Product Description
This digital document is an article from Software Industry Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on August 19, 1996. The length of the article is 1115 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Browser battle begins with Microsoft launch of Internet Explorer 3.0: archrival Netscape scheduled to release third version of Navigator this week.
Publication: Software Industry Report (Newsletter)
Date: August 19, 1996
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: v28Issue: n16Page: p1(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from EDP Weekly's IT Monitor, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on February 19, 2001. The length of the article is 459 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ANT FRESCO BROWSER PORTED TO STMICROELECTRONICS' OMEGA FAMILY REFERENCE DESIGN HARDWARE AND STAPI SOFTWARE.(Product Information)
Publication: EDP Weekly's IT Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 19, 2001
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 42Issue: 7Page: 7

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This book works on the premise that most people – once the first enthusiasm has worn off – don’t particularly enjoy surfing, because it’s expensive, slow, they don’t know what to look for, haven’t got the time or simply have no recommended starting-point. The book is effectively a list with a few words saying why it’s recommended. It assumes basic knowledge, but does not contain information on how to use the net. The sites are general but chosen for their skill in linking with other more specific sites. It recommends, for example, a general football site where you can move to specific teams. It is an easy to use A-Z of net subjects. Yahoo, BBC, WHS and other major ‘hub’ sites have a page of their own. The ‘best’ is judged in terms of content, ease of use, value for money and service. The layout is ‘customer intuitive’: easily readable typeface, (interestingly one of the biggest home users of the net are retired people); accessible, i.e. cheap and not too long; and does not attempt to be too ‘clever’ or include wacky or weird sites. ... Read more

Product Description

This book covers everything needed to develop and publish professional Web and intranet pages and sites using FrontPage 2002. It provides comprehensive sections on Web server setup and administration and on adding interactivity to Web sites with Active Server Pages and scripting languages such as JavaScript and Visual Basic ScriPART It also tells more advanced readers how to integrate Web sites with databases as well as add Dynamic HTML, XML, and Java applets to their sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Solid reference work
This is a detailed and comprehensive resource for FrontPage 2002, well presented and authoritative. Should be just about all you need to help develop effective Web sites, with or without the use of a Web server. Also covers related material well, some examples being: the creation and adapting of graphics for the Web, collaboration techniques for team-based Web development, and the essentials of using FrontPage with Apache Web servers.

Weakened FP2002 dishonestly handled by Que?
You need to go no farther than page 23 to spot the fatal flaw in this book, "Microsoft did not include the Personal Web Server (PWS) with FrontPage 2002 ... " PWS versions 4 and 5, the book says, are available on Win98, NT4 Option Pack and Win2000. Trouble is none of those work with Windows XP! There is nothing I could find in the book that XP Home Edition seems to take no notice of FrontPage. And, worst of all -- the need for WinXP Professional established -- the book doesn't even mention IIS5.1 which is in WinXP Professional and necessary for full use of FP2002.

This failure isn't corrected -- as of late February -- on the quehelp.com pages offered to update such information. Not to mention the loss of a CD, none offered on the book with 3rd party samples and a searchable copy of the volume. Very poor job. And I'm a Que Using series user! Okay, I used to be. (Note there is no CD with the Using Office XP either!)

That said, the credibility and usefulness of the rest of this poorly written book is suspect. I won't quote some of the paragraphs that are simply not understandable. You won't have any trouble finding your own samples. I wish I had my money back.

Microsoft FrontPage 2002 by Randall & Jones Great Resource!
I am new to using FrontPage although I have installed other web based software products. The book was easy to follow and gave me the technical details I needed to sink my teeth in and create a a web presence with FrontPage 2002.The book is 914 pages and covered designing web pages, web creation and managment, scripting, and dynamic content, using Linux as a webserver, and databases connectivity.As you can see it goes from the simple creation of web pages to setting up a beefy website.I feel the book is a great reference.As a side note the book does not come with CD. ... Read more

Product Description
Opera (web browser). Web browser, Internet suite, Opera Software, Internet Relay Chat, Web feed, BitTorrent (protocol), Tabbed browsing ... Read more

Product Description
This handbook forms a starting point for anyone wanting to know how to use the Internet and get the most from it. This new edition increases its coverage of online shopping and games and other interactive uses of the Web, including a section on the best Web sites to visit. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
In Chapter 6 of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the authors discuss the details of good search-engine design. In a bitingly humorous segment, they analyze a Web site's search-page results: "Let's say you're interested in knowing what the New Jersey sales tax is.... So you go to the State of New Jersey web site and search on sales tax. The 20 results are scored at either 84% or 82% relevant. Why does each document receive only one of two scores?... And what the heck makes a document 2% more relevant than another?"

