“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
– Confucius
Artistic displays, magical illustrations and wonderful brush strokes lie on every landscape, every face, every cloud and every ocean. The birds in the sky, the tides in the seas, the branches across the forests and the clouds on every mountain narrate a story of genius art. They all present a complete oeuvre of nature that nothing else can ever attempt to replicate. When you take a generous sweep across the landscape of technology, you will see something else, a representative of art and pure talent. Since we are a product of nature, we all tend to have an artistic side which perceives, recognizes and appreciates beauty.
No matter the places you go, the experiences you encounter, the music you will hear or the people you will meet, art will never miss in one form or another. The same applies to every website you will visit in this dispensation of information and web services. The need for art and beauty in our bowsers led to the birth of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) which is a core component in Web Design and Development. For all the ones gifted with a good eye and who can produce cutting-edge designs, CSS was built for you.
We shall look at some of the resources you can peruse, study and explore on your way to becoming the best at programmatically rendering wonderful art on your websites. This is a standing ovation to all design warriors for setting a good pedestal which coming generations will use to create even greater things for the bright future in sight.
1. Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics
Jennifer Niederst Robbins was one of the first designers for the Web. As the designer of O’Reilly’s Global Network Navigator (GNN), the first commercial website, she has been designing for the Web since 1993. With more than 27 years in technological corridors, Jennifer pours a lot of tidbits, lessons, skills as well as the wisdom that will help every aspiring developer in their path to success.
This friendly guide is the perfect place to start building web pages with no prior experience. You’ll begin at square one, learning how the web and web pages work, and then steadily build from there. By the end of the book, you’ll have the skills to create a simple site with multicolumn pages that adapt to mobile devices.
Each chapter provides exercises to help you learn various techniques and short quizzes to make sure you understand key concepts.
This thoroughly revised edition is ideal for students and professionals of all backgrounds and skill levels. It is simple and clear enough for beginners, yet thorough enough to be a useful reference for experienced developers keeping their skills up to date.
- Build HTML pages with text, links, images, tables, and forms
- Use style sheets (CSS) for colours, backgrounds, formatting text, page layout, and even simple animation effects
- Learn how JavaScript works and why the language is so important in web design
- Create and optimize web images so they’ll download as quickly as possible
- New! Use CSS Flexbox and Grid for a sophisticated and flexible page layout
- New! Learn the ins and outs of Responsive Web Design to make web pages look great on all devices
- New! Become familiar with the command line, Git, and other tools in the modern web developer’s toolkit
- New! Get to know the super-powers of SVG graphics.
There is nothing more you can ask for in this brilliant work of art. Peruse your copy today by ordering it from Amazon below:
2. HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies 3rd Edition
HTML5 and CSS3 are essential tools for creating dynamic websites and boast updates and enhanced features that can make your websites even more effective and unique. This friendly, all-in-one guide by Andy Harris covers everything you need to know about each of these technologies and their latest versions so that you can use them together. Building on the bestselling formats of the first two editions, this new edition teaches you the fundamentals of HTML5 and CSS3, and then presents ways for using them with JavaScript, MySQL, and Ajax to create websites that work.
This resource:
- Covers using JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, and Ajax in the context of programming dynamic web pages with CSS3 and HTML5
- Includes self-contained mini-books that review HTML, CSS, design and layout, client-side JavaScript, Ajax and server-side, and putting it all together
- Examines new web development advancements including new technologies and changes to the standards
- Features a website that contains supporting materials including code and several valuable programs that are useful for web development
HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition serves as the perfect reference for both web development beginners and seasoned professionals looking to learn more about how to get the most out of the powerful combination of HTML5 and CSS3. Learning and sharpening your skills within the same resource will save you time and increase your velocity big time. Order your copy from Amazon today:
3. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript All in One: Covering HTML5, CSS3, and ES6, Sams Teach Yourself 3rd Edition
Julie Meloni and Jennifer Kyrnin which is a good team of brilliant minds came together to share their knowledge, their experience, expertise and advice with their audience in this book. Jennifer consults professionally on web design and web development while Julie is a software development manager and technical consultant living in Washington, DC.
It is in their consensus that a solid understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — and how they work together — is vital to any kind of contemporary web development. And these core technologies are only growing in importance as contemporary web development moves away from a reliance on proprietary technologies like Flash for rich interfaces and mobile applications.
