Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing

Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann
Author: Philip Greenspun
ISBN: 1558605347
Publication Date: January 99
Retail Price: $44.95
Online Version http://photo.net/wtr/thebook/

Buy this book now!

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Now that you've got the approval from the CEO to create that Web site you've all been dreaming about, perhaps it's time to focus on the goals of your future Web site. Do you want to create a replica of that boring corporate brochure that's been gathering dust on the shelf for the last several years, or how about trying to recreate the company logo using a spinning globe? Or, then again, you could actually provide some useful information on the site to your customers...that'd really be something. Imagine that, a Web site that your customers could actually use.

This is the kind of debate that caused author Philip Greenspun to write this tome on effective Web design and publishing, and it's the eternal problem that most developers face on a daily basis. How do you avoid being yet another useless, brochure-ware Web site in a sea of such sites? Greenspun believes it starts with the initial concept. Does your company wish to publish, or provide a service?

Greenspun has obviously been at this for a while. He claims, though it's hard to believe from his picture, that he's had his phone number online for 20 years now (of course, back then so did the other six Internet users). He was an MIT programmer back then, but now he's carried his common-sense knowledge over to the Web. Oh, did I mention that the book is a good read?

Although it may seem like it if you read a lot of book reviews, not every book on Web design and programming is easy to read. Sure, you can find some helpful info if you dig deep enough, but you'll soon find your thoughts wandering to what you'll be having for dinner, the drive home, or other business projects. I must admit, with Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing, though the title sounds like a TV sitcom, the book is funny, easy to read, and when you're done, you'll have a better than average chance of creating a Web site that users will find equally as interesting and informative...and yes, even fun!

If you're like me, you just won't be happy until you've taken a look at the book yourself. Fortunately, the author has been kind enough to provide you with an advance look at the book--online! Here's the list of chapters, and you can just go and read them right now! Remember, though, if you like the book, you owe it to Greenspun to actually purchase a copy at your local bookstore. It's folks like him that keep the Internet alive with the power of sharing your work so others can learn from your mistakes and successes.

1. Envisioning a site that won't be featured in suck.com
2. So you want to join the world's grubbiest club: Internet entrepreneurs
3. Scalable systems for on-line communities
4. Static site development
5. Learn to program HTML in 21 minutes
6. Adding images to your site
7. Publicizing your site
8. So you want to run your own server
9. User tracking
10. Sites that are really programs
11. Sites that are really databases
12. Database management systems
13. Interfacing a relational database to the Web
14. ecommerce
15. Case studies
16. Better living through chemistry
17. A future so bright you'll need to wear sunglasses

This book is not about HTML, nor will it tell you how to develop a Web site in 24 hours. What it is about is showing you, through examples and explainations, what you should be trying to do when you create a site, and how you can do it. My list of "suggested books" is getting quite large these days. Now, thanks to Greenspun, I have to add another to the list--Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing.

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Selections include:

• Web Publishing and Programming Resource Kit
• Java For Business
• Designing With Style Sheets, Tables, and Frames
• No Experience Required: Java 1.1
• Java Fundamental Classes Reference
• Learning Perl, 2nd Edition
• Professional Active Server Pages
• Web Client Programming with Perl
• HotWired Style: Principles for Building Smart Web Sites
• Designing With JavaScript
• Drag-n-Drop CGI
• Coloring Web Graphics 2
• Instant Dynamic HTML Programmer's Reference: NC 4 Edition
• XML: Principles, Tools and Techniques
• Professional IE4 Programming
• Secrets of Successful Web Sites
• HTML 4.0 Unleashed
• Raggett on HTML 4.0
• Java Applets and Channels Without Programming
• Programming Web Components
• Instant JavaScript
• Web Pages That Suck: Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design
• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
• Using HTML4, Java 1.1, and JavaScript1.2
• Web by Design: The Complete Guide
• Designing XML Internet Applications
• XML for Dummies
• Thinking in Java
• JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
• DHTML: The Definitive Reference
• Just XML
• Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience
• Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing
• Web Performance Tuning
• The XML Handbook
• Magical A-Life Avatars
• Java Design: Building Better Apps and Applets
• StrikingItRich.com
• The CDNow Story
• NERDS 2.0.1 - A Brief History of the Internet
• Building Better Web Pages
• Poor Richard's Web Site
• Web Design in a Nutshell

Suggest a Book!