With a swift and convincing stroke, the authors of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web tear down many entrenched ideas about Web design. Flashy animations are cool, they agree, as long as they don't aggravate the viewer. Nifty clickable icons are nice, but are their meanings universal? Is the search engine providing results that are useful and relevant? This book acts as a mirror and with careful questioning causes the reader to think through all the elements and decisions required for well-crafted Web design. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

Good reference material, but not really a page-turner
Lots of good information in this book - it covers a huge amount of information related to Information Architecture (as you might expect).Very in-depth, and a great resource.I only give it three stars though because it isn't really a great read.I know, it's a book on IA, what do you expect, right?The book is college textbook size and written in that dry O'Reilly-book style that makes it something you just have to slog through.So maybe I have too high of expectations or too short of an attention span, but it was a big challenge for me to make it through this whole thing.Again, I'm glad I have it on my shelf for reference though.

The third edition keeps the book pretty up-to-date.Other than some random old school Netscape screenshots, all the content is totally applicable in today's world.

IA for the WEB
IA for the Web is a clear concise application of topology, Taxonomy vand UI design without being too stuck on academic terms.It provides a practical set of knowledhe and skills someone can us immediately

Good for explaining concepts
Provides in depth coverage of how to organize and provide access to information for the Web. I like it because it gives you a comprehensive tour of all the major concepts, systems, and strategies used to organize information for your web site.

Because it covers a lot of ground, its not necessarily a how-to guide book, but rather is more of a deep introspective of what information architecture (IA) is, as an academic discipline. In that regard, it is quite insightful and offers many good resources of how the field evolved, and where its at today, and what role it plays in the ever changing business community.

If anything, as a result of reading this book, I found that I now have a deeper appreciation for what it takes to create a systems-wide approach towards the organization of information. In particular, an appreciation for what it takes to design information for users to help them find the information that they need.

Excellent Resource
This is one of the most complete and thorough resources on the topic of Information Architecture. As relevant today as when it was written. A must read for Web Developers and other folks whose work it is to design, produce and publish web sites.

Useless for techies
I'm a developer building a company-internal website and I'm struggling to organize all the information it will contain. I bought this book hoping to ease that struggle. What I found is for a technical person like me, this book was so useless that it has compelled me to write my first Amazon review in years.

I planned to read it cover to cover. After 50 pages I realized that I haven't really read anything at all yet. So far it's been ridiculously verbose, rambling, and content-free. So I gave up and started skimming.

I couldn't find much better in the remaining pages. Page after page of touchy-feely gobbledygook that has not helped me organize information at all.

There are more useless diagrams in this book than I've ever seen before. For example, the term "synonym ring" is defined as a group of words with the same meaning. Does it really take a diagram with a bunch of arrows in a circle to explain that? (Figure 9-2)

To explain the concept of equivalence we have another diagram: "A=B" inside a circle. (Figure 9-21) Does such a diagram really enhance anybody's understanding of the concept of equivalence? Why does this diagram even exist in the first place?

Maybe some business or consultant type might get something out of this book. For a developer, run away. Fast. ... Read more

Product Description

You code. And code. And code. You build only to rebuild. You focus on making your site compatible with almost every browser or wireless device ever put out there. Then along comes a new device or a new browser, and you start all over again.

You can get off the merry-go-round.

It's time to stop living in the past and get away from the days of spaghetti code, insanely nested table layouts, tags, and other redundancies that double and triple the bandwidth of even the simplest sites. Instead, it's time for forward compatibility.

Isn't it high time you started designing with web standards?

Standards aren't about leaving users behind or adhering to inflexible rules. Standards are about building sophisticated, beautiful sites that will work as well tomorrow as they do today. You can't afford to design tomorrow's sites with yesterday's piecemeal methods.

Jeffrey teaches you to:

• Slash design, development, and quality assurance costs (or do great work in spite of constrained budgets)
• Deliver superb design and sophisticated functionality without worrying about browser incompatibilities
• Set up your site to work as well five years from now as it does today
• Redesign in hours instead of days or weeks
• Welcome new visitors and make your content more visible to search engines
• Stay on the right side of accessibility laws and guidelines
• Support wireless and PDA users without the hassle and expense of multiple versions
• Improve user experience with faster load times and fewer compatibility headaches
• Separate presentation from structure and behavior, facilitating advanced publishing workflows

Topics covered: Why Web standards (such as XHTML, CSS, ECMAScript, and DOM) are good for everyone, and why site designers and browser makers should move towards standards compliance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (140)

The Web Standards Bible
I bought the first edition when it came out 5 or more years ago, and it completely changed the way I design and develop. I just bought this updated version at the urging of a friend. There are lots of web designers and developers that will tell you the same thing. This book not only outlines best practices from the perspective of coding, but it delivers lots of insight and includes chapters on dealing with clients and more. The definitive work on contemporary web design from the "Grandfather of the Web". Not just for designers and developers but for web site owners too. Written in a very conversational style.