Teach Yourself HTML, CSS, and JavaScript All in One combines these three fundamental web development technologies into one clearly written, carefully organized, step-by-step tutorial that expertly guides the beginner through these three interconnected technologies.
By the end of this book, the reader will understand how these technologies work, and more importantly, how they work together to create modern web pages and sites. After completing the book’s lessons the reader will be able to confidently create basic but professional-looking interactive websites.
Coverage of the HTML5, CSS3, and ECMAScript 6 standards is thoughtfully integrated into every chapter of the book, mentioning new features or tools within the context of the task or topic at hand.
There is much more shared, a wealth of content to enrich yourself and advance your career. Do not hesitate to have this copy as your CSS guide and much more. Get it from Amazon below:
4. CSS Secrets: Better Solutions to Everyday Web Design Problems
Lea Verou, the author is a person of many traits and successes. She is an Invited Expert in the W3C CSS Working Group, the committee that designs the CSS language, and previously worked as a Developer Advocate at the W3C. In this practical guide, CSS expert Lea Verou provides 47 undocumented techniques and tips to help intermediate-to-advanced CSS developers devise elegant solutions to a wide range of everyday web design problems.
Rather than focus on design, CSS Secrets shows you how to solve problems with code. You’ll learn how to apply Lea’s analytical approach to practically every CSS problem you face to attain DRY, maintainable, flexible, lightweight, and standards-compliant results.
Inspired by her popular talks at over 60 international web development conferences, Lea Verou provides a wealth of information for topics including:
- Backgrounds and Borders
- Shapes
- Visual Effects
- Typography
- User Experience
- Structure and Layout
- Transitions and Animations
Be part of her journey as you learn what she has accumulated and implemented over the years. Click below to have your copy today:
5. CSS: The Missing Manual 4th Edition
David McFarland is a Web developer who’s been designing and building Web sites since 1995. With more than 25 years of learning, building and growth, the author hereby gives what every beginner will find absolutely useful. While CSS lets you create professional-looking websites, the author says that learning its finer points can be tricky—even for seasoned web developers. This fully updated edition provides the most modern and effective tips, tricks, and tutorial-based instruction on CSS available today. Learn how to use new tools such as Flexbox and Sass to build web pages that look great and run fast on any desktop or mobile device. Ideal for casual and experienced designers alike.
The important stuff you need to know:
- Start with the basics. Write CSS-friendly HTML, including the HTML5 tags recognized by today’s browsers.
- Design for mobile devices. Create web pages that look great when visitors use them on the go.
- Make your pages work for you. Add animations that capture the imagination and forms that get the job done.
- Take control of page layouts. Use professional design techniques such as floats and positioning.
- Make your layouts more flexible. Design websites with Flexbox that adjust to different devices and screen sizes.
- Work more efficiently. Write less CSS code and work with smaller files, using Syntactically Awesome Stylesheets (Sass).
To get this manual, follow the link below which will take you to Amazon for easy purchase and shipping:
6. CSS Pocket Reference: Visual Presentation for the Web 5th Edition
Eric A. Meyer is an internationally recognized expert on the subjects of HTML, CSS, and Web standards, and has been working on the web since late 1993. He has authored a widely acclaimed series of three HTML tutorials and was the project lead for the online version of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
The author realized that there is plenty of information out there about CSSS but there is the overhead involved in searching and ransacking before you get what you want. He has solved this problem in this Pocket reference. When you’re working with CSS and need an answer now, this concise yet comprehensive quick reference provides the essential information you need. Revised and updated for CSS3, this fifth edition is ideal for intermediate to advanced web designers and developers.
You’ll find a short introduction to the key concepts of CSS and alphabetical summaries of CSS selectors and properties. You’ll also discover information on new properties, including grid, flexbox, clipping, masking, and compositing.
What you will get
- Quickly find the information you need
- Explore CSS concepts, values, selectors and queries, and properties
- Learn how new features complement and extend your CSS practices
- Discover new properties including animations, grid, flexbox, masking, filtering, and compositing in this new edition
Get all the juice in the book from Amazon by clicking on the link below:
7. CSS in Depth 1st Edition
Authored by Keith J. Grant, a senior web developer who builds and maintains web applications and websites including The New York Stock Exchange site, CSS in Depth exposes you to a world of CSS techniques that range from clever to mind-blowing. This instantly useful book is packed with creative examples and powerful best practices that will sharpen your technical skills and inspire your sense of design. You’ll gain new insights into familiar features like floats and units, and experiment with emerging ideas like responsive design and pattern libraries. Bottom line: this book will make you a better web designer and your apps will look fantastic!
