Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation
friends of ED, March 2004
I was Technical Reviewer for this book, so my comments are not entirely impartial, but this is a welcome 2nd edition of a title originally published in 2002 by Glasshaus. Substantial portions of the book have been rewritten, and there are two important new sections: a chapter on how browsers handle CSS in tables, and six projects created by members of the csszengarden project.
All I can say about Matt Patterson's new chapter on tables is that it's a pity browsers don't handle the subject as well as he does. Browser support for the CSS table model is patchy to say the least, but Matt outlines with admirable clarity what should be possible, what is possible, and what to avoid.
The csszengarden projects offer a variety of solutions to web design in an imaginative and attractive way. Some of the techniques used are experimental and controversial, but never boring. My particular favourite is Cornelia Lange's solution for a real estate site. Not only is it an elegant design, it's capped off with a stunning tour de force - an image map built with transparent gifs and CSS. It certainly blew my mind.
The core chapters of the book cover all the basics of CSS - the use of selectors, building style rules, the box model, CSS positioning, and text styling. There are chapters on common layouts and how to get round common browser bugs. Steven Champeon also makes a cogent argument for why CSS is so important not only now, but how it will become increasingly so with the spread of XML.
All in all, an fascinating mix of the theoretical, practical and experimental. Well worth adding to any web designer's bookshelf