Not enough doing....
...being relatively new to CSS web design I've read quite a few books that seem to promise much to the novice web designer and although this book has some great information I expected to perhaps roll up my sleeves and get under the bonnet! (AKA The hood in the US!) I realize that I'm one edition behind everyone else but this book was quite disappointing to some extent! As some of the other readers pointed out, the book takes far too long to get going and pretty much repeats itself over and over with very similar points throughout the first part! Part II, I was thinking, "Here we go, let's roll up those sleeves!" but alas, I never really had to get my hands dirty and use some good old fashioned elbow grease! Some great information and Jeffrey is obviously very knowledgeable about CSS and designing with web standards but for me at least, there could have been more practical building examples to learn the trade! I read this book intently each evening after work, waiting for the enlightenment but it never came! Maybe I missed the plot but I chalk it up as another web design book that promises much but delivers far less than expected! Maybe the 3rd edition has more practical real world examples to work with but I'm not sure if I'll be parting with my hard earned cash again!

Hard to Recommend
To summarize: too much lecture not enough tangible content. As other reviewers who are not keen on the book point out the first six chapters go on and on about the same topics - these chapters could easily be condensed down to one or two chapters. When Mr. Zeldman finally does give examples (and there aren't that many) they are oversimplified.

If you are looking for a technical book that provides concrete examples of how to improve your HTML markup and coding practices this is not it. If you want to hear Mr. Zeldman being witty while attempting (unsuccessfully) to provide insight on this complex topic then by all means this is the title for you.

The definitive guide to web standards
Jeffrey Zeldman did it again. He made a huge impact with his Designing with Web Standards book (1st ed) close to a decade ago. Well, he's published his third edition, and it is as insightful as the first. This book is up to date, and covers modern technologies, from HTML5 to CSS3 to IE8.

Readers of this book will gain a valuable insight into the recent history of web standards, be shown where things are now, and get a glimpse at where they may be going.

Anyone connected to the web development process should read this book: developers (obviously), designers, supervisors. The book uses simple language, is not code-heavy, and is readable by programmers and non-programmers.

Ammo to use when doubters question why we code the way we do
This book is not a step-by-step or hands-on-training kind of book, but is a confidence builder for developers that are already validating code and thinking of what tags are most appropriate for a particular piece of markup, in other words, those that are designing with web standards.This edition has a lot of new material, and the inclusion of Ethan Marcotte is a big plus.Jeffrey Zeldman writes in a way similar to Molly Holzschlag in her 2002 book 'Integrated Web Design', or Jeffrey Veen in his 2000 book 'The Art and Science of Web Design' - he is giving us ammo to use when doubters question why we code the way we do. He has taught these same skills in An Event Apart, in his 'how to talk to a client' presentation. In this book, you have it all in one place and can cover it at your own leisure. With Ethan Marcotte's contribution, you have some great design tips, and the whole thing stays current, with html5, grids and typography covered. ... Read more

Product Description
In Learning Web Design, Jennifer Niederst shares the knowledgeshe's gained from years of experience as both web designer and teacher.She starts from the very beginning--defining the Internet, the Web,browsers, and URLs--assuming no previous knowledge of how the Web works.Jennifer helps you build the solid foundation in HTML, graphics, anddesign principles that you need for crafting effective web pages. Shealso explains the nature of the medium and unpacks the web designprocess from conceptualization to the final result.Unlike other beginning books,Learning Web Design leaves noholes in your education. It gives you everything you need to createbasic web sites and will prepare you for more advanced web work. If youare interested in web design, this book is the place to start. Afterfinishing it, you'll be ready for the author's bestsellingcompanion reference,Web Design in a Nutshell. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

NEVER RECEIVED
Never received this item. Seller sent me a letter to refund and let me keep it if it arrives, never got it.

Best Book on Learning Web Design EVER!!
Okay, I haven't read many.But I am about as web literate as it takes to fool around with some link and image codes on my blogs.When I first picked it up, it seemed like she got into much more detail than I would be able to digest or would even want to! But once I started reading it, the explanations are so clear that I haven't been intimidated by a single exercise yet! I've done every exercise so far with so much ease I'd mistake myself for a genius if I didn't know any better.I've only had the book for three days and I'm already on the tables section! Now, I admit, I only picked up the book so that I could learn to build a very, simple website.I know enough now to take that a step or two further.I'm sure that to get the terminology down, I'll have to give the book a second read and re-visit here and again for brushing up on some things.But, I don't consider that a draw back.It's more like a book to grow with.Hands down, the author has done an excellent job in my opinion.I've read some reviews about the code typos and not being able to get the code to work because of typos.All I can say is that the explanations are so clear that the typos become so apparent that you can figure out why the code didn't work and fix it yourself.

