Learning HTML
A friend of mine is just getting into Web site creation and HTML. He bought a standard best-selling book, now in its 7th edition (or whatever). I picked it up and glanced through it.
I immediately realised why it was really not the best book for him. Because it was a revision of a book that was originally published in the 1990s, it still taught HTML page design the old way, using deprecated element tags like font, attributes like align, and introducing page layout via tables.
It did get on to CSS, about half way through the book, but by then the damage will have been done. Why learn a new way of doing things, when you already have a way that works?
My heartfelt advice to beginning Web designers is to use only those HTML elements that mark up the document, staying clear of any tags that define how the page should look in a browser. For visual styling and layout, use CSS. From the word go.
Oh, and though it’s too late for my friend, don’t buy HTML books in their nth edition. Buy one that was first published in 2006 or 2007!