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Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS
Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS

Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS: Build future-proof responsive websites using the latest HTML5 and CSS techniques , Fourth Edition

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Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS

The Essentials of Responsive Web Design

When the first edition of this book came out in 2012, responsive web design was a new and exciting possibility to address the needs of the ever-growing list of devices that could access the internet. A decade later, as I write this in 2022, it’s simply the de facto standard. If you’re building a website or web application and it isn’t responsive, you’re probably doing it wrong!

This first chapter serves as a quick and basic refresher on building out an extremely simple web design, responsively. By the end, we will have covered everything needed to author a fully responsive web page.

You might be wondering, why do we need the other chapters then? By the end of this chapter, that should be apparent too.

Here’s what we will cover in this first chapter:

  • The ever-evolving browser and device landscape
  • Defining responsive web design
  • Setting browser support levels
  • A brief discussion...

The browser and device landscape

A little over a decade ago, it was reasonable to build websites with fixed widths. The device landscape was a whole lot more limited, so the expectation was that all end users would get a fairly consistent experience. This fixed width (typically 960 px wide or thereabouts) wasn’t too wide for laptop screens, and users with large-resolution monitors merely had an abundance of space on either side.

But in 2007, Apple’s iPhone ushered in the first truly usable phone browsing experience, and the way people accessed and interacted with the web changed forever.

In the first edition of this book, published in early 2012, the following was noted about the percentage of total browser usage by device type recorded at gs.statcounter.com:

…in the 12 months from July 2010 to July 2011, global mobile browser use had risen from 2.86 to 7.02 percent…

By September 2019, writing the third edition, using StatCounter, mobile...

Defining responsive web design

The term responsive web design was coined by Ethan Marcotte in 2010. In his seminal A List Apart article, http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design, he consolidated three existing techniques (flexible grid layout, flexible images/media, and media queries) into one unified approach and named it responsive web design.

Responsive web design in a nutshell

To attempt to put the philosophy of responsive web design in a “nutshell,” I would say it’s the presentation of web content in the most relevant format for the viewport and device accessing it.

In its infancy, it was typical for responsive design to be implemented by starting with a fixed-width desktop design before trying to scale the design down as needed for smaller screens. However, processes evolved and it became apparent there was a better way. Namely, that everything from design to content management and development worked better when starting with...

Our first responsive example

In the introduction, I promised that by the end of this chapter you would know all you needed to build a fully responsive web page. So far, I’ve just been talking around the issue at hand. It’s time to walk the walk.

Code samples

You can download all the code samples from this book by visiting https://github.com/benfrain/rwd4 or the book’s dedicated website, rwd.education. It’s worth knowing that where individual examples are built up throughout a chapter, there will typically be a “start” and “end” version for each. The start contains just the essentials to start following along. The end contains the completed exercise/example.

Our basic HTML file

We will start with a simple HTML5 structure. Don’t worry at this point about what each of the lines does, especially the content of the <head>, as we will cover that in detail in Chapter 2, Writing HTML Markup...

Summary

Well done, you now know and understand the essential elements needed to create a fully responsive web page. However, as we have just discovered, there are plenty of places where things could be improved.

But that’s fine. We don’t just want the ability to make competent responsive web designs, we want to be able to create “best-of-breed” experiences. And as you’re here, investing your time for the betterment of websites everywhere, I know you’re up to the challenge. So let’s press on.

In the next chapter, Chapter 2, Writing HTML Markup, we are going to take a deep dive into HTML5 markup. HTML is the very skeleton of any web page or application, the bedrock on which to build anything meaningful, the oxygen a website breathes, the… OK, I’m out of analogies – suffice it to say, HTML is pretty important, so let’s press on and get stuck in.

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Key benefits

  • Understand what responsive web design is and its significance for modern web development
  • Explore the latest developments in responsive web design and CSS, including layout with Grid and Subgrid, CSS Cascade Layers, Wide Gamut colors, and CSS Functions
  • Get to grips with the uses and benefits of new HTML elements and attributes

Description

Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS, Fourth Edition, is a fully revamped and extended version of one of the most comprehensive and bestselling books on the latest HTML5 and CSS techniques for responsive web design. It emphasizes pragmatic application, teaching you the approaches needed to build most real-life websites, with downloadable examples in every chapter. Written in the author's friendly and easy-to-follow style, this edition covers all the newest developments and improvements in responsive web design, including approaches for better accessibility, variable fonts and font loading, and the latest color manipulation tools making their way to browsers. You can enjoy coverage of bleeding-edge features such as CSS layers, container queries, nesting, and subgrid. The book concludes by exploring some exclusive tips and approaches for front-end development from the author. By the end of the book, you will not only have a comprehensive understanding of responsive web design and what is possible with the latest HTML5 and CSS, but also the knowledge of how to best implement each technique. Read through as a complete guide or dip in as a reference for each topic-focused chapter.

Who is this book for?

