Good Web Designing Books for Programmers

Question

Hi,

I am interested in learning about designing web pages. I have developed ASP.NET applications but so far the UI for the applications i.e. the various controls and their layout have already been designed by someone else and I have had to work on the server side part of the application only.

Now I am looking for good books to learn about designing the web pages themselves, to sink my teeth into html and css.

Looking for books which start with the basics but tackle the advance concepts too. Also any good advanced books will also be appreciated which i can start reading after I have finished with the basic ones.

Thanks

Answer 1

Are you interested in the design part of this (e.g. what the page look, feel and functionality should be) or the implementation opf said design? (or both?)

For the former, this SO question ( Learning Design for UI and Website Design ) has many of the answers. (useit.org and Don't Make Me Think and Joel Spolsky design book would be my favorites). Also, see this SO question as well ( Best books to learn about design ).

For the latter, you will need to learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Many great resources, but for the basics of JavaScript I would highly recommend to start with "JavaScript: The Good Parts".

Also, for the web site resources, peruse the answers to this SO question ( What are the best web design sites? )

Answer 2

For someone not completely new to web design/dev:

CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions

This book helped me understand concepts more than code (CSS/HTML is rather easy to read and pickup)

Answer 3

I'd suggest:

Beginning CSS Web Development by Simon Collison
CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions by Andy Budd, Cameron Moll, and Simon Collison
The Non-Designers Desgin Book by Robin Williams - this was the best non-designer concept book I've seen so far. If you know squat about design, this goes a long way. And it doesn't tie itself at all to web design.
New Perspectives on Blended HTML, XHTML, and CSS by Henry Bojack
The Ultimate CSS Reference from Sitepoint Books