The Zen of CSS Design by D. Shea & M. Holzschlag

[Tami]

The Zen of CSS design [ visual enlightenment for the web ]
- by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag
-Review by ner0

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One of the first things to become apparent from the front cover of this book is that there is no
obvious purpose suggested in the title, it is instead necessary to proceed past the acknowledgements
and a section about the authors to the introductory section.
It is then explained that the book is intended; in part to be a documentation and narrative about the
Zen Garden website (http://www.csszengarden.com) but primarily it is intended as a tutorial on the
best practices and techniques relating to modern web design. Simultaneously the book serves as
a gallery of "eye candy" that can be referred to for inspiration for reader's projects.

The intended target audience of this book falls under the umbrella of anyone interested in designing
and developing websites, and is then subcategorized into the following:
* Designers - Teaching practical design and real-world problem solving.
* Programmers - Using already logical skills and putting them into a design context.
* CSS Novices - Expand on knowledge of basic syntax/concepts and apply them to work.
Personally I'd classify myself as the programmer, however whilst reading through the book
it is certainly apparent how users falling under the other classifications would perceive things.

The book is structured as well as any I've encountered, beginning with an introduction, then followed
by the main tutorial section which is constantly reinforced by examples from the Zen Garden Website
(http://www.csszengarden.com) which I believe to be a strong tool as it means readers always have a
visual representation of what they are reading.

Overall I would deem this book suitable for anyone wanting to learn more about CSS, for me the
main level on which The Zen of CSS Design reached me was the design aspect, as I consider myself
to be primarily logically minded, it's always extremely useful for me to have examples on which I
can base my own designs. Alternatively I'd assume that for a designer, the book will reach them
on the programming level by teaching them the basics of logical thinking in regards to CSS. Finally
for the novices this book will serve as a valuable and effective balance between the two areas, thus
creating the next generation of coders who will have proficiency in both disciplines.