Review of AdvancED CSS by Joseph Lewis
I’ve been looking for an advanced book on CSS with information that I don’t already know. I picked up AdvancED CSS by Joseph Lewis (aff link) on one of my book shopping sprees (yes I’m a dork). While coding books normally scare me with their boring-ness and irrelevance, AdvancED CSS was actually pretty interesting.
The book is 342 pages long and is based on pretty advanced code, covering everything from mobile & print CSS, to XML & RDFa formats, to CSS3 and everything in between. I don’t do much CSS outside of web styles, so the mobile section really interested me, as well as the CSS3 section. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
The content was pretty easy to follow along, although I did get lost in some parts about XML and RDFa, but they’re just not my thing. I really liked how the beginning of the book started off with the history of HTML and CSS, and how well the book followed along with and emphasized semantics and organized code.
The book also touched on optimization and CSS frameworks, so it really does cover a broad range of topics that aren’t meant for the beginner.
The Chapters
- Markup Underpins CSS
- CSS Fundamentals for Advanced Use
- CSS-Generated Content
- Optimizing for Print
- Developing for Small Screens and the Mobile Web
- Managing and Organizing Style Sheets
- Semantic Patterns for Styling Common Design Components
- Using a Style Sheet Library
- Styling XML with CSS
- Optimizing CSS for Performance
- Exploring the Emergence of CSS3
- The Future of CSS and The Web
Who is this book for?
This book is great for the advanced developer looking to brush up on their skills and learn what’s new in the world of CSS. The examples are pretty straightforward, however I will admit there were a few places and chapters I skipped and skimmed over (mostly the XML chapter, yuck!). I really love though, how they really don’t focus too much on web CSS, but made sure to devote a good chunk of the book to other medias. I’d really like to see this book updated with info on development for the iPad. (Their iPhone/Touch phone chapter was REALLY interesting).
Want to buy this book?
You can get this book from Amazon for $26.39. That’s a great deal considering Borders charged me $40 for it 
Read the book before?
What were your thoughts on it?
About the author
Amber Weinberg specializes in clean and semantic XHTML, CSS and WordPress development. She has over 10 years of coding experience and is pretty cool to work with. Amber is available for freelance work, so why not hire her for your next project?
Hey Amber,
Why oh why did you spend that much for this book? Based on your review, you convinced me to purchase this too. But, I only spent, $8.97 for this. Yes, I bought it used, but it will supposedly be in great condition when I receive it.
I recommend to always look at Amazon for their used selections, but I understand the lure of buying a book right then and there when you’re at a Borders or B&N.
Can’t wait to read it too.
Robert Lewis
Twitter: @rlewis2009
Yea if it’s something I heard about at home, I’ll normally order it via Amazon or Half.com, but I like to spend a lot of time in actual books stores as well, especially because I can look through the book and get a feel for its usefulness.
I’m not really new to how CSS applies to XML and other markups, since a couple of the XML books I have cover that, but I haven’t really been paying attention to its mobile application. And I could really use a good primer for CSS3 that goes in order. All these online tutorials feel like I’m weaving a blanket with a ton of holes in it. My last CSS book was published in/around 2003 (haha) and it was a pretty beefy book. I’ve been relying entirely on the web and a need-to-know basis since then. I think it’s about time I get a new book. I could def give this one a try.
Yea I would definitely check it out, it was really helpful on the new stuff
Hi Amber
I’m due a new CSS book.
I’ve been using “CSS The Missing Manual” for years.
Great book and it has never let me down… even with Internet Explorer!
Notice that you mention “Exploring the Emergence of CSS3″
I’ve got to start looking at CSS3 sometme so this could be the book to help me make a start.
Brilliant article!