Book Review: HTML5 for Web Designers

This last weekend I received a much anticipated package in the mail. I had recently pre-ordered the book “HTML5 for Web Designers“, and after a long commute home from work it was waiting for me next to my laptop when I got home.

As I have come to expect from the Happy Cog and A List Apart crew,the book would serve as beautiful decor on  book shelf, as the layout and type are subtly gorgeous, but as I have also come to expect it doesn’t stop there, this book provides concise, informative, and practical content that keeps your attention, and lays the foundation for understanding one of the most anticipated and talked about web languages of the past couple years.

I wanted to write a brief review of what I gathered from the book, and provide an overview of what is in store for if you haven’t read it yet, as well as provide an opportunity to share your thoughts on the book if you have read it.

Beside all of the great insight into HTML5 The thing I like most about this book is it’s concise nature. Jeffery Zeldman put it best in the foreword;

It’s goal – one it will share with every title in the forthcoming A Book Apart catalog – is to shed clear light on a tricky subject, and do it fast, so you can get back to work.

This is something that I think is often overlooked in our written technology resources as of late. I don’t know about you but to be honest I have very little time to read (though it is something I love to do) due to in-house work, freelance work, family, social engagements, tattoos, and coffee drinking. The quicker I can get useful bits of information, and the easier it is to reference them, the more value the book has to me. This book accomplished that goal.

Jeremy Keith starts out by providing a brief history on mark up and it’s journey through time, committees, and opinions. This introduction lays the ground work for understanding the value (and shortfalls) of HTML5. Next he moves on to discuss the design thinking behind HTML5, what is staying and going, and what new features are available.

After this introduction Jeremy gets into the meat of how this dynamic new language affects the various content types that we use in website and web application creation. Starting with rich media Jeremy explains new and simpler ways to display rich media content types like video and music. The very intriguing ”Canvas” element is introduced, browser compatibilities and techniques are discussed, and some very helpful guidance on when and when not to use certain rich media elements in html5 are provided.

From there it is on to forms and the advantages that HTML5 can bring. Jeremy explains how HTML5 can enhance the web form experience in modern browsers and mobile environments. He says…

Forms have been given a huge boost in HTML5. Much of the burden that has traditionally has been carried by JavaScript is shifting onto the shoulders of markup.

Chapter 5 dives into the semantics of HTML5, and is a crucial chapter providing important information that helps designers understand HTML5 and how it works with browsers. Element titles are focused on, and some great new techniques for structuring data.

Chapter 6 wraps up by explaining how we can use HTML5 in today’s web environments, helping the reader understand practical ways that HTML5 can be used to enhance our daily web(app) design projects.

Overall this book is concise, to the point, and balanced… the pro’s and cons of HTML5 are addressed throughout. Subtle wit, and a simple approach make this book a very easy read. I was able to finish it in one day, and plan to keep it handy for future reference.

I haven’t gone into to much detail hoping to wet your appetite enough that you will head over and pick up a copy of this book for yourself. This book is a great starter for those seeking to get caught up with what HTML5 is and where it is going, and even more importantly how they can use it to create dynamic websites and applications.

Have you already blazed through this book? Let me know your thoughts and or highlights from the book in the comments below.

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20. July 2010 by Aaron Irizarry
Categories: Book Review, Design/Development | Tags: A Book Apart, HTML, HTML5, Jeremy Keith, Zeldman | 11 comments