Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference
Author: Danny Goodman
Published: December, 2006
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0596527403
ISBN-13: 978-0596527402
Pages: 1309

Reviewed April 11, 2007
by Kirk Holbrook, Manager
Maine Flash Platform User Group

Looking for a single reference for all your web development needs? Well, Dynamic HTML: the Definitive Reference isn't quite that, but it comes awfully close. It's not simply a DHTML reference; there's detailed reference info on XHTML, CSS, DOM, and Javascript -- all of which are necessary to create good DHTML.

Most of the book is divided into five sections, including the above mentioned references, as well as a section on Events. The references are easily navigated, clearly explained, and provide nice examples. The most valuable bits of information for many web developers are probably the compatibility info provided for each entry in the reference sections.

The remainder of the book offers handy cross-references and appendices. The cross references include: an HTML/XHTML Attribute Index, and DOM references by Property, Method, and Event. The appendices include info on colors, special characters, ASCII key codes, editable content commands, elements/attributes available in W3C standards, and the relationships between various Mozilla based browsers.

Of course, this is a reference book, so there's limited cohesion in the examples. There is no theme to follow and re-create a full-featured DHTML web site. But the book is intended to be a reference. There are other books for step-by-step DHTML development.

Likewise, this is a comprehensive reference, and therefore quite a thick book. There are separate CSS and JavaScript references available (also very handy), but this single volume packs a lot of punch.