Publisher: QUE Authors: Eric Ladd and Jim O'Donnell ISBN: 0789714779 Publication Date: Feb, 1998 Retail Price: $59.99
You could call this tome a coffee-table book, but it's not a book you'd put on your coffee table, but rather a book that's so large that you could use it as a coffee table. At over 1400 pages, and weighing in at a six pounds, this book is a virtual library of Web development knowledge waiting to be tapped. Just what exactly is covered? It'd almost be easier to tell you what it doesn't cover, but this is a sampling:
Design
HTML, Graphics, XML and VRML
Scripting Languages
Dynamic HTML
Webcasting
CGI and Server-side Scripting
Java
Usually, large encyclopedic books such as this one are great for reference books, but you don't see many people actually reading them. As I read through this book, however, I was able to learn some things that I wasn't aware of, such as how to use a hidden frame to hide your JavaScript and HTML source, and how hackers can use your forms to shut your Web server down.
The book goes into detail about each topic it covers, and gives examples of the use of each technology. The authors do not simply cover the concepts, but actually teach you techniques you can use on your pages right now, such how to use JavaScript to create smart forms (Chapter 19), PopUp menus using DHTML (Chapter 24), or how to set up a search engine on your site (Chapter 35).
The book also comes with a CD-ROM which contains five separate books in electronic format:
Special Edition Using Java 1.1
Special Edition Using JavaScript, Second Edition
ActiveX Programming Unleashed
Teach Yourself Dynamic HTML in a Week
Teach Yourself FrontPage 98 in a Week
This book is an exhaustive resource for developers. Want to know how to add streaming media to your site? It's there. Database applications? It's there. Active Server Pages? No problem. How to create Java applets? Live chat? CSS, Scriptlets, and Channels? It's all there. And I'm not talking about a 2 page descriptive paragraph, I'm talking about whole sections and chapters devoted to each of these topics.
If you've got a decent handle on HTML, and want to start getting into the latest Web technologies, then this may just be what you're looking for. If you bought books which covered all of these topics, you'd be out a fortune. This one book can provide you with all the Web knowledge that you're looking for, and you'll have an extra coffee table for the den!
six pounds, this book is a virtual library of Web development knowledge waiting to be tapped. Just what exactly is covered? It'd almost be easier to tell you what it doesn't cover, but this is a sampling:
Dr. Website®
