HTML5 & CSS3 For Dummies

One pitfall I sometimes have with learning website development technology is a tendency to get dazed and easily bored by techno speak. David Karlins' writing style is simply magical, a very rare combination of being engaging, and actually enjoyable to follow.This 365 page book's fabulous design and color usage (on every page!) is visually pleasing and also sets a new standard for capturing and retaining reader interest.In HTML5 and CSS3 for Dummies, Karlins provides comprehensive details about HTML5 Semantic elements, responsive design, jQuery Mobile, form resources, CSS3 transitions, gradients, examples and much much more.Being at a varying intermediate level of coder/designer, this book has clarified gaps and greatly increased my understanding of current website development technologies. These chapters are especially beneficial for my interests: Chapter 8 - Going Mobile, Chapter 11 - Applying and Animating CSS3 Trasforms, and Chapter 15 - Top Ten Form Data Resources.I have also purchased Karlin's other specialized book, Developing Mobile Websites with HTML5. This appears to be another trusted, comprehensive, well written guidebook and I look forward to reading it.David Karlins' books are truly a game changer in advancing my mobile website development skills.This exceptional book is chock-full of resources, well worth the price of the book several times over.

I love this book because it is in color. Also lots of figures that show what each html tag look like. This helps me decide what tags I want to use for my webpage.

I was very, very disappointed with this book. Each time I tried to find information I needed, it wasn't there or wasn't there in as much depth as needed. I ended up going to the W3 site, which isn't necessarily the best designed, and getting what I needed. If this book is an example of the new publisher's emphasis on style (full color) over substance (excellent information), then I miss IDG.

Love it!

There were several spelling errors that kind of annoyed me for a published book and undermined my confidence in the publisher. But the damning piece was page 261 which consistently and mistakenly said that the Y axis was a horizontal nature and the X axis was a Vertical translation with CSS3 effects. Most people already understand which direction the X and Y axis go from grade school math class, how could this book get this so wrong for 10 different lines!?The beginning of the book war particularly helpful whereas info wasn't now outdated, but after some of these glaring mistakes I wonder if I wasted my time.

A thoughtful, well explained guide through the latest HTML and CSS design/development principles.I have completely shifted my web development to HTML5/CSS3 for a couple years now, so I wasn't really in the market for another basic guide, but this volume caught my eye in a bricks-n-mortar store.[Disclosure: I bought the book because I'm am drafting my own online text and find Karlins to be an "attractive competitor."]To beginners: I suggest you look past a couple nit-picking reviews, make sure you have the proper link to the code accompanying this volume, and take advantage Karlin's experience and skill at presenting complex core issues in web design. It will prepare you well to take advantage of the latest (HTML5/CSS3) features of web-dev - those that are shaping what web sites will become for years to come, including intros to jQuery and Responsive Web Design.Overall, this volume provides excellent introductions to concepts you must understand and to strategic decisions you will face if you continue into serious web development.In addition to providing you with a strong, careful start to HTML5/CSS3 practices, the final chapters of the volume are most generous in directing you to additional resources/tools.But this is a fast-moving field, so I hope the publisher will commission an updated edition in the next year or so.[EDIT: ]PS: I appreciate the patience and care that the author takes in responding to impatient and intemperate reviews :) - a side benefit that is above-and-beyond the patience and care he obviously took in the book itself.

I bought this book at barnes and noble..Just because I had difficulty with this I wanted others to be able to find the downloads... Karlins says you can find the examples of the links at www.dummies.com/extras/html5andcss3 on the downloads tab.. This site doesn't have a downloads tab...The links can be found here: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118588630.htmlBecause of this I am giving the product a 2. I am only on chapter 1 right now, so maybe as I go forward it will improve. Thus far it seems to give a decent introduction to html5 and css3 basics.

The look and feel of this book caught my attention. After reading only two chapters I'm giving the book five stars for content and writing style. It's too bad that there are many grammatical errors in these chapters though. But these errors did not turn me off. What does turn me off in many Dummies books is the dumb, gratuitous humor. There is none of that so far in this book.The reason I got the book is that I want some solid information about Responsive Web Design. I hope chapter 8 gives me this. I'm reading the book from cover to cover so I won't be evaluating that chapter for about a week. I hope David Karlins will respond to my question: Is Expression Web 4 still usable for upgrading a site to RWD? Will I need another editor? Any suggestions?The only reason for writing this review after just reading two chapters is that I read Voodoo_science's comments. His critique sounds legitimate; so does the author's response. I'll continue this review after I read the whole book.

A good book, at a good price (second hand). Very good condition.