What’s Inside
- Avoid common CSS pitfalls
- Master misunderstood concepts
- Use flexbox and grid layout
- Responsive designs for any device
- Code for reuse and maintainability
Go as deep as you can get with this resource in your hands. Click on the link below to get it from Amazon:
8. New Perspectives on HTML 5 and CSS: Comprehensive: Comprehensive (MindTap Course List) 8th Edition
This book enables readers to acquire the skill required to develop a website. It starts by introducing the fundamental design concepts and walks you through the entire journey of web development. It also has pracical examples based on real-world scenarios to improve your skills in HTML5 and CSS.
By reading this book, you should also be able to debug codes to complete assessments and capstone projects. With the shortcodes, you will be able to check your understanding of key concepts and fix the syntax errors in web pages. This is the go-to book if you are looking to sharpen your web development skills, especially with HTML and CSS.
To grab a copy, follow the link below:
9. Murach’s HTML5 and CSS3, 5th Edition
Having a tutor who has seen it all in the industry gives you all the confidence you need. With over 30 years as a technical author, Anne Boehm obviously loves computing and writing. Now, this 5th Edition updates and improves all the HTML and CSS content in her previous edition and adds coverage of Flexible Box and Grid Layout, and two new CSS3 ways to implement page layouts. So whether you’re a web designer, a JavaScript programmer, a server-side programmer, or a rookie, this book delivers all the HTML and CSS skills that you need on the job. You simply need to read and practice what is provided.
It begins with an 8-chapter hands-on course that teaches you HTML and CSS from scratch, including the latest HTML5 and CSS3 features. This short course ends with a chapter that teaches you how to use fluid design and media queries to implement Responsive Web Design so your pages will look good and work right on any screen, from phone to tablet to desktop.
The journey into the meatier parts will be fun and educative making sure that every page you read leads you to the right foundation every developer yearns to have. Click below to have your copy and begin the journey today:
10. CSS Mastery 3rd Edition by Andy Budd, Emil Björklund
The combination of two great minds in one resource is a pure gold mine. Andy Budd is one of the founding partners at User Experience Design Consultancy, Clearleft and a renowned interaction design and usability specialist. Emil Björklund is the Technical Director at digital design consultancy inUse, where he’s usually busy building websites―or helping clients and co-workers better their craft.
Their product, CSS Mastery is your indispensable guide to cutting-edge CSS development. This book demystifies the secrets of CSS. While CSS is a relatively simple technology to learn, it is a difficult one to master. When you first start developing sites using CSS, you will come across all kinds of infuriating browser bugs and inconsistencies. It sometimes feels like there are a million and one different techniques to master, spread across a bewildering array of websites. The range of possibilities seems endless and makes for a steep and daunting learning curve.
While most books concentrate on basic skills, this one is different, assuming that you already know the basics and why you should be using CSS in your work, and concentrating mainly on advanced techniques. This new edition covers all of the CSS fundamentals such as the importance of meaningful markup, how to structure and maintain your code, and how the CSS layout model really works.
What You’ll Learn
- Discover the best practice concepts in CSS design
- Master the most important (and tricky) parts of CSS
- Identify and fix the most common CSS problems
- Deal with the most common bugs
- See the latest information on CSS features and support
Visit Amazon to get this good deal added to your library below:
11. CSS: The Definitive Guide: Web Layout and Presentation 5th Edition
This is the latest edition of the CSS: The Definitive Guide authored by Eric Meyer and Estelle Weyl. The authors of this book, bring to you a detailed guide with a comprehensive implementation of CSS and a review of the latest features of CSS.
The guide will show you how you can improve speed development, and user experience, avoid potential errors, and add life and depth to your web applications. This can be done using animations, backgrounds, transitions, layout, text etc.
This guide covers:
- How to style texts, from simple decorations to changing the entire writing mode.
- CSS features such as padding, borders, outlines, and margins.
- Accessible data tables
- CSS variables and ways to size based on viewports by comparing new and old CSS values and units.
- How to use 2D and 3D transforms, transitions, and animation
- Filters, blending, clipping, and masking
Obtain a copy of this book using the below link:
Final Brush Stroke
While you go through the resources listed above, always keep in mind that people generally appreciate and love that which is beautiful. Commit yourself to the canvas because the world is eagerly waiting at what you are painting. Be inspired, learn and be the best at your craft.
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