Beginning XHTML

I am well versed in writing HTML and limited JavaScript, however I have learned all I know through disecting the pages of others. I wanted a book that would give me a more-or-less formal education on correct standards, etc.. for writing XHTML and at the same time introduce me to attributes I wasn't familiar with. This is the book I wanted. It is perfect for anyone wanting to learn XHTML but has no experience with it. It is also perfect for someone wanting to brush up to current standards, or someone looking for a basic reference manual (although I use a Black Book for that). The XHTML examples are throughly explained and easy to follow. The book also includes a full explanation of what XHTML is and why it was developed. The last few chapters deal with a brief, and very fast-paced intro to JavaScript. I think beginners would have a hard time following this part, but it a good jumping point for someone planning to learn JS in the future. If I included the JavaScript chapters in my review I would probably give the book 4 stars. But, as it is an XHTML book, and the JS composes a strong majority of the text, I haven't included it in the rating. If you don't understant the JavaScript, or have no intention of learning it, then don't read that part. The book is well worth the price regardless. As far as the previous one star reviews, I can only attribute this to narrow-mindedness and impatience on the on the part of the reviewers. Take your time, do all the examples, don't skip any paragraphs, and this is the perfect book for beginners.

This book is great!!!! Great, great, great! I had never programmed HTML or XHTML by hand prior to this. I was able to create websites and be proud fo them!!! WROX explains everything in plain english and does a great job doing that!!!

Reading the previous reviews I wondered if everyone read a different book. I liked the one I read. I know HTML and a fair bit of XML and its related recommendations. However, I needed to know about using XHTML as the basis for a larger XML-based markup language for a particular use. This book was very helpful, answered my questions in an understandable manner. I think the writing is particularly good for a technical book, probably because of Jenny Raggett. As they say in the fine print of the TV ads, Results not typical. But you should consider this book.

Although the title indicates this book is for beginners, there is material of worth for advanced web authors within this volume. Notably, considerable attention is given to XForms and FML (Forms Markup Language). Xforms and FML effectively update the w3c standard for HTML Forms, which has not been ammended since the release of HTML 2.0 in 1994. Xforms and FML enable XHTML authors to build dynamic XHTML applications and allows for modularization of an XHTML documnet, thus a single document has the ability to contain several pages, or cards.At the forefront of the w3c work on Xforms is Mozquito Technologies who have released an XHTML authoring tool, Mozquito Factory, which allows an author to write interactive forms in FML. Mozquito Factory transforms these FML documents into a JavaScript that can be read by any browser that understands JavaScript. Included in this book is a chapter outling the uses and technology behind the Mozquito Factory.Additionally, in seperate chapters, this book touches on the use of JavaScript and the Document Object Model within XHTML. As XHTML is the next generation of HTML, the technically correct use of these extensions within XHTML is crucial to the developemnt of creative web applications.

This is a good book for learning XHTML. It is not as "programmer-ish" as the other two major contenders (XHTML: Moving toward XML and XHTML Language and Design Sourcebook). Containing both very good examples (yes, there are some mistakes name me a computer book that has none) and some of the best descriptions and graphics of difficult topics I have seen to date, this book illustrates a difficult (relative to HTML) topic well.I have read through it twice now and paid particular attention to not just the text but the flow as well and must say it is well designed. Yes, I see the incontinuity here and there though I do not believe this is a major issue as it makes its points quite well.It has excellent coverage of the media tag and also how the whole parsing process is done. As a person who has helped to write courseware for some pretty major companies I understand the challenges in covering a topic like this. It is bound to have some issues here and there as they are basically attacking a moving target. Yes, there is a specification put out by the W3C, but that does not make the topic stand still. If I were to pick one book to begin teaching someone XHTML this would be it. Then I would move on into others, like maybe reading the spec from the W3C itself.The only caveat I have on recommendation is that this technology is NOT for beginners. One needs a grounding in HTML 4.1 before starting on this book. Go through a book on that first. A good one is the one by Peachpit Press "The Visual Quickstart Guide to HTML 4". Great stuff. You don't need to be an expert to go on to this book, but it would help to have some vocabulary and basic ideas down before reading this book.Have fun with it and welcome to a new age of web design!Jim Parshall