Be sure to get the 3rd Edition!
Hi. This is Jennifer Robbins, the author of Learning Web Design. If you are interested in this title, I highly recommend that you get the Third Edition which is now available. A LOT has changed in the way web sites are built since the second edition of the book was published, and I'd hate for anyone to be getting out-of-date information. Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics

Amazing!
For those looking to start web design this is the book to get.It says illustrated but it should say illustrations on every page.Very very illustrated.One of my favorite things about this book is after every chapter(when HTML is disscused)it provides an appendix showing you the html tags you just learned.Useful as a reference.This book does not leave you hanging.It teaches you every thing you need to create and understand basic websites.About half the book introduces you to html tags and the other portion is about web graphics.Jenn's style of writting is not boring but is often humerous and cozy.I have created 4 websites after reading this book.Buy this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent resource to get a website up and running
I needed to understand how domain names and webhosting worked, plus design, program, test, and implement a website quickly.This book was perfect -- extremely well-organized, with a good Table of Contents and index, excellent examples and helpful (but not overwhelming) reference tables.The book had sufficient detail that I could get graphics loaded and use some CSS to make my text look more professional.I launched a good-looking, no-frills site for a club without any fancy animation, and got it up and running in a less than a month of evenings and weekends.The demo software (BBEdit) was invaluable to getting me started.Good treatment as well of issues with .gif, .jpeg, and .png files, and I feel that I can still learn more from this text should I want to make the site more sophisticated.The discussion of tables was especially clear.I recommend this book for anyone, even if you've never designed your own site or written a lick of html. Those wanting to do online forms to allow users to submit data will need to learn Javascript. ... Read more

Product Description
Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition contains the nitty-gritty on everything you need to know to design Web pages. It's an excellent reference for HTML 4.01 tags (including tables, frames, forms, color, and cascading style sheets) with special attention given to browser support, platform idiosyncrasies, and standards. You'll also find lots of updated information on using graphics, multimedia, audio and video, and advanced technologies such Dynamic HTML, Javascript, and XML, as well as new chapters on XHTML, WML, and SMIL. This book is an indispensable tool for web designers and authors of all levels. Full Description Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition contains the nitty-gritty on everything you need to know to design web pages. It's the good stuff, without the fluff, written and organized so that answers can be found quickly. This completely revised and expanded 2nd edition is chock-full of information about the wide range of front-end technologies and techniques from which web designers and authors must draw. Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition is an excellent reference for HTML 4.01 tags (including tables, frames, forms, color, and cascading style sheets) with special attention given to browser support, platform idiosyncrasies, and standards. You'll also find lots of updated information on using graphics, multimedia, audio and video, and advanced technologies such Dynamic HTML, Javascript, and XML, as well as new chapters on XHTML, WML, and SMIL. This book is an indispensable tool for web designers and authors of all levels.Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition includes:Discussions of the web environment including monitors and browsers, printing from the Web, accessibility, and internationalization A complete reference to HTML and Server Side Includes, including up-to-date browser support (Netscape 6, IE 6.0, and Opera 5) for every tag and attribute Updated chapters on creating GIF, animated GIF, JPEG, and PNG graphics, including designing with the Web Palette Information on multimedia and interactivity, including audio, video, Flash 5 and Shockwave, and a new chapter on SMIL A revised tutorial and reference on Cascading Style Sheets Appendixes detailing HTML tags, attributes, deprecated tags, proprietary tags, CSS compatibility and support, and character entitiesAmazon.com Review
In 1998, Jennifer Niederst wrote the first edition of this very successful book after she found herself spending way too much time chasing down the solutions to HTML problems. From hexadecimal color specs to mouseover scripts, the answers are all out there, but finding the exact one you need can soak up a whole day. "I wrote Web Design in a Nutshell because it was the book I needed--one place to find quick answers to my questions."

With all that's changed in the meantime, an overhaul is welcome. This is the rare book for designers that is almost completely nonvisual. It doesn't show what's hip in navigational bars or what the coolest colors are. Rather, it gives readers the kind of know-how that can make a difference between someone who just whips up pretty pages with WYSIWYG applications like Dreamweaver and someone who can make those pages cross-platform, cross-browser, fast loading, and accessible to all.

