Foreword
Any great chef will tell you that the key to creating good food is
using quality ingredients. Author Christopher Schmitt has just gone
shopping for you. By compiling hundreds of CSS recipes into this
single book, he's giving you a one-stop shop to
create stylish, flexible web pages.
When I was first learning the wonders of CSS, trial and error
prevailed as my primary means for discovering its creative powers.
"Hmm, I'd like to turn this list
into a horizontal navigation bar," or
"I need to stylize the components of a form using
CSS for a client." Several hours (or days) would go
by after plugging in various CSS rules, removing some, and
experimenting with endless combinations. This hit-or-miss approach
worked (at times), and while a curious person like myself may even
consider it "fun," it sure ate up a
lot of time in the process.
I wish I'd had this book. Instead of stumbling upon
the solution for styling every element of the page, I could have just
thumbed through the CSS Cookbook, grabbed the
recipe and started baking. The guesswork would've
been eliminated, and I could have, instead, spend my time doing what
I love to do best: creating.
The modular nature of this book makes it an indispensable reference
for designers and developers of any caliber. Posed with problems from
how best to handle typography, links and navigation to even entire
page layouts, Christopher clearly explains not only the styles
necessary to complete the task, but the caveats that may be attached
for certain browsers. By additionally explaining the helpful
workarounds to everyday CSS problems, he's arming
you with the critical knowledge needed to be a successful CSS
designer.
For example, a recent article told of a common usability problem:
when posed with a Submit button at the end of a form, some users just
can't shake their double-clicking habits. The button
may get clicked twice, with the results of the form getting
duplicated. What to do? A solution wasn't offered in
the aforementioned article. However, unsurprisingly,
there's a recipe in this very book
that'll solve this little problem using CSS and a
dash of JavaScript.
And that's the heart of this book's
purpose: real problems and the goods that will deliver real results.
You've heard about how CSS will simplify your life,
making pages lighter and easier to maintain. Now
it's time to start using it,
and with this book, you'll have one less excuse not
to.
So, my advice is to clear off a space on your desk because the
CSS Cookbook will take up permanent residency in
the corner. Hopefully for you, a spot that is easily within
arm's reach.
—Dan Cederholm Founder, SimpleBits http://www.simplebits.com Salem, Massachusetts
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