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HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Release Date: March 2010

Pages: 672

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HTML and its XML-based descendant, XHTML, are the fundamental languages for working on the web, and the new edition of our popular HTML guide offers web developers a better way to become fluent in these languages. HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition is the most comprehensive, up-to-date book available on HTML and XHTML. It covers Netscape Navigator 6, Internet Explorer 6, HTML 4.01, XHTML 1.0, CSS2, and all of the features supported by the popular web browsers.

Learning HTML and XHTML is like learning any new language. Most students first immerse themselves in examples. Studying others is a natural way to learn; however, it's as easy to learn bad habits through imitation as it is to acquire good ones. The better way to become HTML-fluent is through a comprehensive reference that covers the language syntax, semantics, and variations in detail and demonstrates the difference between good and bad usage.

In HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, the authors cover every element of HTML/XHTML in detail, explaining how each element works and how it interacts with other elements. Tips about HTML/XHTML style help you write documents ranging from simple online documentation to complex presentations. With hundreds of examples, the book gives you models for writing your own effective web pages and for mastering advanced features like style sheets and frames.

HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition, shows how to:

Use style sheets to control a document's appearance
Work with programmatically generated HTML
Create tables, from simple to complex
Use frames to coordinate sets of documents
Design and build interactive forms and dynamic documents
Insert images, sound files, video, Java applets, and JavaScript programs
Create documents that look good on a variety of browsers
Make the transition to XHTML

The book comes with a handy quick-reference card listing HTML/XHTML tags.

Chapter 1 HTML, XHTML, and the World Wide Web
1. The Internet
2. Talking the Internet Talk
3. HTML and XHTML: What They Are
4. HTML and XHTML: What They Aren’t
5. Standards and Extensions
6. Tools for the Web Designer
Chapter 2 Quick Start
1. Writing Tools
2. A First HTML Document
3. Embedded Tags
4. HTML Skeleton
5. The Flesh on an HTML or XHTML Document
6. Text
7. Hyperlinks
8. Images Are Special
9. Lists, Searchable Documents, and Forms
10. Tables
11. Frames
12. Style Sheets and JavaScript
13. Forging Ahead
Chapter 3 Anatomy of an HTML Document
1. Appearances Can Deceive
2. Structure of an HTML Document
3. Tags and Attributes
4. Well-Formed Documents and XHTML
5. Document Content
6. HTML/XHTML Document Elements
7. The Document Header
8. The Document Body
9. Editorial Markup
10. The <bdo> Tag
Chapter 4 Text Basics
1. Divisions and Paragraphs
2. Headings
3. Changing Text Appearance and Meaning
4. Content-Based Style Tags
5. Physical Style Tags
6. Precise Spacing and Layout
7. Block Quotes
8. Addresses
9. Special Character Encoding
10. HTML’s Obsolete Expanded Font Handling
Chapter 5 Rules, Images, and Multimedia
1. Horizontal Rules
2. Inserting Images in Your Documents
3. Document Colors and Background Images
4. Background Audio
5. Animated Text
6. Other Multimedia Content
Chapter 6 Links and Webs
1. Hypertext Basics
2. Referencing Documents: The URL
3. Creating Hyperlinks
4. Creating Effective Links
5. Mouse-Sensitive Images
6. Creating Searchable Documents
7. Relationships
8. Supporting Document Automation
Chapter 7 Formatted Lists
1. Unordered Lists
2. Ordered Lists
3. The <li> Tag
4. Nesting Lists
5. Definition Lists
6. Appropriate List Usage
7. Directory Lists
8. Menu Lists
Chapter 8 Cascading Style Sheets
1. The Elements of Styles
2. Style Syntax
3. Style Classes
4. Style Properties
5. Tagless Styles: The <span> Tag
6. Applying Styles to Documents
Chapter 9 Forms
1. Form Fundamentals
2. The <form> Tag
3. A Simple Form Example
4. Using Email to Collect Form Data
5. The <input> Tag
6. The <button> Tag
7. Multiline Text Areas
8. Multiple Choice Elements
9. General Form-Control Attributes
10. Labeling and Grouping Form Elements
11. Creating Effective Forms
12. Forms Programming
Chapter 10 Tables
1. The Standard Table Model
2. Basic Table Tags
3. Advanced Table Tags
4. Beyond Ordinary Tables
Chapter 11 Frames
1. An Overview of Frames
2. Frame Tags
3. Frame Layout
4. Frame Contents
5. The <noframes> Tag
6. Inline Frames
7. Named Frame or Window Targets
Chapter 12 Executable Content
1. Applets and Objects
2. Embedded Content
3. JavaScript
4. JavaScript Style Sheets (Antiquated)
Chapter 13 Dynamic Documents
1. An Overview of Dynamic Documents
2. Client-Pull Documents
3. Server -Push Documents
Chapter 14 Netscape Layout Extensions
1. Creating Whitespace
2. Multicolumn Layout
3. Layers
Chapter 15 XML
1. Languages and Metalanguages
2. Documents and DTDs
3. Understanding XML DTDs
4. Element Grammar
5. Element Attributes
6. Conditional Sections
7. Building an XML DTD
8. Using XML
Chapter 16 XHTML
1. Why XHTML?
2. Creating XHTML Documents
3. HTML Versus XHTML
4. XHTML 1.1
5. Should You Use XHTML?
Chapter 17 Tips, Tricks, and Hacks
1. Top of the Tips
2. Cleaning Up After Your HTML Editor
3. Tricks with Tables
4. Transparent Images
5. Tricks with Windows and Frames

