I am well versed in writing HTML and limited JavaScript, however I have learned all I know through disecting the pages of others. I wanted a book that would give me a more-or-less formal education on correct standards, etc.. for writing XHTML and at the same time introduce me to attributes I wasn't familiar with. This is the book I wanted. It is perfect for anyone wanting to learn XHTML but has no experience with it. It is also perfect for someone wanting to brush up to current standards, or someone looking for a basic reference manual (although I use a Black Book for that). The XHTML examples are throughly explained and easy to follow. The book also includes a full explanation of what XHTML is and why it was developed. The last few chapters deal with a brief, and very fast-paced intro to JavaScript. I think beginners would have a hard time following this part, but it a good jumping point for someone planning to learn JS in the future. If I included the JavaScript chapters in my review I would probably give the book 4 stars. But, as it is an XHTML book, and the JS composes a strong majority of the text, I haven't included it in the rating. If you don't understant the JavaScript, or have no intention of learning it, then don't read that part. The book is well worth the price regardless. As far as the previous one star reviews, I can only attribute this to narrow-mindedness and impatience on the on the part of the reviewers. Take your time, do all the examples, don't skip any paragraphs, and this is the perfect book for beginners.

This is an excellent first text. I hadn't used HTML before, although I understood the principle of ing. I wanted to learn HTML and, fortunately, I was attracted by this title and browsed it in the bookstore.
I saw that HTML per se was over and that this was the way to go. It was easy for me, having never "done" Web before: I had no bad habits to unlearn.

OTOH, I am not completely 'new' to computers and such. I have been studying computers/language/VBA/hardware as a hobby for several years. So I cannot say whether this text would help a _complete_ newbie, but it took me from no HTML to a certain comfort and a website (where I try to do some of the kinds of things the book taught me).

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with some knowledge of computing and programming and who wants to start writing for the Web.

I am in my second college term learning web development. This recent purchase has become my best friend, my 'go-to' reference. Most any question is answered within, as most available tags are referenced to some extent. I have found very few discrepancies in this comprehensive guide to XHTML.

I think any responsible web developer should take it upon themselves to write entirely in XHTML. The transition from HTML is very easy with this text in hand, and the authors reference their working suggestions to W3C standards frequently.

My only desire in a HTML/XHTML text not satisfied relates to seldom addressed yet extensive discrepancies between various viewing platforms. However, few other texts do much better in this respect. If you have more experience with HTML development than me, you won't be bothered by this deficiency.

It is not for utter beginners. You need to know something about HTML and the Web before reading this book. That being said, it does a wonderful job of explaining XHTML, introducing XML and explaining where XHTML came from, and describing CSS. It also throws in a basic introduction to JavaScript and has a chapter on Mozquito, a program for producing XHTML Forms right now. The appendices are not reiterations of the book and are invaluable. For myself, the best appendix is the one on the XHTML DTDs. They clearly explain which element is supported by which DTD -- something which is not easy to find on the Web.

My critiques of this otherwise fine book are as follows:

1. It tries to cover too many topics.
For instance, the basic introduction to JavaScript was unnecessary, especially in light of the fact that Wrox publishes an excellent tutorial on the subject entitled Beginning JavaScript. The chapter on Mozquito is completely irrelevant to a person trying to learn XHTML. It's like trying to stick a chapter on Dreamweaver into an HTML book: it just doesn't belong.

2. It lacks an appendix on the XHTML character entities.
It's not a tragedy, but it is annoying since the character entities are just as much a part of XHTML as its elements and attributes are.

Despite these criticisms, I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in making their Web sites "forward compatible." Fortunately, the book can work both as a reference and a tutorial on XHTML.

This book is absolutely wonderful when it comes to introducing XHTML to a web-developer or design student who is already familiar with HTML. It does contain several bugs and on ocassion its examples contradict what's been written in the text of the book. I wouldn't recommend it to the people who're just learning standard HTML.

To those beginners who've trashed a book on a fairly advanced web-design topic, get a book on basic HTML and actually learn it before you decide to learn something which assumes fairly fluent knowledge of HTML syntax, document structure, standards, and CSS.

A tutorial on webmonkey.com may be all you need to create simple HTML documents, but it doesn't cut it as far as being able to go on to more advanced topics and actually know when something may or may not be right in a book. Books aren't there to be the holy grail of they're there to give you a concsise, convenient introduction to whatever topic said book happens to cover.

For the rest of you, that know HTML, some CSS, and maybe a little java script and are wanting to move on to XHTML, buy this book. You may also want a companion text on XML. I recommend Elliotte Rusty Harold's XML: Extensible Markup Language. O'Rielly has some very good texts on CSS and JavaScript, which you'll probably want to check into after reading this book.