Are you a full-stack or back-end developer who needs to improve their front-end skills? Perhaps you work on the front-end and you need a definitive overview of all modern HTML and CSS has to offer? Maybe you have done a little website building but you need a deep understanding of responsive web designs and how to achieve them? This is the book for you! All you need to take advantage of this book is a working understanding of HTML and CSS. No JavaScript knowledge is needed.

What you will learn

  • Use media queries, including detection for touch/mouse and color preference
  • Learn HTML semantics and author accessible markup
  • Facilitate different images depending on screen size or resolution
  • Write the latest color functions, mix colors, and choose the most accessible ones
  • Use SVGs in designs to provide resolution-independent images
  • Create and use CSS custom properties, making use of new CSS functions including ‘clamp', ‘min', and ‘max'
  • Add validation and interface elements to HTML forms
  • Enhance interface elements with filters, shadows, and animations

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Sep 19, 2022
Length: 498 pages
Edition : 4th
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781803231723
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Product Details

Publication date : Sep 19, 2022
Length: 498 pages
Edition : 4th
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781803231723
Languages :
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Table of Contents

20 Chapters
Section I: The Fundamentals of Responsive Web Design Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Essentials of Responsive Web Design Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Writing HTML Markup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Media Queries and Container Queries Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Fluid Layout and Flexbox Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Layout with CSS Grid Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section II: Core Skills for Effective Front-End Web Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
CSS Selectors, Typography, and More Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
CSS Color Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Stunning Aesthetics with CSS Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Responsive Images Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
SVG Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Transitions, Transformations, and Animations Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Custom Properties and CSS Functions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Forms Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section III: Latest Platform Features and Parting Advice Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Cutting-Edge CSS Features Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Bonus Techniques and Parting Advice Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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(57 Ratings)
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4 star 7%
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2 star 3.5%
1 star 7%
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A. Zubarev Nov 25, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I did not read any of the previous editions of this book, but since it is a fourth edition, it is clear the responsive web design took over the digital world and here to stay. This publication in my view is the most up to date and complete one on the responsive web design as guide and how to.The material is covered by the author very extensively, it goes into very powerful and I would say probably somewhat not so known elements and aspects of CSS to some developers. Not known in a positive sense though as the often overlooked items may come suddenly handy.Some of my picks: the Flex Box, CSS filters, SMIL animations and 3D transformations.Favourite chapter: CSS Color - a seemingly simple concept with so powerful options!The book has a companion Github repo so you can work through the examples and create variations of some elements that you can find useful or interesting to experiment with.I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Justin Horner Sep 22, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I went into this book hoping the author would provide plenty of coverage on CSS Grid, and it didn't disappoint! Most of the book was a review of topics I’m well versed in, but I’ve had limited exposure to CSS Grid, and the author did a great job explaining when and how to use them.If that's a topic you're interested in, this is a great resource to learn more. Of course, there's also a chapter dedicated to Flexbox as well.I'm surprised at just how many topics this book covers. Selectors, typography, filters, masking, SVGs, transitions, transforms, animations, forms, and even some cutting-edge features of CSS like nesting.If you want a refresher on any of these topics, I recommend considering this book. It will also be great to have as a reference.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Giovanni Hale Oct 01, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is perfect if you're looking for an introduction to responsive web design and HTML5 and CSS. It shows you how to use the latest techniques step-by-step with easy-to-follow examples. I highly recommend it!- Giovanni Hale
Amazon Verified review Amazon
JJ May 01, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I am a designer that used to do a lot of web-dev many moons ago, but haven't touched any of it in a long timeRecently I've made the decision to get re-acquainted with it and bought this to fill in any gaps in my knowledgeIn this day and age it is really hard finding actual BOOKS on these topics rather than online learning, books suit my a lot better as I can't easily do online courses on my commute to work... so I'm glad Ben took the time to write thisQuite a bit has changed in the years where I've not been coding, like flexbox and grids... this book was the perfect reference to let me know what I've missed, aswell as reminding me of things that I'd forgotten about!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Si Dunn Sep 21, 2022
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I was already familiar with parts of Ben Frain's "Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS," having found an older edition in a library and used it in several projects. So I am pleased to see this new fourth edition. It covers numerous new topics, including recent CSS developments, as well as other changes and new capabilities in web design.The writing is clear, the code examples illustrate the author's how-to efforts, and the book's structure seems very logical to me. Frain's fourth edition is organized into three sections. The first section, "Fundamentals of Responsive Web Design," introduces the reader to topics such as HTML markup, media and container queries, fluid layout, flexbox, and layout with CSS Grid.The second section's title is "Core Skills for Effective Front-End Web Development." Its eight chapters dig deeper into CSS and web typography, responsive images, CSS functions, and several other topics.The third section has just two chapters, but one of them examines cutting-edge CSS features, and the other chapter offers helpful advice and information for web designers and web designers who also do web development.One key recommendation by Frain that I've found helpful in my own efforts is to "get designs up and running in a browser environment as soon as possible." In other words, don't try to perfect the design first before testing it. Responsive web design can bring a lot of moving parts and moving features to a website. It's definitely been better in my efforts to start small and keep testing over and over as elements are added, subtracted, or replaced.My thanks to Packt Publishing for sending an advance reader's copy of this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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