Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are not difficult to learn how to create and implement, but going beyond the basics take a lot of thought, creativity, and knowledge. The thought and creativity part are up to you, but the knowledge portion has to come from a competent source that can show you some real technical wizardry. O'Reilly's CSS Cookbook, 2nd Edition is the perfect book for anyone interested in advancing from a beginner's CSS level to an expert's.

Writing analysis

CSS Cookbook, 2nd Edition is laid out in typical O'Reilly "cookbook" format. A problem is presented, the best solution is provided, and then it is explained in detail, including alternative solutions. A complete listing of the necessary code and screen shot of its implementation in a Web browser are also part of each "recipe." A large appendix offers extremely useful lists and tables of CSS elements for HTML tags and which Web browsers they will work with.

There is some value in reading a book like this from cover to cover, but it would probably be more appropriate to consult it whenever you come across a technical challenge in building a Web site.

Though the book starts out with some CSS basics, it would be most helpful to readers to have a firm grasp of CSS basics before reading. I suggest the W3Schools free online CSS tutorial as a prerequisite to CSS Cookbook, 2nd Edition.

Putting the book to the test

There is so much great CSS information in this book that it's hard to talk about specifics. No single chapter or recipe stands out above the others -- they're all useful to working Web designers and developers, and appropriate for modern design practices and standards. The first thing I did when reading it was open up to a random place, a little more than halfway through the book, and read the first recipe I saw. It happened to be a series of solutions for creating a variety of multi-column layouts using <div> tags, and addressed problems that I have struggled to solve on my own several times. I wanted to go back and read that section later, so I put a piece of the press release in that spot and flipped back to some earlier sections. Everything I saw was not only useful to any professional designer or developer, but it was brilliant in its analysis of relevant problems and solutions. This book was definitely written by someone who knows the challenges we face as Web site creators and editors.

The only negative point about the book -- and this is totally a matter of personal preference -- is that all of the screen shots show the OS X operating system. I can't stand Apple or OS X, so seeing screen shots of its nonsensical, toy-like interface is a distraction and an annoyance.

Conclusions

Every Web designer and developer who has to deal with XHMTL or CSS -- even if only infrequently -- should have this book on his desk. It deals with the difficult challenges that Web designers deal with every day and on every project. Even if you think you're a CSS guru, CSS Cookbook, 2nd Edition is still likely to teach you something new.

I'd also strongly recommend this book for hobbyist Web designers who want to get into hand-coded XHTML and CSS, or who want to graduate from WYSIWYG Web editors to the real thing.

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Copyright 2007 JEM Electronic Media, Inc. No reprints without written permission.