Appendix HTML Grammar
1. Grammatical Conventions
2. The Grammar
Appendix HTML/XHTML Tag Quick Reference
1. Core Attributes
2. HTML Quick Reference
Appendix Cascading Style Sheet Properties Quick Reference
Appendix The HTML 4.01 DTD
Appendix The XHTML 1.0 DTD
Appendix Character Entities
Appendix Color Names and Values
1. Color Values
2. Color Names
3. The Standard Color Map
Colophon

Books & Videos

HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition

Read on Safari with a 10-day trial

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 HTML, XHTML, and the World Wide Web

The Internet

Talking the Internet Talk

HTML and XHTML: What They Are

HTML and XHTML: What They Aren’t

Standards and Extensions

Tools for the Web Designer

Chapter 2 Quick Start

Writing Tools

A First HTML Document

Embedded Tags

HTML Skeleton

The Flesh on an HTML or XHTML Document

Text

Hyperlinks

Images Are Special

Lists, Searchable Documents, and Forms

Tables

Frames

Style Sheets and JavaScript

Forging Ahead

Chapter 3 Anatomy of an HTML Document

Appearances Can Deceive

Structure of an HTML Document

Tags and Attributes

Well-Formed Documents and XHTML

Document Content

HTML/XHTML Document Elements

The Document Header

The Document Body

Editorial Markup

The <bdo> Tag

Chapter 4 Text Basics

Divisions and Paragraphs

Headings

Changing Text Appearance and Meaning

Content-Based Style Tags

Physical Style Tags

Precise Spacing and Layout

Block Quotes

Addresses

Special Character Encoding

HTML’s Obsolete Expanded Font Handling

Chapter 5 Rules, Images, and Multimedia

Horizontal Rules

Inserting Images in Your Documents

Document Colors and Background Images

Background Audio

Animated Text

Other Multimedia Content

Chapter 6 Links and Webs

Hypertext Basics

Referencing Documents: The URL

Creating Hyperlinks

Creating Effective Links

Mouse-Sensitive Images

Creating Searchable Documents

Relationships

Supporting Document Automation

Chapter 7 Formatted Lists

Unordered Lists

Ordered Lists

The <li> Tag

Nesting Lists

Definition Lists

Appropriate List Usage

Directory Lists

Menu Lists

Chapter 8 Cascading Style Sheets

The Elements of Styles

Style Syntax

Style Classes

Style Properties

Tagless Styles: The <span> Tag

Applying Styles to Documents

Chapter 9 Forms