough reference for all technical details and requirements that we face in our day-to-day work designing and developing web content.

"If you are a web designer, this is the book for you", This review refers to the third edition.

This isn't an update to the second edition, it is a rewrite. I read the second edition before I read this one, and the 3rd edition is light years ahead. Completely new chapters on CSS and updated references to browsers as new as IE7.

What I like most about this book is it will tell you how something is supposed to work, then tell you in which browsers it will and will not work. It's great to have some bleeding edge CSS 2.1 in your code, but if it doesn't work in IE6, do you really want it on your business site?

This is not a learning tool (although I picked up quite a lot of tricks and tips). There are other books for this. If you have a good foundation with XHTML and CSS, this is the book to have next to the computer.

"This is the GOLD STANDARD for books on web design", "Wow" is about all I can say about this comprehensive guide on everything A-Z about web design. Carefully thought out, and organized, this is a reference book you'll want at your fingertips until the next updated edition comes out! Couple this with "The Complete Web Hosting Kit Pro" (also here on amazon), and you've got everything you need to create AND host your own website for free.