What do you think?
Rate this book
Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design
There are several other books on the market that serve as in-depth technical guides or reference books for CSS. None, however, take a more hands-on approach and use practical examples to teach readers how to solve the problems they face in designing with CSS - until now. Eric Meyer provides a variety of carefully crafted projects that teach how to use CSS and why particular methods were chosen. The web site includes all of the files needed to complete the tutorials in the book. In addition, bonus information is be posted.
350 pages, Paperback
First published July 8, 2002
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Eric A. Meyer
57Ìýbooks50ÌýfollowersEric A. Meyer is an American web design consultant and author. He is best known for his advocacy work on behalf of web standards, most notably CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a technique for managing how HTML is displayed. Meyer has written a number of books and articles on CSS and given many presentations promoting its use. Eric currently works for Igalia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 27, 2025
Eric Meyer is one of my personal Web Developer heroes, and this book is proof of why. Even if it was published in the starting era of CSS this book still offers some interesting perspectives and insights and also sheds some light of how it was to be working as a web developer in the cradle of the web developer era during the dot-com bubble. And it highlights how a person could work professionally as a dedicated CSS professional when today it feels like it's hard to find a similar position (at least in Sweden) because CSS feels almost expected and assumed that everybody in the business knows it and can do it. Eric Meyer in this book opened my eyes to the various levels one can write CSS code. As with many other areas in life, there is the novice level, but there is also a higher expert level which can be quite a bit more than just the basic levels.
December 26, 2022
Book divided in projects, which contains step by step instructions. Also it contains some hints.
Though book is quite old, but still can be useful if you start learning CSS. This books is practical book, so you would have to read documentation or find a theory book.
Though book is quite old, but still can be useful if you start learning CSS. This books is practical book, so you would have to read documentation or find a theory book.
October 26, 2021
I helped me to understand CSS and start a nice period of my life working with HTML
April 24, 2024
Intriguing book; I discovered a lot of fascinating points in it. It was easy to follow. I consulted it when I created the website
August 2, 2007
A very hands-on trip through CSS from simple font and color changes to layout and positioning. This book stops short of more "interactive" styles because that sort of thing requires JavaScript, which is beyond the scope of the book.
The opening chapter deals with converting a site from table-based layout to style-based, a worthy endeavor for any developer. From that point forward, it's a step by step walk through total conversions of various pages, with explanations of the code along the way. Syntax is never explained explicitly, but CSS syntax is so simple that it can be easily picked up along the way.
Going from this book to building my own sites was a very easy and simple transition.
It must be highlighted, however, that this book does not explore any design theory. You will not learn how to choose appropriate colors or pick fonts or design good layouts from this book. But if you already have these things in mind, the book will teach you how to apply those designs to a web page.
The opening chapter deals with converting a site from table-based layout to style-based, a worthy endeavor for any developer. From that point forward, it's a step by step walk through total conversions of various pages, with explanations of the code along the way. Syntax is never explained explicitly, but CSS syntax is so simple that it can be easily picked up along the way.
Going from this book to building my own sites was a very easy and simple transition.
It must be highlighted, however, that this book does not explore any design theory. You will not learn how to choose appropriate colors or pick fonts or design good layouts from this book. But if you already have these things in mind, the book will teach you how to apply those designs to a web page.
September 28, 2023
Expand your universe
So far I am just dabbling with CSS. This book is great for taking you from ground zero to something svelte. The lesson format is like having a personal tutor. I will eventually get around to something practical. In the meantime, I am expanding my universe.
So far I find this to be midlevel coding. The real problem with top-level is that you have to know the idea want you are doing and a lot of superfluous overhead is added to the commands; it is good for a quickie but can later paint you into a corner. A low level will give you a tighter code and more control over results. Midlevel is a compromise but sometimes adds functionality that can not be reached at the lover level command line coding.
Every language has its strengths and purpose they just do not invent more complexity for the fun of it. I hope to have the mechanics down before I find out what it is.
CSS may come and go but it is necessary to be aware of it in case you need to correct someone else’s code. For me, this is the right book at the right time. What time is it for you?
So far I am just dabbling with CSS. This book is great for taking you from ground zero to something svelte. The lesson format is like having a personal tutor. I will eventually get around to something practical. In the meantime, I am expanding my universe.
So far I find this to be midlevel coding. The real problem with top-level is that you have to know the idea want you are doing and a lot of superfluous overhead is added to the commands; it is good for a quickie but can later paint you into a corner. A low level will give you a tighter code and more control over results. Midlevel is a compromise but sometimes adds functionality that can not be reached at the lover level command line coding.
Every language has its strengths and purpose they just do not invent more complexity for the fun of it. I hope to have the mechanics down before I find out what it is.
CSS may come and go but it is necessary to be aware of it in case you need to correct someone else’s code. For me, this is the right book at the right time. What time is it for you?
September 6, 2016
This is an excellent book for progressing from using style sheets for specifying only fonts and colors to building entire sites driven by CSS layout rendering--it is not a reference book. The author (who, incidentally led the W3C effort to define the CSS2 Recommendation) presents thirteen different real-world types of projects to teach and explain the power of CSS, ranging from conversion of existing pages and creation of menuing systems, to multicolumn layout. A short book that will make big changes in the way you build web sites.
March 21, 2013
I'm sure this is a fine book for some interests but it doesn't work for me where I am now. It's essentially a sort of "recipe book": each chapter starts with a premise like "Styles for Print" and "How to Skin a Menu" and goes step-by-step showing how Mr. Meyer would tackle the problem. Fine for learning how Mr. Meyer would tackle a problem but not so much for learning how CSS can tackle problems and then selecting which approach to adopt. Maybe I'll try it again a little later ....
June 9, 2016
Provides a variety of projects that teach you how to use CSS and why particular methods were chosen. This work also features a web site which includes all the files needed to complete the tutorials.
September 3, 2007
He's such a wonderful web guru. No other technical writer writes this off-the-cuff about process and practice.
June 25, 2008
Great book, this basically taught me everything I needed to know to design with CSS.
March 20, 2010
These are classics in the field, of course...
Now, I'm glancing through them again to refresh after two years off.
Now, I'm glancing through them again to refresh after two years off.
October 12, 2010
Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman are the masters of web design, so this book is a must!
December 15, 2011
Il maestro indiscusso dei fogli di stile. Per un primo approccio avanzato con i CSS, partite da Eric Meyer e da questo libro.
August 9, 2014
Essential.
Read
April 17, 2010Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design (VOICES) by Eric Meyer (2002)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.