The Ultimate CSS Reference

According to the Book Description blurb: "Stop wasting time doing Internet searches only to find inaccurate, out-of-date, or incomplete information. CSS: The Ultimate Reference includes all the ins-and-outs you need to know including compatibility information for all major browsers, lists of useful hacks, known bugs in CSS, and much more - all presented in a beautiful, full color layout that will have you coming back over and over again". Ok. I know plenty of folks who want to learn more about CSS and are indeed frustrated by online resources. The Olsson and O'Brien book promises what a many CSS books promise...to the the "end-all-and-be-all" of CSS resources. Let's have a look and see if it can live up to this claim.

To facilitate the writing of this review (and because this book is so popular that there wasn't a spare hardcopy of it to send my way), I was given access to an online version (and sworn to secrecy regarding the security account to get "in"). I say that because I SitePoint traditionally produces very visually beautiful books and my interpretation of the online content won't quite reflect what you'll see when you hold the book in your hands.

I'll trust that the screen captures, other visuals, and code samples are all faithfully reproduced online just as they appear on the printed page (I guess I'm just that kind of guy). Part of what makes any book on markup languages, coding, and programming successful is what you see. Since CSS is specifically "presentational" by its very nature, what you see is all the more important. As I've mentioned, visuals are part of SitePoint's specialty, and I wasn't disappointed in full color captures of both style sheet code and the results they produced.

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