| The title How to Do Everything with HTML is an ambitious one indeed. It is something akin to titling a book, How to Do Everything with English. Better yet, how about How to Do Everything with Algebra? The obvious question is: How do you know when you can do everything with any of the above?
HTML is a language, and there are different ways to learn languages. Have you ever seen a book that promises to teach you Japanese in 30 days? Generally, what you get with those books are some basic phrases you can use if you travel to those places. You don’t generally learn a whole lot about the language. Although you might be able to order in a restaurant or ask directions, you definitely can’t do “everything” with it. On the other hand, you could buy a hefty book on Japanese grammar that expounds the language to the smallest detail. If you make it all the way through one of these reference books, you might have read everything “about” the language. However, you still probably will not know how to do everything “with” it.
HTML books work about the same way. You can buy books that are great for figuring out how to do specific things with HTMLkind of like those “learn Japanese in 30 days” books. In these books you’ll find instructions that are so focused and pointed that you can practically cut and paste the code into your own pages. Other HTML books are large, intimidating tomes that literally tell you “everything” about HTML. However, these are not the kind of books a beginner will find helpful. |