Hardboiled Web Design review

Tuesday, Nov 30 2010

Yesterday I bought a PDF of Andy Clarke's Hardboiled Web Design, and, wow. It is one of the best  refreshers on HTML and CSS, and especially a practical implementation guide for HTML5 and CSS3. On top of the gorgeous illustrations.

You can actually use the new <article>, <section>, <footer> elements in most recent browsers, as they in fact render elements even if they do not tecognize them. There is a workaround for Internet Explorer versions lower than 9, which involves adding a minuscule amount of JavaScript.

If you are in doubt on how to use WAI-ARIA and microformats, you will find answers to your questions. I found it particularly useful in the case of microformats, where the official documentation is sometimes a bit hard to navigate.

Finally, the way CSS3 multiple backgrounds, transparency and shadows are demonstrated cleared my personal misconceptions by showing that they can be put to the service of a well organized and efficient design. They are definitely woth more than the bling.

It is obvious that a lot of thought went into editing and publishing this book. It is chock-full of wondeful illustration inspired by the world of hard boiled detective novels and the PDF is available in two different formats, single page and two-page spreads. You also receive a download full of example files. Again, a lot of care went into the examples and they are very fine pieces of web design in themselves.

My only complaint is that sometimes the hard boiled metaphor is a bit far-fetched, but it is a minor stylistic gripe. If you are considering a book to get up to date on the latest web technologies, this one deserves serious attention.

Interesting resources mentioned in the book