The clear organization makes it easy to locate any specific topic. There are six sections. "The Web Environment" discusses the realities of browser compatibility, display-resolution problems, a useful bit of Unix, and tips for print designers looking to move into Web design. "Authoring" shows how to write accurate and up-to-date HTML, cascading style sheets, and Server Side Includes (like putting the current date and time on your homepage).

"Graphics" brings together all you need to know to make effective use of images (GIFs, JPEGS, PNGs, and animated GIFs). "Multimedia and Interactivity" helps with adding audio, video, or Flash to your site (including some succinct tips on optimization and publish settings). And "Advanced Technologies" covers JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, and WAP and WML. And there are six useful look-up tables in the appendix, which include HTML 4.0 tags, deprecated tags, attributes, and CSS support across browsers. Web Design in a Nutshell could easily have been titled The Web Designer's Companion--it's mighty handy to have around. --Angelynn Grant ... Read more

Customer Reviews (131)

Arrived as described
Book was exactly as it was described.Got to me pretty quickly.Good deal too - way less expensive than Borders or Barnes and Noble.

Web Design in a Nutshell
This is a great desk reference book! While it is a challenging book to read, I know it will come in super handy when I need to find the answer to a specific technical question!

Late Shipping
I had ordered this book within my state (Michigan) so that I might get it faster.It was not mailed until a week after I had placed my order.Very disappointed as I needed this book for a college class.

one of the best books around
the author knows the subject well, and she writes well.i found myself reading the book for hours, and learning new things in a nice and organized way.if just all books are like that...

it is good for beginner and intermediate level.if you are at an advanced level or guru level, you may find that you know about it already.but since this book talks about so many aspect of web technologies, unless you advanced in most areas, you probably still find it useful or good to have as a reference.

Good Textbook
Reached me in time (Amazon Prime) in excellent condition. This book is perfect for all those who are beginners in Web Designing. Five stars. No Fault! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (20)

A total ripoff avoid avoid avoid!
This whole book is just an argument for using CSS table layout now that IE 8 is here.
It covers so ridiculously little of anything.Considering that the entire book is based on CSS tables, you would at least think that it goes in depth on the subject.It does not.It has little to no technical explanation as to the hows and whys.Most of the book is just repeating itself about why you should use tables, AND create a separate css sheet for older versions of IE.It's only 135 pages that could basically just be 50.Where is the rest of the book? Maybe you want to know about tab menus?Forget it.Horrible, and a proof that Sitepoint will sell anything that they can slap a cover on.

Light on content
The book made some good points about using css tables instead of floats or html tables, but that isn't enough to be worth the cover price.

One Interesting Article
I read this book in 1/2 an hour in the book store. I thought, well, that's interesting, when IE8 comes out maybe I'll start doing web pages because they won't be such a pain in the neck anymore. Then I looked at the list price: I think it was $35. Yoicks! The reviewer that compared the book to a magazine article was on the mark. This is one, interesting, rather expensive trade journal article, presented in a book.

A pick for any programming library interested in best practices titles
Change your patterns of using CSS in a different approach to using Cascading Style Sheets without the workarounds required. From learning new techniques that work with older browsers to considering how to streamline CSS processes to avoid its cumbersome reputation, Everything You Know About CSS is Wrong is a pick for any programming library interested in best practices titles.

Finally an instruction manual to change over to CSS from HTML tables
This is really an outstanding book, though the title doesn't really reveal the content.The book could really be called "An Instruction Manual to Start Using CSS For What It Was Intended For Instead of Using Those Old HTML Tables Which Are Really For Structured Content and Not Really For Layout", but I suppose that would take up most of the cover.

Seriously, this is a book whose time is long due...mostly because it tells us how to use CSS in browsers whose time is long due.It's great to see the new browsers catching up to the formatting instructions that have been in place for them for years.

I've been writing CSS by hand for 12 years, and I've done my share of learning the hard way and tearing my hair out when my positioning doesn't work right, degrades non-gracefully or has to be rewritten and retooled to work in different browsers.It would have been great to have a book like this years ago when we were working with something called CSS-P and trying to do the right thing by not using tables.This book would be a great text to use in an HTML class today so that positioning is taught correctly.

I have a dream that someday educators will stop teaching layout in HTML tables and will teach layout as shown in this book.HTML tables will be used simply to markup table content.This book is a huge step in that direction. ... Read more

Product Description

The primary goal of the GO! Series, aside from teaching computer applications,is ease of implementation, with an approach that is based on clearly-defined projects. A key feature of the book is the use of Microsoft procedural syntax: steps begin with where the action is to take place, followed by the action itself. The instruction is error-free, clearly written, and logically arranged. Try It! exercises teach readers additional skills or new office features that are not included within the instructional portion of the chapter. Ideal for students and individuals seeking a comprehensive, project-based approach to learning the Internet.

