HTML Dog: The Best-Practice Guide to XHTML and CSS Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is not a comprehensive encyclopedia of every CSS nuance, but it presents all the main areas in a very clear, but not dumbed-down manner. Basically it answered my three questions:
1. I wanted to re-write an older web site using CSS and modern HTML web stds, so where do I start?
2. What is my best approach?
3. Why would I want to do it that way?
So along the way it clarified for me how I should use divs for page structure, improve my navigation lists, specify font size in the best manner, and most of all how to use css in a structured way with minimal rewriting of styles etc for subtle changes in page requirements.
The book is probably most useful if you want to follow his emphasis and use XHTML Strict with CSS.
Very nicely written, very cleanly laid out. The associated website is useful, but the book stands alone as a very useful reference or starter for someone wanting to design their pages in an effective standards-based way.

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For readers who want to design Web pages thatload quickly, are easy to update, accessible to all, work on allbrowsers and can be quickly adapted to different media, thiscomprehensive guide represents the best way to go about it. By focusingon the ways the two languages--XHTML and CSS--complement each other,Web design pro Patrick Griffiths provides the fastest,most efficient way of accomplishing specific Web design tasks. With Webstandards best practices at its heart, it outlines how to do things theright way from the outset, resulting in highly optimized web pages, ina quicker, easier, less painful way than users could hope for! Splitinto 10 easy-to-follow chapters such as Text, Images, Layout, Lists,and Forms, and coupled with handy quick-reference XHTML tag and CSSproperty appendixes, HTML Dog is the perfect guide andcompanion for anyone wanting to master these languages. Readers canalso see the lessons in action with more than 70 online examplesconstructed especially for the book.

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Processing: Creative Coding and Computational Art (Foundation) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a very good book on the Processing language, which is an object-oriented languaged based on Java that is used for computer art. It allows computer artists to produce attractive computer-generated art without having to become experts on the Java language, Java3D, Java2D, and all of the other associated Java multimedia APIs. The Processing language's home page has considerable tutorial information, but it is not organized in a tutorial format as this book is. The book starts out in the first few chapters talking about "code art" including a brief mention of various "code artists". It then goes on to talk about the origin and basics of the Processing language. Chapter 5 is the most helpful of the chapters in part one, since it discusses the actual environment of working with the Processing language including the various programming modes and rendering modes.
Part two is very practical and useful, as it illustrates how to actually draw shapes, work with various color and imaging styles, and even includes chapters on building interactive art, programming motion, and working in 3D. There is also a short chapter on object-oriented programming in the middle of this section, but it is rather brief and if you are unfamiliar with the topic you are going to need outside sources. The format of the chapters in part two is to discuss what you are trying to accomplish, show and discuss the Processing code for performing the task, and show an illustration of what your final piece of computer art should look like.
Part three is a reference on the Processing language itself that also includes an appendix consisting of various mathematics equations you will need when working with geometric figures. If you already know Java, as I do, this book makes learning the Processing language a breeze. If you don't already know Java or at least programming in an object-oriented language, this book might be more difficult. Note that there is an extra appendix and an extra chapter available online that is not in the printed book itself. These chapters are "3D Rendering in Java Mode" and "Integrating Processing within Java".

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If you're interested in creating cutting-edge code-based art and animations, you've come to the right place! Processing (available at www.processing.org) is a revolutionary open source programming language and environment designed to bridge the gap between programming and art, allowing non-programmers to learn programming fundamentals as easily as possible, and empowering anyone to produce beautiful creations using math patterns. With the software freely available, Processing provides an accessible alternative to using Flash for creative coding and computational artboth on and off the Web.

This book is written especially for artists, designers, and other creative professionals and students exploring code art, graphics programming, and computational aesthetics. The book provides a solid and comprehensive foundation in programming, including object-oriented principles, and introduces you to the easy-to-grasp Processing language, so no previous coding experience is necessary. The book then goes through using Processing to code lines, curves, shapes, and motion, continuing to the point where you'll have mastered Processing and can really start to unleash your creativity with realistic physics, interactivity, and 3D! In the final chapter, you'll even learn how to extend your Processing skills by working directly with the powerful Java programming languagethe language Processing itself is built with.

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