AdvancED CSS

By Joseph R. Lewis, Meitar Moscovitz

In this book you’ll

• Discover how to make use of CSS 2.1 alongside CSS3.
• Use CSS generated content to automatically number arbitrary elements and expose attribute metadata.
• Learn how to use CSS for print and mobile devices, as well as for presenting XML data.
• Uncover the techniques used to organize, manage, and apply CSS to large-scale projects.
• Learn how to optimize your CSS for better site performance.

So you think you know CSS? Take your CSS skills to the next level and learn to write organized and optimized CSS that will improve the maintainability, performance, and appearance of your work.

You’ll learn how document flow and CSS positioning schemes will help you make your documents more accessible. You’ll discover the great styling possibilities of CSS paired with semantic structures like Microformats and RDFa, while enriching the self-describing semantics of XHTML content. Learn how to group logically related declarations, minify style sheets, and prevent performance bottle necks such as reflows and repaints. With support for CSS enjoying unprecedented ubiquity, you can finally use such features as generated content, complex selector chains, and CSS3’s visual properties, like box-shadow, in your projects.

If you’re feeling confident with CSS, AdvancED CSS will stretch your CSS skill set even further—and you’ll do more with CSS than you thought was ever possible!

Summary of Contents

• PART ONE - Introduction: Digesting the Web’s Alphabet Soup
  • Chapter 1 - Markup Underpins CSS
  • Chapter 2 - CSS Fundamentals for Advanced Use
• PART TWO - Advanced CSS in Practice
  • Chapter 3 - CSS-Generated Content
  • Chapter 4 - Optimizing for Print
  • Chapter 5 - Developing for Small Screens and the Mobile Web
  • Chapter 6 - Managing and Organizing Style Sheets
• PART three - CSS Patterns and Advanced Techniques
  • Chapter 7 - Semantic Patterns for Styling Common Design Components
  • Chapter 8 - Using a Style Sheet Library
  • Chapter 9 - Styling XML with CSS
  • Chapter 10 - Optimizing CSS for Performance
• PART FOUR - The Future of CSS
  • Chapter 11 - Exploring the Emergence of CSS3
  • Chapter 12 - The Future of CSS and the Web

This book is part of friends of ED's 'AdvancED' series

The AdvancED series picks up where the Foundation series leaves off. You are expected to have a good understanding of your chosen technology before you start, and your aim is to continue your journey to become a better user of that technology. The series continues the step-by-step approach, taking you through all of the more advanced aspects of the technology, with detailed coverage to make sure that you understand each topic completely before moving on. Throughout the book, you will be creating complete applications along with compiling case study applications that run across multiple chapters and topics. By the end of the book, you will be an expert on your chosen topic.