Product Description
The Web is the most sophisticated, most open, and simplest publishing medium ever created, an endless set of criss-crossing interconnections between an ever-growing number of points, and a community in the truest sense of the word. Your Web page can be your platform to say or show whatever you want to the millions of people with access to the global Internet. You can talk about yourself or your business. You can publish a short story or a collection of jokes. You can show pictures of your dog or of your company’s latest product. Your own imagination is the only limit to what you can put on the Web.

If you've used the Web before and you're now ready to step out into the big wide online world with your own page, Creating Web Pages For Dummies, 6th Edition, is the place where you can nudge your wishes into reality. Without any previous experience (or painful technical instructions), you can get on track to

Product Description
Arm yourself to destroy UI and JavaScript bugs

• Expand your toolkit by learning to use Firebug to help you monitor, debug, develop and edit web pages on the fly
• Create your own Firebug extensions and learn about popular third-party extensions
• Covers JavaScript, AJAX, and CSS development
• Covers all of Firebug's features
• Clear explanations with easy-to-follow examples of HTML and JavaScript

In Detail

With the advent of RIA (Rich Internet Applications), most web pages are driven by a combination of JavaScript, AJAX, CSS, and so on. Web developers and designers find it hard to debug and fix the issues that crop up on the client side. Firebug is a wonderful toolkit to have in your arsenal for handling all such issues. This book covers all of Firebug's features and will help you utilize its capabilities with maximum efficiency. AJAX development and debugging is not one of the easiest tasks; this book explains step-by-step, how to develop and debug AJAX components in your web page in a very easy way, thereby increasing your productivity. Topics like performance tuning of the web page are covered in detail.

This book discusses how to become more efficient in various aspects of web development by using Firebug. It is a very easy-to-understand, step-by-step guide that explains all the features of Firebug with concise and simple examples. With this book in hand, you will be able to deal with the painful areas of web development like JavaScript and AJAX debugging using Firebug.

The book takes you from the basics of Web Development like editing HTML and CSS on the fly to advanced features like AJAX, JSON, Monitoring, and Performance Tuning of web pages. It assumes that you have some very basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript. For those of you with a sound knowledge of these technologies, this book can help you increase your productivity by using Firebug effectively, taking full advantage of its rich and powerful features and the console API. Towards the end, the book explains how to create your own powerful extensions for the Firebug community.

This practical guide will equip you with the skills to edit, debug, and monitor web pages using Firebug

What you will learn from this book

• Explore Firebug's tabs and their functions
• Understand how to use Firebug to inspect, edit, search, and play with the HTML source of the document
• Get to grips with useful tools and utilities provided by Firebug for CSS development
• Learn the command-line API and console API of Firebug and debugging JavaScript
• Modify the values of properties and constants of any DOM object using Firebug
• Discover various ways to analyze the performance of your web application on the browser
• Learn how to track XmlHttpRequest and Response as well as debugging AJAX calls
• Tips and tricks to experiment with the features that Firebug provides
• Explore Firebug extensions like YSlow, FireCookie, and Page Speed that are useful for development and Performance tuning
• Develop a Firebug extension and learn how to set up a development environment, file, and directory structure for it

Approach

A step-by-step description of each key feature is provided with the help of simple, easy-to-understand examples. There are plenty of useful screenshots in each chapter. Every chapter contains information as well as tips and tricks to draw your attention towards some useful information or reference. Each aspect of web development like CSS or JavaScript is handled independently so that you can refer to those modules in which you are interested.

Who this book is written for

This book is written for frontend web developers building software and pages using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and AJAX, who want to learn Firebug for the reasons outlined above. The book assumes that readers have a very basic knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. The examples in the book can be understood by someone who has just been introduced to web development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Nice little reference
Lots of nice details. But after a week or two you learn firebug inside and out and this makes the book essentially useless.

The short discussion on how to modify your installation and add custom functionality at the end earned the book it's fourth star. The author also discusses plug ins and additional tools that can be used to extend Firebug.

The book is a great resource for getting started with Firebug. The proofreaders must have been up all night proofing the copy - the book it is a little rough around the edges but all in all quite readable.

Good little book on Firebug
The success of Firefox over recent years can be partly attributed to the extensions that beef up what's already a great browser into something truly amazing. Firebug's one of the most popular extensions, and for good reason. I've used it for editing CSS, viewing AJAX requests, DOM manipulation and debugging JavaScript. To say it's been helpful is a large understatement, and it's why I use Firefox as my main browser for web development.

