Share
I recently finished reading The Book of CSS3 - A Developer's Guide to the Future of Web Design by Peter Gasston.
The Book of CSS3 uses real-world examples to teach developers the fundamentals of the CSS3 specification, highlighting the latest developments and future features, while paying close attention to current browser implementations.
I found this book to be very informative and very useful for creating and styling HTML. Listed below are some of the key sections it covers which I have found useful in my day-to-day front-end development.
Media Queries
No longer do you have to create an entire new template for mobile apps. Use media queries to style the same page for computer browsers, or mobile browsers.
Attribute Selectors
Attribute Selectors are very useful and I have used them time and time again. What are Attribute selectors you say? View my blog post discussing how to style links with CSS3. The best part about Attribute Selectors is they even work in Internet Explorer 6!
Web Fonts
No longer are developers (and designers) stuck with Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Courier and a handful of other fonts. With Web Fonts, websites are freed from the standard font set and can use any font they like.
Pseudo Classes
Pseudo Classes are a great way to remove stying from the html and put it in the CSS files. For Example, if you want to style a table, with Pseudo Classes you can select every other row, every 3rd row, or many other options to style the table appropriately. Much better than having your HTML looking like the following:
Gradients
A very handy CSS3 tool is the use of gradients. No longer do you have to create a 1 pixel slice background image and repeat it. With Gradients, the browser can do that for you!
Transformations
If you really want to get into some crazy CSS3, Transformations are for you. Rotate, skew, and transform your elements with the use of CSS3. To read more on transformations, view my blog post on rotating with CSS3.
Overall, The Book of CSS3 - A Developer's Guide to the Future of Web Design is very informative and completely useful. A few drawbacks I have is that it's written just before Internet Explorer 9 was released and there are a lot of browser specific CSS that is no longer needed. Also, the copyright is early 2011, the same year IE9 was launched.
If you are a web developer, front-end developer, or even graphic designer, I suggest The Book of CSS3 to you. It will help you speed up development, and also make your life easier.
For only $34.95, its definitely worth the price!
