JavaScript + CSS + DOM Magic, by Makiko Itoh. New Riders, 2002, 306pp. US$39.99, CDN$62.99, £30.99
My skills with JavaScript consist of the ability to cut and paste someone else's code with great proficiency. My CSS skills are pretty rudimentary, and all I know about DOM is what the letters stand for. Nevertheless, I'd like to be able to work magic. Makiko Itoh's book just might just be able to equip me with the tricks I need.
Itoh is well-suited for the task. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including Seybold Seminars and Thunderlizard's Web Design World. She is also editor-in-chief of Wise-Women (www.wise-women.org), an online publication dedicated to encouraging women web developers and designers.
The format of New Riders' "Magic" books is useful. One column provides step-by-step instructions, while the other contains useful screenshots or code examples. If my screen doesn't match what I see, I can immediately backtrack to see where I've messed up.
Since Itoh is taking on quite a lot, it's helpful to know that the content is divided into 14 projects, split among four major sections: Real-Life CSS, JavaScript Level 1: Basic JavaScript, JavaScript Level 2: Dynamic HTML, and JavaScript Level 3: The Latest DOM Methods.
While this book is similar in method to Eric Meyer on CSS, three-quarters of it is dedicated to JavaScript. The final three sections build on the CSS foundation established in the first. As such, it's a useful book for the developer who wants to use all the tools at her disposal in the pursuit of a particular functionality. For instance, Itoh shows the reader how to create tabbed menu items, drop-down hierarchical menus, and even dynamically updated pages. The book also includes a CD-ROM packed with exercise files and demo versions of useful software for both Macintosh and Windows. All in all, JavaScript + CSS + DOM Magic is a worthy addition to any web developer's tool chest.
Create Web Magic (web site for the book): www.createwebmagic.com
Makiko Itoh's web site: www.makikoitoh.com