Packt Publishing's lengthily titled `Firebug 1.5 : Editing, Debugging, and Monitoring Web Pages' starts the reader off gently with a `Getting Started' chapter, discussing Firebug's history, installation and Firebug Lite, a JavaScript version for non-Firefox browsers.Chapter 2 introduces the various Firebug tabs and gives a good overview of Firebug's main capabilities. Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 expand on the HTML, CSS and DOM functionality, and provide a great, in-depth examination of what's possible.

Chapter 7 - `Performance Tuning Our Web Application' - looks at the Net panel, and once again, the discussion is thorough and well-written. Not only does it give information about Firebug, but by its very nature, delves into HTTP headers and XMLHttpRequest monitoring.

Chapter 8 - `AJAX Development' explains the console.debug call that I've made on several occasions, as well the (new to me) console.assert for for assertions and the useful console.dir(object) for giving a DOM tab style object dump for the supplied object parameter.

Chapter 9 - `Tips and Tricks for Firebug' also had something new for me, console.group() and console.groupEnd(), which are functions that group ouput in the output console. When there are lots of debug statements being fired out to the console window, it can be useful to group them, and I've already used this to my benefit since reading the book.

Chapter 10 - `Necessary Firebug Extensions' takes a look at ways of making Firebug even better by using 8 extensions that empower their users to more accurately diagnose and fix performance issues, manage cookies and improve SEO.

Chapter 11 - `Extending Firebug' builds on Chapter 10s introduced extensions by describing how to build your own. To keep things in proportion, it's a fairly small chapter, building a small `Hello World' extension, but it does give food for thought.

The book closes with an Appendix detailing Firebug's API, and a look ahead at Firebug 1.7

Overall, this is a well-written and descriptive book, and although it is probably more suitable for a new to intermediate Firebug user, I found quite a few `ooh - I didn't know that' moments throughout that make it worthwhile for any reader who designs and develops websites.

A Useful Reference Book for Firebug
In brief, this is a useful reference book for Firebug but it is up to the reader to work out how all of the features will be useful to them.

The authors have provided a comprehensive description of the features of Firebug, as well as useful lists of add-ons to Firebug which further enhance its capabilities. The chapter on improving web page download speed was particularly informative but a shared example that the author worked the reader through would have been useful. Unfortunately the approach taken with the examples was a demonstration of the features rather than how this feature could be used in solving an issue. Furthermore, while the authors included web pages for the reader to follow along with they did not always work in the way described in the text.

I would have found the book more useful if the authors had included two or three web pages that demonstrated a variety of typical issues that web designers and developers have problems with (e.g. javascript errors; pages which have rendered poorly; slow page download speed) and then used these to demonstrate both the features and how to use Firebug effectively.

Worth for both existing and new users
The language used in the book is clean, plain and straightforward. No joking, no snobbish English. It is certain that non-native speakers of English can understand the text without a problem. This text can be taken as essentially complementary for many problematic screenshots appearing with the text. (The issues pertaining to the screencasts will be discussed later.) The book will bring you tons of I-didn't-know-that experiences for current Firebug users. The book illustrates usage about Firebug. It's not just about JavaScript. It discusses HTML, CSS, DOM and Ajax. Each tab on Firebug is carefully and satisfactorily explained. You will find many features that are often difficult even to notice. For example, are you familiar with:

how to read the output of profile,
how to auto-complete when you edit a node in DOM,
how to read all the color bars in Net tab,
console API, which offers more than just console.log(),
how to set conditional breakpoints,
how to search multiple files in CSS tab, and
how to filter user-defined properties, user-defined functions, DOM properties, DOM functions and DOM constants in DOM tab?
For those new to Firebug, this book serves as an excellent introduction while the book is still worthwhile reading for those who haven't dug into the possibilities Firebug offers. I'm not sure if all the features are covered in the book, but I can safely say that the book covers most of them.

What's noteworthy along with the clear explanation of Firebug usage is that the book goes beyond the scope. First, the book also discusses useful Firebug extensions. Firebug itself is expandable by its extensions. This is not just a list, but the authors explain each extension adequately. You can easily find many "must-have" lists on blogs, but each item is rarely explained in enough details on blogs I can find on the web.

The other impressive points about the book are: a) explaining how to make a Firebug extension and b) future for Firebug. I personally don't plan to write a extension for Firebug, but a "Hello World!" example in the book gives a kick-start for those interested. The plans for versions 1.6 and 1.7 are neatly summarized. It gives you a good understanding of what Firebug will be able to do, what challenges Firebug is currently facing. Again if you consider developing an extension, the topics referred to in the section is no doubt beneficial.

