These are some JavaScript and CSS books which will help you learn JavaScript and CSS. Read the "review" part for more information about each book. Click on the book title for ordering details.

Javascript Bible
Review Aimed at the HTML designer with or without previous programming experience, the JavaScript Bible, 4th Edition brings a popular text up to date with a full tour of using JavaScript with all of today's Web browsers. Smart, very approachable and filled with many useful tips, this book can put JavaScript development into the reach of just about anyone. After presenting a solid tour of basic programming in JavaScript, the book centres in on the real issues of developing JavaScript applications for real browsers. This means truly comprehensive coverage of the document object model (DOM), HTML, window and frame objects, forms and style sheets that are available today. In about 1,000 pages (and almost 30 chapters), you learn what's available in today's JavaScript standard with a reference listing every object, API and property, plus tips on how to use each feature. All this material makes this text an extremely worthwhile desktop reference for everyday JavaScript development. Particularly useful; support for every feature is clearly documented across the full range of today's browsers from Netscape Navigator 2,3,4 and 6 to Internet Explorer 3 through version 5.5. Later chapters move toward the JavaScript language itself, with material on strings, maths functions and dates. The author discusses techniques for adapting JavaScript to particular browsers as well as providing cross-browser support where appropriate. Short exercises end each chapter and the book presents sample solutions in an appendix. Additional CD-ROM chapters move beyond the whopping 1,200 pages of printed material. In all, the author's patient, clear writing style and real-world advice for creating great-looking Web pages with JavaScript make this title a winner. Readers of previous editions of the JavaScript Bible will appreciate the updated focus on current browsers. For anyone who wants to learn JavaScript for the first time, this edition is arguably an unbeatable choice.
Beginning JavaScript
Review Javascript is the only scripting language that runs in all the leading Web browsers, making it an essential part of the Web developer's tool kit. The language itself is not especially difficult to learn, but it becomes more challenging when you include related topics such as HTML forms, dynamic HTML and cross-browser compatibility. Beginning JavaScript, which is suitable for beginning or intermediate programmers, covers all these topics and more to provide a complete Javascript handbook. Early chapters cover language basics, such as data types, functions, conditions and loops, string handling, and programming with objects. The authors explain how to control the Web browser by programming its object model, and how to combine scripts with forms. There is a guide to debugging with Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer, and a chapter on using cookies to store user preferences. A substantial part of the book is focused on Dynamic HTML and how to write scripts that control the content of the page. There is a clear explanation of the DOM (document object model), as specified by the W3C Web standards group. Finally, there is a look at extending browser capabilities with ActiveX controls or plug-ins, and server-side scripting with Active Server Pages, including database access. Several appendixes offer a language reference and object models for Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator 4.0. Sadly Netscape 6.0 is not covered, but it is not quite as bad as it sounds since Netscape 6.0 closely follows the official DOM.
JavaScript
Review Since the earliest days of Internet scripting, Web developers have considered JavaScript: The Definitive Guide an essential resource. David Flanagan's approach, which combines tutorials and examples with easy-to-use syntax guides and object references, suits the typical programmer's requirements nicely. The brand-new fourth edition of Flanagan's "Rhino Book" includes coverage of JavaScript 1.5, JScript 5.5, ECMAScript 3 and the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Interestingly, the author has shifted away from specifying--as he did in earlier editions--what browsers support each bit of the language. Rather than say Netscape 3.0 supports the Image object while Internet Explorer 3.0 does not, he specifies that JavaScript 1.1 and JScript 3.0 support Image. More usefully, he specifies the contents of independent standards such as ECMAScript, which encourages scripters to write applications for these standards and browser vendors to support them. As Flanagan says, JavaScript and its related subjects are very complex in their pure forms. It's impossible to keep track of the differences among half a dozen vendors' generally similar implementations. Nonetheless, a lot of examples make reference to specific browsers' capabilities. Though he does not cover server-side APIs, Flanagan has chosen to separate coverage of core JavaScript (all the keywords, general syntax and utility objects such as Array) from coverage of client-side JavaScript, which includes objects, such as History and Event, that have to do with Web browsers and users' interactions with them. This approach makes this book useful to people using JavaScript for applications other than Web pages. By the way, the other classic JavaScript text--Danny Goodman's JavaScript Bible--isn't as current as this book, but it's still a fantastic (and perhaps somewhat more novice-friendly) guide to the JavaScript language and its capabilities.
Designing with JavaScript
Review Designing with JavaScript opens up a whole new world to Web-design artists, especially those making the leap from a print design background. Many people liken Web design to print design, but there is nothing interactive about a printed page. Web pages, however, can be completely dynamic, different from moment to moment and responsive to the reader. The best way to take advantage of this is through JavaScript. Eleven chapters and four appendices cover the basic to the complex, from extracting and validating information using forms, to creating rotating images, to using DHTML for animation. The first half covers basic yet important issues such as an introduction to the syntax of the language, browser detection, setting up forms and controlling frames and windows. Filled with examples, screenshots and links to more examples and info, these chapters build a solid foundation for the second half of the book. Dynamic images, rollovers, using cookies and creating interactive features using DHTML are some of the features covered later in the book, with numerous practical examples. These chapters are invaluable for the learning designer, as nearly each feature is practically required on a contemporary Web site. The appendices include a handy JavaScript guide to the language, including syntax, handlers, an object guide and style properties. Not everything can be handled (yet) through the available WYSIWYG editors, making this book an invaluable reference and one to keep at your fingertips.
Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours
Review JavaScript has become the language no Web developer can do without, mainly because it runs in both Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Sams Teach Yourself JavaScript in 24 Hours explains how to include JavaScript code in Web pages, in order to achieve effects such as rollover buttons, navigation menus, pop-up windows, animated graphics and simple forms. The material is presented in 24 short chapters, each of which concludes with a summary, a quiz and several exercises. In its fundamentals JavaScript is similar to other programming languages, so early chapters teach essential concepts such as variables, functions, arrays, operators and loops. There is also good coverage of how to control a Web page by programming its DOM (Document Object Model) and responding to events such as button clicks and mouse movements. The author explains that there are incompatibilities between different browsers, and shows how to write code that works in all recent browsers, if necessary by detecting which one is in use. There is also a guide to troubleshooting and handling errors. The most advanced chapters require either Internet Explorer or Netscape 6.0, because of limitations in the DOM presented by Netscape Navigator 4.0. Towards the end, you learn how to create a complete poker game that runs in a browser. This hands-on guide is ideal for those Web page authors who want to dip a toe into the world of Web scripting.
Constructing Usable Web Menus
Review When developing a web site, one of the most important things to consider is the navigation menu, to allow your users to find their way around it. It needs to usable, informative, and well implemented, but this can take time.
Javascript Goodies
Review A natural outgrowth of Joe Burns's comprehensive tips-orientated Java Goodies and HTML Goodies Web sites, JavaScript Goodies is a delightful combination of tutorials and quick examples to help you make the most of JavaScript in your Web pages. Burns provides a quick refresher on JavaScript scripting and the basics of the object model. But what can you actually do with JavaScript? The book illustrates how to produce effects in response to mouse events and perform image gymnastics. The presentation is so immediately rewarding that you may forget you're following a language tutorial. This guide is packed with real-world code you can use to spice up your pages. It also covers a wide range of topics that lead to holistic JavaScript knowledge, including arrays, random number generation, timer implementations, and user-interface techniques. Burns maintains all of the example code and assignments from the book on his site, as well as a zipped version of all the files for download. As he presents each technique, he discusses the concept, illustrates the code, and pulls it apart to show you how it works. Each discussion also includes assignments that are refreshingly fun. If dry language tutorials put you to sleep, this book will hold your attention.
JavaScript Application Cookbook
Review A programming cookbook is usually a collection of small (but perfectly formed and debugged) components you can mix and match to create your own applications. By this definition, Javascript Application Cookbook is a misnomer. This is actually a collection of 11 completely worked-out client-side Javascript applications including a search engine, Web based tests, slideshow, simple ciphers, shopping cart and so on--all useful stuff. It assumes the reader has a good grounding in Javascript--certainly enough to follow the code. The explanations that follow each application are mainly high-level overviews of the operation of the component parts of each application. If you want to learn Javascript, you might be better off with a book on the Javascript language and a standard reference on programming algorithms. Jerry Bradenhaugh clearly knows his stuff, however, and if you need a lot of examples showing effective ways to construct large client-side Javascript applications then the Javascript Application Cookbook will be useful.
Javascript Programmer's Reference (Book & CD-Rom edition)
Review JavaScript Programmer's Reference documents the standard versions of JavaScript, JScript, and ECMAScript and also catalogues the extensions which major browser publishers have added to the languages. In essence, this book is a resource for finding out how the major browsers (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and Opera) implement their Document Object Models (DOMs), both standard and proprietary, and the means by which they access DOM elements through JavaScript and similar scripting languages. This is a reference, so don't expect it to teach you JavaScript through any sort of tutorial (although reading the object descriptions can be very illuminating). Cliff Wootton has chosen to organise his work alphabetically, like a giant encyclopaedia of objects, reserved words, operators, filters, and other aspects of JavaScript and the DOM standards. As an appendix he includes a cross-reference which associates individual properties, methods, and event handlers with the objects to which they belong. Once you've located the entry you want, you'll have easy access (in the case of an object) to inheritance information, a syntax summary, and plain-English advice on what the object does. Tables provide implementation details for each property, method, and event handler, so you know what versions of which browsers support the language feature you wish to use. There are also references to standards documents and occasional illustrations of how to use the language element in working code. Though rare the illustrations are generally effective in clarifying the significance of language elements and the relationships among objects. Cool features include Wootton's documentation of common errors and incorrect assumptions. For example, he's included an entry on Bar.visibility, a nonexistent property sometimes assumed to exist in the Netscape Navigator object model. The correct property is Bar.visible, the author points out. Also note that operators and other non-character entries don't appear at the front, before the "A" entries, as is conventional. They've been "transliterated", if that's the word, so you have to look up "Add" in order to find out about the + operator. Overall though, this is a fine JavaScript reference made excellent by its companion CD-ROM, which includes the entire body of printed reference material (plus some extra) in searchable form.
