Andy budd and his cohorts have crafted a book that might just be the only practical CSS reference (unlike a CSS property dictionary) available to professional web developers today. The book encompasses what industry experts are already thinking and what novices need to comprehend. The authors are precise with their explanations and a majority of the book is filled with what I will call, “intellectual brevity.� In other words, as a senior user interface developer, I appreciate the fact the authors get in, tell me what I need to know, and then get out. This is done in manner that allows for the book to remain a useful resource even after the initial reading.

In a nutshell, CSS Mastery encompasses a majority of the semi-advanced CSS techniques that can be found from online web development publications and blogs. Of course, a major advantage of the book is these concepts are all explained by several people with a collective wealth of CSS experienced and knowledge. The beauty of this book outside of the authors’ CSS wisdom is that it brings all of these techniques to the reader in a well organized and digestible format.

A monumental part of the book is stated in the first sentence of the second chapter which reads, “Three of the most important CSS concepts to grasp are floating, positioning, and the box model.� I couldn’t agree more. After this statement, Andy proceeds to solidify the three concepts through the rest of chapter 2 and the entire book. Now, if you get anything out of this book it should be just how pivotal the first sentence of chapter 2 really is on the road to being a CSS master.

If you’re looking for something a little new, the last three examples in chapter five demonstrate some groundbreaking usages of CSS. As well, the book gives some face time to the (not so) soon to be CSS3 specification. “Not so soon,” in consideration of how long the CSS2 specification has been completed.

Really about my only critique of the book is in Chapter 6, in which I think more time could have been spent detailing the styling of forms and less about their layout. In addition, I felt like the usage of tables for an HTML form layout should have been addressed.

Other then my small gripes about chapter 6, the book is a must have for any CSS professional!