BKHTMLDG.RVW   20011129

"HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide", Chuck Musciano/Bill Kennedy,
2000, 0-596-00026-X, U$34.95/C$51.95
%A   Chuck Musciano cmusciano@aol.com
%A   Bill Kennedy bkennedy@activmedia.com
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   2000
%G   0-596-00026-X
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$34.95/C$51.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com
%P   680 p.
%T   "HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide", 3rd edition

If you are serious about designing documents and Web pages with HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) then you *must* have this book.

First of all, it *is* definitive.  Many books, though much longer,
don't begin to match the depth of this current work.  Musciano and
Kennedy cover the standard HTML up to 4.01 and XHTML 1.0, and, more
importantly, include the non-standard extensions of Netscape and
Internet Explorer.  The basics, text, rules, multimedia, links, lists,
forms, tables, frames and more are all thoroughly covered, point by
point and attribute by attribute.  There is even the SGML (Standard
Generalized Markup Language) DTD (Document Type Definition) for HTML
and the XML (eXtensible Markup Language) DTD for XHTML.  (This must be
definitive: it's the definition of the languages.)

Second, it *is* a guide, and a very good one.  Lemay's "Web Publishing
With HTML" (cf. BKWPHTML.RVW) is no longer as approachable as a
beginner's introduction to Web page creation, while Musciano and
Kennedy can easily welcome the newcomer as well.  The structure is
logical and the explanations are crystal clear.

In spite of all this, the book contains even more.  Web design is not
given a separate section, but seamlessly permeates every section of
the book.  Readers are constantly reminded that while extensions may
be fun, not everyone in the world has the same browser.  Alternative
methods are suggested for non-standard effects and functions. 
Shortcuts, suitable to only one browser or server, are recommended
against in order to ensure the utmost compatibility with all systems. 
The authors no longer have coverage of CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
programming, but they do explain the use of email to collect form
data, which is much more useful for maintainers of small Web sites
without access to extensive server functions.  The new chapter on XML
is brief, but is probably all that most people will need to know about
the language.

All this, and readable, too.  The content is straightforward and
lucid.  While you might not read this book for laughs, it is not the
tome to choose to put yourself to sleep at night, either.

I can recommend this book, without reservation, to anyone who wants to
learn HTML programming and use.  It is, still, the definitive guide
and the only one I find I need to keep on my shelf.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996 - 2001   BKHTMLDG.RVW   20011129