Pure JavaScript
Review Newbie and old-hand JavaScript programmers will appreciate PureJavaScript, a developer's comprehensive resource to JavaScript that covers both the big picture and precise details. Authors Jason Gilliam, Charlton Ting and R. Allen Wyke--developers all--have put together this well-organised title. The bulk of this book is made up of a top-notch JavaScript reference. Core language syntax is well presented with excellent use of examples for practically every operator and function. Each entry includes the version compatibility with Netscape and Microsoft browsers and JavaScript releases. The authors also include references for the two companies' extensions to the language. A number of appendices round off this fine guide with attention to standard and vendor-specific syntax details. This is a fine JavaScript reference that cuts no corners.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Review Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by Example provides accessible, practical examples to learn a key Web development tool. The first accessible "how-to" introductory book on CSS. CSS is an integral part of the "true" HTML 4, XML, and XHTML. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by Example teaches how to use CSS with these various languages. Competing titles are aimed at programmers and/or professional developers. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by Example will allow readers to learn the fundamentals of CSS by providing a teaching progression that takes them through small, gradual steps. It provides examples using CSS in "real world" scenarios. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) by Example follows a logical, linear teaching progression that enables the reader to learn the fundamentals of CSS to utilize more control over the appearance and styling of Web pages. This book provides accessible and practical examples not found in existing CSS titles and provides information needed for those who want to move beyond their HTML skills for Web development and design. Steve Callihan is a freelance, technical writer with several books on Web design published. He has had articles published in major computer/Internet magazines, and has extensive experience designing, writing and producing hardware/software user guides.
Cascading Style Sheets 2.0
Review With cascading Style Sheets (CSS), web designers and developers can create style sheets that define how different web page elements, such as headers and links, appear. This is a reference guide for web authors who need a quick guide to the CSS 2.0 specifications. It shows how to properly design and deploy CSS, and there is coverage of new tags and features in CSS 2.0. Each aspect of CSS is described in detail and has corresponding browser support information.
Cascading Style Sheets: Separating Content from Presentation
Review Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) enable us to style and lay out HTML data on a web page without the use of messy "table" and "font" tags, and without the use of "hacks" such as invisible GIF files. CSS allows for the separation of content from presentation, so that web designers can change the entire design of a site by modifying one stylesheet, rather than updating each HTML document that makes up the web site. This book provides coverage of the how to use CSS and XHTML for the visual design of web pages. Its practical techniques will give you core CSS skills, as well as showing how to apply them in today's browsers.
Cascading Style Sheets
Review Cascading Style Sheets can put a great deal of control and flexibility into the hands of a Web designer--in theory. In reality, however, varying browser support for CSS1 and lack of CSS2 implementation makes CSS a very tricky topic, indeed. Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide is a comprehensive text that shows you how to take advantage of the benefits of CSS while keeping compatibility issues in mind. The book is very upfront about the spotty early browser support for CSS and the sluggish adoption of CSS2. However, enthusiasm for the technology spills out of the pages, convincing even the most sceptical reader to give CSS a whirl and count on its future. CSS1 is covered in impressive depth, not only the syntactical conventions but also more general concepts such as specificity and inheritance. Frequent warnings and tips alert the reader to browser compatibility pitfalls. Entire chapters are devoted to topics such as units and values; visual formatting and positioning; and the usual text, fonts and colours. This attention to both detail and architecture helps readers build a well-rounded knowledge of CSS and equips them for a future of real-world debugging. Cascading Style Sheets honestly states its reasons for avoiding an in-depth discussion of the still immature CSS2, but covers the general changes over CSS1 in a brief chapter near the end of the book. When successfully implemented, Cascading Style Sheets result in more elegant HTML that separates form from function. This fine guide delivers on its promise as an indispensable tool for CSS coders.
Cascading Style Sheets
Review For readers looking for a one-stop read for all they need to know about cascading style sheets (CSS), Cascading Style Sheets, Second Edition: Designing for the Web really hits the nail on the head. One of the authors--Hakon Wium Lie--was the originator of CSS and is in charge of the technology in the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). His writing partner for this work is Bert Bos--another key member of the W3C currently focusing on style sheets and the Extensible Markup Language (XML). Together, they deliver a truly educational guide to the subject. This book wisely includes numerous colour screen shots and diagrams, as well as many typographic examples, to augment the discussion of the inherently visual topic of CSS. The authors' graphical expertise comes through clearly with visuals that clarify topics without cluttering the presentation. The coverage goes beyond--or shall we say behind--that found in many other CSS books that focus primarily on the technical features of browsers. For example, the authors take the time to discuss typesetting terminology and font families in order to build a well- rounded knowledge. Despite the presentation of the precise details of the CSS1 and CSS2 specifications, the writing is quite easy to read and intriguing to follow. Even if you are familiar with CSS--this is an excellent title to own.