HTML 4.0 For Dummies (Computing for Dummies)

Member Name: heneghan

Product:	Computing for Dummies
Date:	20/01/01 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well structured, clear explanations of all topics

Disadvantages: Too informal in slye, a touch patronising

The IDG Books "for dummies" franchises have proved extremely popular and I am sure will continue to be so as more and more of the population start to own and use PC's, either at home or for business. The series covers a range of subject areas from common software applications to programming languages, and are intended to be written in a 'plain English' style which avoids the over use of technical jargon.

There are applications available which will write HTML code for you - Microsoft Frontpage is perhaps the best known. While this type of application has surely helped thousands of would-be web designers bring life to their first web page ideas, they do have their limitations. Many web programmers apparently despair at the HTML code that is generated, which is often far from the most efficient way to do what the author had intended. In addition, if you have absolutely no knowledge of HTML it is extremely difficult to spot mistakes and fix problems with your pages.

Hence, a basic understanding of HTML is desireable. "HTML for Dummies" boasts that complete novices can "start publishing Web-savvy documents - fast!", and that the only prior knowledge needed is that you can turn your computer on and off and that you know how to use a mouse and keyboard.

The book costs £23.99 UK sterling (or $24.99 US dollars)and comes complete with a bonus CD which contains trial versions of Frontpage 2000, NetObjects Fusion 5.0, and HotDog Professional 5.5. It also has freeware copies of ColdFusion Express and BSEdit Lite, and reference information (bits of sample code , for example) to accompany the book chapter by chapter.

Generally, the authors do a pretty good job in terms of clarity of explanation. I did feel, however, that they tried too hard to be informal in their style which resulted a slightly patronising tone and a lengthier read than if they has just explained it like it is. To be fair, I am sure
they adopt this style to try and keep the readers interest in what, let's face it, is a pretty dull topic on paper. This perhaps works if you are reading the book cover to cover, but most users will tend to focus on a chapter at a time, not necessarily in sequence, and want to keep coming back for reference by which time the over-familiarity in the style starts to become just plain irritating.

That said, the book is a very comprehensive introduction to the use of HTML and covers everything from basic definitions and principles, to formating data, elements of page design, use of templates, graphics, document structure and text and presentation controls. HTML tables, image maps and frames are very well explained, and a good introduction is provided to the use of forms (although the book concentrates on the front end of forms, not the scripting required at the back end).

The book is very well structured which does enable you to use it out of sequence or as a reference manual. For areas that readers might want more detailed explanation on there are very useful pointers to web sites which provide further reference information.

I had no prior knowledg of HTML programming and the book has helped me create some professional looking pages from scratch, writing all the code myself straight into the Wordpad text editor. Despite its stylistic limitations (which may be a matter of personal taste) the book is very useful and does do what it claims to do. I would recommend this as an introduction to HTML for any would-be web designer.

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