Comments about oreilly HTML5 Cookbook:

HTML5 Cookbook, by Christopher Schmitt and Kyle Simpson, provides an overview of HTML5 along with problem/solution scenarios which will allow developers to hit the ground running using HTML5. It also includes chapters on how to implement the new features available in HTML5, including native audio, native video, geolocation, the canvas element, local storage, drag-and-drop, and more.

This book is perfect for intermediate to senior level developers who are looking to get up to speed on the new semantics and features available in HTML5 quickly. However, that isn't to say that junior developers should shy away from this book. I do feel that developers at any level would benefit from this book, both from the content provided in the book, along with the wealth of external resource links that are scattered throughout each chapter. I found that I spent more time veering away from the book to enhance my learning in a particular area by scouring the information on the HTML5 sites that were recommended in this book. This alone makes the value of the book worthwhile.

Furthermore, I found it extremely helpful that browser support for some of the new HTML5 features were discussed, along with workarounds to handle scenarios where browser support is not yet in place for those features.

In my opinion, this book is a must-have for anyone looking to get to up to speed on HTML5.

Comments about oreilly HTML5 Cookbook:

HTML5 Cookbook provides an overview and examples of new HTML 5 features and related JavaScript APIs. The cookbook series aims to provide short, targeted chapters that solve real world problems, and for simple use-cases, this book provides that.

Most of the material in the book could be found in online tutorials, but it provides a good overview of the available technologies in a single place. I wouldn't recommend this for developers who are already using/familiar with HTML 5, but it could be a great foundation for newbies who want to absorb a lot quickly. Personally, I felt that I had a solid foundation to start working with HTML 5 technologies after reading through the examples.

In a Nutshell:

* Good compilation of intro material for HTML 5 and friends.
* Filled with useful internet references.
* Recipes are rather basic, but complete and well-written.
* Great coverage of accessibility issues.
* Probably less useful once the basics are understood.

[This review was written as part of the O'Reilly Blogger Review Program.]

Comments about oreilly HTML5 Cookbook:

First off I want to make sure everyone not familiar with the Cookbook series understands that this is NOT an instructional how-to for HTML5, if that's what you're looking for may I suggest the HTML5 24-hour Trainer by Joseph Lowery & Mark Fletcher. What this book does is provide practical solutions to common problems that web designers and developers may face as they transition from HTML4 and XHTML1.5 (or XHTML5 if you prefer the newer naming convention) to the new possibilities opening up for us in HTML5 and CSS3.

What I like so much about the cookbook formats is their non-linear nature. It's possible to get a great deal from this book without reading it cover to cover. Having said that the recipes do build on each other, so knowledge gleaned from early recipes may enhance your understanding of follow-up recipes. As I stated before, this book will not teach you the entire HTML5 spec. what it will do is improve your understanding of the changes and updates that shape the new standards by placing them in the context of real-world problems. Chapter 1 should be required reading for every developer, even if you read nothing else in the book this chapter provides a solid grounding in the syntactic and semantic changes to HTML markup in context. Not every developer will use Geolocation or Micro-data, but every developer will (or at the very least should) use the new structural elements of the HTML5 spec. to give their content improved semantic meaning.

Two thumbs-up.