Webmaster in a Nutshell, Third Edition

I invested in a copy of the THIRD edition and am DELIGHTED. This reference does a good job of putting all the day-to-day needed information in one place. It saves me froming having to keep separate references on HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript, CGI/Perl, HTTP, PHP, Apache functions, etc. right in my face.I really applaud the compact and accessible way each chapter organizes and presents the details of syntax: they are clear yet take up much less space (1/5 the pages of books that are billed as references to each of the subjects included here) while giving you 95% of what a "comprehensive reference" might. I had been concerned that the information might be too compressed to be accessible, but in fact this volume is so much easier to scan through for an answer than many other reference styles. (Kudos to the book designers at O'Reilly!)Although a reference work, it is not only a listing of syntax (as helpful as those lists are). The authors have compiled pretty readable and thorough mini-backgrounds and basic principles for each of the enormous realms that they document here. These are providing some reminders for me as I am ramp up my knowledgebase and skills; plus there are hints that I have not yet seen elsewhere in weightier tomes (e.g., on performance).Readers may save themselves some money and desktop/bookshelf space + save some trees: this Nutshell is a vast storehouse that may enable you to forestall buying reference volumes for each of the topics covered here. Thanks to Spainhour & Eckstein for some careful work!Note to aspiring (novice) webmasters: this IS a REFERENCE book. That is not a bad thing. You'll still appreciate having it by your side because you're regularly going to have basic questions about formating ("how do I say this in CSS instead of HTML?"). However, as one young reviewer below discovered, to BECOME a webmaster (or master) is going to require some "Quickstart" books, some instruction in DESIGN, and STRATEGY, etc. Bon voyage![ Further note from my earlier review: be sure you are NOT getting EARLIER edition. Complaints mentioned (below) in reviews of this book are rectified in the THIRD edition (ISBN 0596003579 ). It's probably a good idea to be watching as the reviews of that December 20002 volume to see how the work has changed.In any event, with browsers and markup languages changing so fast almost everyone can be advised to jump to considering the most current edition -- even though (as of this writing) new copies of this 1999 second edition are still available. ]

I purchased this book about a week ago and have been very happy with it. I've managed to push several books into the dustier shelves because I've got this one at hand. It doesn't cover the deepest-darkest secrets of most topics, but most of the time I don't need that part - I just need a reminder of which attributes are part of which HTML tag or which methods are supported by a particular javascript object. For that, this book does a great job. Like one of the previous reviewers, I'd have appreciated a little more on Perl though, so I have to give this one only 4 stars - it's replaced two books, but I still have the third one on my desk.

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As an avid fan of the first edition, I was delighted to discover that the second edition covered HTML4, Cascading Style Sheets, XML and the new JavaScript functions.The book excells as a quick reference to these and virtually all other webmaster areas, including Apache server configuration, CGI variables and much more. You just can't beat it. It replaces half a dozen books costing thirty or fourty quid each!Once you've grasped the basics of HTML and JavaScript, this may well be the only reference book you ever need.Now on to the nitpicking... and why I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars.I was exceptionally disappointed to see that the Perl Quick Reference that I had been so fond of in the first edition had now been replaced with a mere overview of the cgi.pm module; and that a quick reference to the PHP scripting language appeared to have taken Perl's place.Yes, I have other Perl references. Heck, I've *already* got the Perl Pocket Reference, Perl In A Nutshell and Linux In A Nutshell (which includes a Perl Quick Ref). But that's not the point.The second edition, like the first, sells itself as the only book you'll keep on your desktop (as opposed to on your shelf). Sorry, but with the Perl Quick Ref missing, this just isn't true anymore. Perl is the number one CGI programming language and the number one quick fix language. Whatever you want to do, you can rattle up a quick and dirty Perl solution in seconds. PHP just isn't up in that category. I need a Perl Quick Reference on my desk at all times.I just don't understand the decision to cut the Perl Quick Ref, since it only took up a dozen pages or so. It was as vital to any half decent webmaster as the HTML or JavaScript sections.O'Reilly, *please*, put back the Perl Quick Ref and earn yourself the full five stars.

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