Jon Blank, etc., Wankyu Choi, Allan Kent, Ganesh Prasad, Chris Ullman Beginning PHP4 offers an almost ideal introductory tutorial to one of today's hottest scripting languages. This book is really all the novice needs to start building dynamic Web sites powered by PHP4, but old hands at programming will also find valuable information inside it.

PHP, of course, is introduced in the book, but there is also an approachable and effective introduction to programming in general. The conscientious tutorial on basic concepts like variables, keywords and flow control will give even beginners an understanding of the basics of writing programs. PHP, it turns out, is not only a great way to generate HTML dynamically, it's a very marketable skill. Web fundamentals like HTTP, HTML form variables, and managing session information using no less than four different techniques are explained thoroughly and effectively. You also find out how to install PHP and other tools on your system, with the assistance of plenty of screen shots.

That's not to say that this book will cramp the style of more experienced developers. Some chapters delve into such important and advanced topics as database programming (with MySQL) and PHP's support for XML. One standout section demystifies the new support for objects and classes in PHP4. Basic topics like managing files and directories on the server, plus graphics processing, are addressed, of course, and a nifty sample program shows you how to build a Web-based text editor. Except for the final case study, a "URL directory manager" (akin to Yahoo) that is rather specialised, the examples are spot on, illustrating everyday programming tasks. You will also learn to generate e-mail with PHP, certainly a valuable skill to have.

The appendix lists several hundred PHP functions in over 50 pages—a handy and useful feature. In all, Beginning PHP4 provides a strong choice for learning about one of today's most powerful and easy-to-use scripting languages. It is concise, fast-moving and thoroughly approachable. —Richard Dragan

M; Knaster, S Dalrymple

Gareth Downes-Powell, Tim Green, Bruno Mairlot

Peter Engel

V Flanders

Christian Gross

Bill Jelen, Tracy Syrstad

Jeremy Keith

Dave Mark, Jeff LaMarche

Greg Harvey PhD, Peter Weverka, John Walkenbach, Alison Barrows, Bill Dyszel, Camille McCue, Damon Dean, Jim McCarter, Lee Musick

K et al Potts

ENI Publishing

John Ray, Sean Johnson

John Shelley

Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates

Mike Slocombe Top Web designer Slocombe (urban75.org) demystifies the entire Web site production process with fun, slang-filled text in Max Hits: Building and Promoting Successful Websites—sometimes all one needs to finally "get" a concept is to hear it re-worded in a friendly, less technical way. He makes ideas that novices often find confusing, like XML, SVG, and CSS, seem easy and points the way to further reading and useful applications. Not strictly a how-to manual, the book is rich with screenshots and bite-size blocks of text, with a hip layout by Bark Design that makes it more entertaining than most technical books.

Slocombe dispenses a lot of hard-earned wisdom. Rather than teaching all of HTML, he gives a simple tutorial that gets across the main idea of how tags work and then sends the reader off to look at source code, consult online resources and/or use an HTML editor such as Homesite. When discussing how wide a site should be, he gets right to the crux of the problem: should a Web designer worry about how the site looks on every monitor from plasma to PDA? What are the pros and cons of specifying the table tag width at 100%? Again, he points the way to places online where readers can check how their site displays in different browsers and resolutions.

Pros and cons come into play in most Web site design decisions. For example, developers must weigh design versus download time or latest technology versus browser compatibility. These decisions are unique to each site and Slocombe helps readers make informed choices. His advice can be as simple as hitting the auto button on the levels panel in Photoshop to clear up a muddy photograph or as complex as delivering appropriate content to your audience.

This is a hip book that looks at all the details involved in making a Web site. It's well written, well designed, well coded and gets lots of attention from search bots. And it clues readers into some of the coolest sites existing on the Web today. It may just be what you need to get off to a good start with your own Web site. —Angelynn Grant

Manny Tan, Jamie MacDonald, Glen Rhodes, Brandon Williams, Kip Parker, Gabriel Mulzer, Jared Tarbell, Ty Lettau, J.D. Hooge, et al

Adam Trachtenberg, David Sklar

Larry Ullman

Larry Ullman

Janet Valade

Jeffrey Veen When it comes to Web design, style guides are often too boring and predictable to capture the attention of caffeine-riddled Web developers. But not The Art & Science of Web Design; this book strategically equips readers to design sites effectively.

Jeffrey Veen, an established design guru and the creator of HotWired.com, has authored a carefully structured look into the undercurrents of Web design. Organised around the key development topics, the book is laden with a historical background of standards, features and trends. Yet the topics are timeless and central to good Web engineering, so it's space well spent. The mix of expert opinion and historical explanation combine for a well-rounded reader experience.

Issues such as interface consistency are explored within the unique paradigm of the Web, with the assistance of a sidebar to explain what "above the fold" means. Performance is discussed with an unusual twist: ie., how the current constraint on Web-browsing performance is actually good since it fosters creativity and more elegant design and development. This, beyond the usual design tips, is what makes this book special. Art & Science stays at a reasonably high altitude, dwelling not on the fine details of browser compatibility but rather on the key areas designers need to be concerned about. With his years of experience and knowledge of the legacy of traditional publishing, Veen has provided great perspective on the dicey work of Web designers. —Stephen W. Plain

Lynda Weinman, William Weinman Who better to ease you into the detailed world of HTML coding (where even an errant spacebar can gum up your creative masterpiece) than well-known Web design instructor Lynda Weinman? The first edition of Creative HTML Design.2 came out over three years ago and the Web has changed a lot in that time. Novices will appreciate this HTML primer that not only helps in hand-coding Web pages but also in troubleshooting the HTML generated by WYSIWYG editors like Dreamweaver and GoLive and image/animation applications like Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop and ImageReady.

Creative HTML Design.2 covers basic page structure, images and compression, colour, links, buttons, transparency, typography, organisation, style sheets, navigation, rollovers, forms and other issues. (A good description of the first edition, including a sample chapter, can currently be found at www.lynda.com; this new edition will most likely be detailed there soon as well. They also maintain an errata section, important for any book that includes code.) Lynda Weinman's specialty is her friendly yet tech-savvy teaching style—there aren't many who can walk readers through the minutiae of client-side image map coordinates and not confuse them (or bore them to tears). Brother Gary, an engineer and programmer, presumably provides the finer points of HTML, plus the JavaScript and CGI scripts. The book offers all the good aspects of Weinman's other popular books—text that's affable yet clear, with a view to anticipating problems beginners may stumble into, lesson projects that are neither too complex nor aesthetically amateur, and a book layout that doesn't crowd pages but rather serves up mini-steps and clearly captioned screenshots in easily digested morsels.

With editors that do it all like Dreamweaver and GoLive, why would a non-tech-head Web designer want to learn HTML? As Weinman explains, "The advantage of knowing and understanding HTML is that you are in better control of knowing what is possible and what is not." Even if you use an HTML editor, you will at some point have to go "under the hood" and fix troubled code and even a little familiarity can make a big difference in relieving Web design stress. —Angelynn Grant