Learning (more) CSS

Awhile back I started thinking I ought to sharpen my skills in web design. At first I thought I should learn PHP, so I started a book on that, but abandoned it when I realized I really needed to backtrack a bit. So I started one on Javascript and guess what, I abandoned that one too for being just an eensy bit over my head. I knew I had to shore up my knowledge of HTML and CSS, which sucks because that’s supposedly what I know best! I’ve been using HTML for frickin’ 15 years but I’m self-taught, and only ever really learned what I had to.

So anyway, pride be damned. Now I’m working on a book that’s way more up my alley: CSS: The Missing Manual. I kinda knew a lot of this stuff already, but CSS has always been a weak spot for me. I do write valid XHMTL nowadays, but I’ve been stuck in “transitional” mode for too many years. But now I’m really knuckling down and learning how CSS works, how to separate the content from the style. Hopefully that’ll be reflected on my site one of these days. (Don’t look at the code! It validates, but it’s a mess to look at.)

This book is really really good. It explains CSS from top to bottom, and hammers it in with tutorials where you have to work on your own computer using mocked-up sites they’ve provided. There are a lot of intricacies to CSS that I never knew about. I’m about 1/3 through the book now, and really want to make it to the end for once in my life!!