Reading through the book, I have noticed lack of information about usage with JavaScript libraries. While one of the authors, Chandan Luthra, claims that he is fond of writing code in jQuery and Firebug. If you have ever used jQuery and Firebug, you might have noticed that Firebug has $ function, which jQuery also has. Which has a precedance? Do we see an error? Why? Nothing is referred to. jQuery is, in fact, presented in the book when the authors discuss Ajax calls. It might have been helpful to include any relevant information that could confuse JavaScript libraries users because a lot of the JavaScript coding happens on the library level.

The bottom line: Firebug is a popular tool and it might be easy to find information on the web. With my experience, however, the quality of the explanations I read on the web is quite low, and they tend to be inadequate. This book provides a comprehensive yet friendly explanation in a digestible fashion for both new and existing Firebug users about its usage. As well, the book offers additional information that extends its usage. Despite the problems I identified above, this book is worth reading for many people. ... Read more

Product Description

This much-needed book provides clear but detailed advice in all of the main areas of Internet research. For those carrying out research on-line, a number of very different sets of skills from the conventional "systematic way of asking questions," is required. Using the Internet for research involves learning how to access the correct sites and extract information in the shortest possible time. It involves maximizing the possibilities of opened up email contact with other researchers around the world, and it involves learning about the major databases which are devoted to the social sciences and learning how to do the detective work necessary to evaluate and to cite documents whose authorship and origins are often unclear. It sets out, in clear and simple terms, best practice in the use of the Internet as a mainstream research resource and deals with the Internet as a thread which runs through the entire research process, from formulating a research question to publishing the results of your research.

Ideal as a course textbook at undergraduate and graduate level in a range of social science disciplines where doing a research project is an integral part of the course. It will also be of great use to postgraduate students who are about to start research for a dissertation, and for experienced academic researchers who are trying to incorporate the Internet into their research practice. 

Customer Reviews (1)

Go beyond any search engine
To the average person who uses the Web, Google is probably her perferred tool for searching. But there is much data still unaccessed by any public search engine. These may reside in subscription-only databases. Or totally offline, in books and journals, where in part for copyright reasons, these have never been put on the web.

Finally, there are the researchers in the social sciences. By now, these are locateable via Google. But how does one cluster them? That is, who are the key ones of interest to you?

The book describes how to use the Internet for social science research, in ways that go beyond any search engine. You can find here what the most relevant web sites are, and how to find the top researchers. Plus much more. ... Read more

Product Description
This book helps users of Microsoft Frontpage 2002 gain an understanding of, and proficiency in, its various tools and uses.Chapter topics include creating a home page, hyperlinks, templates, the picture gallery, and advanced features related to creating a web site and getting it on the Internet.For Frontpage 2002 users. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (44)

easy-reading and good
What you'd certainly like there:
- good writing style, friendly with catchy details which at the same time do not distruct you from the main idea.
- focus on all aspects around the core subject - Your WebSite design and functionality - adding things as necessary yet with nothing that would be boring

I'd say it's great for those people looking for a well-structured approach to the topic and also those who need first advice (beginners in Web design and intermediate ones)

I'm now looking for more stuff from The Missing Manual series to entertain myself with more (hopefully) good books

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual
Book is great...simple and easy to understand especially for beginners like me in website development.

If I'd Opern The Book ..........
Dummy me. I buy books and never crack the cover. Then one day, in search of reading material, I pick up a book that's collected dust for some time and I find the surprise of my life. So it happened with this book. I had already started a website and 2 blogs but I was totally in the dark about a great number of things. The answers to my questions were always right there on my bookshelp in this book. If only I'd read this book first. In chapter 1, I was delighted to find a beginner's description of HTML that was written in understandable baby steps. Not only did I finally understand HTML, I was comfortable with writing the short lessons. From that point, I could barely put the book down. I was discovering an easy way to create and manage a website and blog, that up to now, I had been muddling on my own. It cleared up a lot of mystery on java Script, audio and video.

I'm not going to go through the book, chapter by chapter because there are already some very good reviews on all of this. I'm ready to begin my second reading of this book so all the information will cement in my mind. Sometimes reviewer's give a book a lessor review because it's for beginners, but thank god, there are books, like this for those of us who get a late start in this fun and wonderful geeky world.

good info
I think the missing manual has hit the nail on the head with this and the other offerings. As it states it's not a book for the internet guru but those of us who aren't experts and are at the beginner/ early intermediate level of experience with this tuff. There are many tips and general info you might not even know you need to know.

Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual
I liked the layout and the instuctional style of this author. I was able to retain quite a bit during the first pass. The vendor sent this book quickly and in even better condition than I had expected. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Web analytics is not just a tool for measuring website traffic but can be used as a tool for business research and market research. Web analytics applications can also help companies measure the results of traditional print advertising campaigns. It helps one to estimate how the traffic to the website changed after the launch of a new advertising campaign. ... Read more