Professional CSS: Chapter 8

The one in which I discuss stylesheet switching and more with Ethan Marcotte

My copy of Professional CSS arrived on my desk this morning and I was very proud to read chapter eight in which Ethan discusses stylesheet switching and Invasion of the Body Switchers.

To read Ethan describe IOTBS as Quite possibly the perfect style switcher brought a big smile to my face.

Chapter eight also features an interview in which I discuss with Ethan IOTBS, my feelings on why designers need to change the ways in which they view the web and a little about the inspirations which often flavour my designs. You can read Ethan's chapter online and for free, courtesy of Digital Web. Of course it would obviously be better to buy the book ;)

Where's Durstan?

In any multi-author book, there will always a change in writing style between chapters and my nomination for Funniest Author In A CSS Book goes not to Ethan (sorry mate) but to our very own Dunstan Orchard.

I believe sincerely that Dunstan is not only the finest technical interface designer in the world but that he has a dry and subtle humour which makes his writing such a joy to read. In Professional CSS, his code examples had me laughing out loud, a strange thing indeed from a book about web development. So before you rush on to Amazon to buy the book, I'll leave you with my favourite snippet from Dunstan's explanation of CSS3 selectors.

<p>Poppy is my dog</p>
<p>Poppy had five puppies</p>
<p class="hide">I like to eat puppies</p>

Pure class.

Replies

1. #1 On August 19, 2005 11:16 PM Faruk Ateş said:

   You're right. That really did have me laughing out loud. :-)

2. #2 On August 19, 2005 11:42 PM Andy Saxton said:

   Classic example code. *Kind* of like the instruction you receive use the Sudo command for the first time in Tiger.

   Hopefully my copy will be arriving shortly, had it on order for a while now.

3. #3 On August 20, 2005 03:32 PM Matt Robin said:

   Malarkey: Saw this book in Waterstones and thought about getting it....is it worth it then? (I already have piles of computer books lying around that I can't seem to shift or sell...I'm cautious to buy more books if I don't need them).
   Does this book contain info that can't already be accessed on the web?
   I've only heard of Ethan and Dunstan...are the other guys any good?

4. #4 On August 20, 2005 05:53 PM andr3 said:

   LoL @ dunstan's piece of code.

   More people should be inspired by him... it's so much better when you're reading pieces of code that makes you laugh.

   I still remember looking at a piece of code of Linux's kernel, and seeing comments similiar to these:

   (it was some sort of network service)
   // Hi, welcome to Sun Microsystems. Can i take your order please?
   [some code]
   if( something ) // would you like fries with that?
   [some code]

   that, made me laugh out lout, which probably also made me look like a retard, laughing at a computer screen. but you just made me do that again. damn you! :P

   i gotta get that book very soon.

5. #5 On August 20, 2005 09:29 PM andr3 said:

   @Molly: ahhaha those two posts are indeed some gems. :D

   That reminded me to read past entries of recent discovered blogs... i'm sure i'm missing a lot of good reads.

6. #6 On August 21, 2005 01:06 PM Andy Saxton said:

   @Molly: I can appreciate what Dunstan is talking about with the menu's. They do only seem to be a starting point from which to begin negotiation. One of the strangest things I came across, as a Brit, was biscuits and gravy.

   Not that the actual food was strange, but the equivalent in England would be. If you saw that on a menu for breakfast in England people would think the owners had gone crazy.

7. #7 On August 21, 2005 03:11 PM Jens Meiert said:

   Good he's hiding that text. lol.

8. #8 On August 22, 2005 10:21 AM Olly said:

   LOL! That's brilliant! ;-)

9. #9 On August 22, 2005 02:12 PM Ross Bruniges said:

   thats the kind of things I get into trouble for doing here at work - however it doesn't always stop me from doing it ;>

10. #10 On August 22, 2005 07:01 PM Matt Robin said:

    Well I don't need any greater approval than from the 'Gushing American Woman' herself!! :)

    It's now added to my (growing) list of things to buy that I'll get to in due course...probably next month.