Useful references
DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web by Cranford Teague
DHTML and CSS for the World Wide Web (3rd Ed.) by Jason Cranford Teague. This is another excellent Visual Quickstart Guide from Peachpit Press. The book starts off with an excellent introduction to Cascading Style Sheets (a fundamental aspect of modern web design), which is very clear and then goes on to introduce Dynamic HTML again in a clear and easy style. There are lots of examples to follow and the coding is clearly written and highlighted in red. The book covers all you would expect, including layers and demonstrates how to create drop-down menus. If you want to create interactive web interfaces using DOM Level 1 syntax, this book will show you the way.
Another great value title available from Amazon.co.uk for £8.49
JavaScript for the World Wide Web by Tom Negrino and Dory Smith
JavaScript for the World Wide Web (5th Ed.) by Tom Negrino and Dori Smith. This is a truly excellent book. First of all, it's light, readable and it's cheap. The book assumes a basic understanding of HTML but leads you very gently into what can sometimes be a relatively complicated scripting language. Where this book really scores is in it's approach. It assumes that you'll want to use JavaScript to actually do something. So rather than focusing on lots of gory detail, the book has you creating image rollovers before you know it. Probably the best beginners book for JavaScript available.
JavaScript for the World Wide Web is available at Amazon.co.uk for £8.49 and is highly recommended.
PHP for the World Wide Web by Larry Ullman
PHP for the World Wide Web (2nd Ed.) by Larry Ullman. PHP is now the most widely used scripting language on the Web and this book is an excellent introduction to the topic. Unlike JavaScript (a client-side scripting language), PHP runs on a web server and is known as a "server-side" scripting language. Consequently, PHP is extremely powerful and can be used to build modular sites, which are easy to maintain as well as adding dynamic elements to your design. This book is for the PHP beginner but assumes a basic understanding of HTML and web design. Just like the other Quick Start guides, this one is exceptinally clear, well laid out and easily paced.
PHP for the World Wide Web is available at Amazon.co.uk for £11.89 and is highly recommended.
Dreamweaver MX 2004 Bible by Joseph Lowery
While this book is perhaps not designed for the absolute beginner, it does cover a lot of basic topics. It is very well written, clear and logical. Many topics are covered in great detail. It is not a tutorial book as such but provides a superb reference. It's a book you can dip into when you need specific advice or information. The book is in seven parts and only the first part is concerned with an introduction to the software. Other parts include, Dynamic HTML, Dynamic Data and Website Management and of course, all the basic page layout stuff is also covered. This book is probably the best single volume reference for those working with Dreamweaver MX.
Dreamweaver MX 2004 Bible is available as a digital download at Amazon.co.uk for £32.70
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Windows and Macintosh by J. Tarin Towers
Some Dreamweaver books start by introducing the reader to HTML. This book (a visual quickstart guide) assumes you are already familiar with HTML, CSS etc. and just focuses on working with Dreamweaver itself. Given this approach, the book does an excellent job. Newcomers to Dreamweaver will be up-and-running in no time and the book also acts as an excellent reference so you won't be throwing it out as soon as you have got to grips with the basics.
The book is rather more chunky than most of the visual quickstart titles, running to over 700 pages but that's because there is so much material covered. Once the basic functionality of the software is covered in the early chapters, the book goes on to consider strategies for implementing such things as CSS, frames, tables, forms, and layers and then goes on to cover the automation and customisation of Dreamweaver. Server-side technologies are not covered but under the circumstances that's entirely reasonable.
Macromedia Dreamweaver MX for Windows and Macintosh is available from Amazon.co.uk at £13.29
Photoshop CS Bible by Deke McClelland
Deke McClelland is probably one of the best known authors when it comes to Photoshop. His book is probably the best single volume you can buy on the subject. It's a good book for beginners because it covers all the basics in a simple and coherent way but it's also an excellent book to keep as a reference for more experienced users.
The Photoshop Bible is a big book but then Photoshop is a big application. Each section is well focussed and topics are dealt with in a through manner with lots of useful examples and illustrations. The book comes with a full PDF version on CD, which makes searching for a specific command really easy.
The Photoshop CS Bible is available from Amazon.co.uk for £14.97 and if you only buy one Photoshop book, this should be the one.
Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara
This book explains the use of the gird in contemporary graphic design. After a short introduction, covering the history of the grid, the book is divided into two parts. The first part looks at the grid as a framework for the arrangement of objects on a page (paper, web and multi-media). The second part looks at how the grid can be broken, twisted or rearranged. In both parts, excellent examples are used to illustrate the use of a range of grid types (modular, hierarchical etc.). Each double-page spread illustrates a single design project with an analysis of the underlying grid structure.
This is an essential reference for anyone who needs to decide how objects are arranged on a page; graphic designers and website designers will benefit most but this book will be of interest to anyone working in or studying design.
Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop is available at Amazon.co.uk for £11.89
