Last updated 4/04/2006
Eric Meyer on CSS
Eric Meyer on CSS
Authors: Eric A. Meyer
Publisher: New Ryder from Peachpit
322 pages plus downloads .... $45.00
ISBN 0-7357-1245-X
Mastering the Language of Web Design
Eric Meyer on CSS
is a well written practical guide which uses thirteen real world projects to increase your skills. It includes instructions to accommodate all browsers more recent than Netscape 4.x and Internet Explorer 3.x. You can duplicate the projects and modify them for use in your own web designs.
The the first project, Eric Meyer demonstrates the advantages of using HTML and CSS. It reduced the size of the file from 100% down to 64%, while making it much easier to understand and to maintain.
Eric Meyer on CSS
and his other books, are highly recommended by other authors who create web pages using CSS . Eric Meyer is a leader in developing new creations with CSS, and his writing contains solutions that you may not find anywhere else.
Eric Meyer on CSS
is written for an audience whose HTML skills are intermediate
or advanced
and whose CSS skill level is basic
or intermediate.
My skills are not up to these qualifications. At first I struggled, but over-all I liked this book and learned from it. I also learned that in a book like this I should take the time to work through the projects.
In Eric Meyer on CSS,
Eric edits thirteen real project files that illustrate important CSS features and explains why he does what he does. He demonstrates the techniques to use so that the results will work consistently despite the inconsistencies among browsers. This makes it more interesting and provides real practical value.
Being project based means that references to learn about a particular CSS feature or practice may be spread over multiple projects and chapters.
An important Aside
in the third project, Styling an Events Calendar, tells us that text-align: center
can be used to center the content of block-level elements such as paragraphs, but is not meant to center the elements themselves. And, older browsers like IE5.x treat text-align: center
like the old, now depreciated, text center
which was used to center text elements themselves. The Aside refers us to project 8, Creating an Online Greeting Card,
where we are shown how to accommodate the differences between browsers by using both the rule for text-align: center for older browsers and the newer use of margin-left: auto and margin-right: auto to center an online greeting card.
Sometimes you have to search through the projects to find answers to your questions.
In the first project, Converting an Existing Page, Eric Meyer lists presentation elements that you should strip from the HTML including line-breaks, <br>. I looked for line-breaks in the project to take out to find out how to replace them using CSS, but could not find any. In the second project, Styling a Press Release, I found line-breaks in the HTML which he did not take out. The third project, Styling an Events Calendar, explains that block-level elements prevent any other element from appearing next to them which can give the appearance of a line-break. In project 8, Creating an Online Greeting Card, line-breaks were removed in order to be restyled in CSS.
The biggest problem with teaching by project examples is that you may not be interested in some of the projects. You may not have someone who will write the script to put content into an events calendar. You have to force yourself to study it to learn the important content in that project.
To learn more about Eric Meyer on CSS, borrow the copy from our NVMUG library or goto
where you can also use your user group discount to buy a copy.
