If you do nothing else

The Darkness

So, you want to develop websites, excellent - me too. I have been developing sites since 1997. You would think that I should know everything I need to know by now. I learnt the basics of html using one of those teach yourself html books in 24 hours; which was a good start. Then did a course at Thames Valley University which was good too. I trawled news groups and viewed a lot of source code. Armed with DrumBeat 2000, I started dipping my toe in the water of dynamic sites. DrumBeat moved over to Dreamweaver and everything went swimmingly, I dabbled in Macromedia Flash and was quite a happy bunny.

That is, until I discovered CSS, after which it all went a bit pear shaped. I grappled with styling with this new-fangled technique, before finally throwing the towel in. I decided to stick to what I knew; copious amounts of font tags and tables nestled within tables within tables ad infinitum.

Let there be light

I started hanging out round a new breed of web heads. These guys n gals, didn't talk about spacer gifs and photoshop slicing and dicing. They had found a new religion, a new belief in some thing called, cue drum roll - Web Standards. So what's it all about Alfie? Well it goes something like this...

• you create a page and it works on any recent browser.
• You don't need complicated sniffers, scripts or any fancy stuff
• Your page weight is put on a turbo charged Atkins Diet
• Your pages will only get better with age

All very well in theory, but I have heard all these claims before about CSS. Then a geezer called Zeldman entered the equation, I liked his style and thought I would treat myself to his book "Designing with Web Standards".

"Do you like the book Rich?" Sue asked me. "Does the Pope wear a funny hat?" I replied. The truth is I didn't like this book; I loved it. I still do, I will not lend it, so don't ask to borrow it. This is not a book, it is the Holy Grail of Web Design. A Highway Code of pointers, tips, tricks and wit, that will make sure that you take the right path in web development.

"So what does your new Guru say in his book Rich?" Well, I am just a disciple, I will not dilute Mr Zeldman's message with my unworthy interpretations and distortions, but read this book. It will change your life. 'Nuff said - Peace.