Dreamweaver CS5.5 Mobile and Web Development with HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery

David Karlins knows how to write about code and engage you with the dry subject of HTML 5 and CSS- among other codes. You can almost believe that you can make your way into a new design world with his helpful book. You truly want to believe that you can design a website and not have to adhere to ugly code alone for a website design. CSS and HTML5 are difficult to understand- let alone master. This ebook attempts to illuminate the dark abyss created for the code junkies. CSS is something that I approached 12 years ago but could never seem to get the hang of, due to frustrating results. With Dreamweaver's new CS5.5 edition, one would think the program would approach code and design simultaneously, from a more user friendly interface. It did NOT. Adobe's gui is somewhat improved but the code heavy program relies not on design view as much as code view...making my vision quest of learning these two new codes somewhere off in the distant future...and with the way things evolve, it will be even longer.David Karlins shows some basic approaches with tutorials to using the Dreamweaver platform to try and harness the power of these two idiot savant styles of poetic composition. As a graphic designer, I was faced with deadlines that I could not complete, armed with with just a book and determination. No, code is not approached with any real ease from a graphic design perspective. Different brain hemispheres are required for design and code. I was forced to rely on tedious old methods of web design- Draw AP Divs to force compliance in the hidden code. Enormous learning curves of code, with imaginary design results- seldom hit the mark of your personal creative endeavors with css and html 5 alone. Flash has a much more seductive device for design- also enabled with code heavy program structure to produce ingenious results. HTML5, CSS, and Dreamweaver are not pretty or fun for true graphic designers. Code takes patience to just learn and then there's deployment and mastery- not to mention keeping up with it's evolution. It is sad that our Internet today can only be written by maddening and fast evolving code monkeys. Dreamweaver should have had a better design interface evolve by now. Something is needed to tame the coded designer beast into a manageable design interface. Code hints are not enough. David Karlins made me believe in the new evangelism of code- just until I got ahold of DW and rolled up my sleeves. I read the whole book without going into a coma- in fact it was interesting- and let me towards the DW must-have- a let-down. The subject matter of his long-titled book, is the work of a taskmaster that could have taken on biblical proportions but is covered in a short idiot's can-do guide book. As a results oriented designer, I was frustrated by the code mystery puzzles and Dreamweaver's approach to reveal the code in a jumble of hidden menus. Adobe's answer is to make even more hidden dialogs that you have to learn. Adobe doesn't seem to want ease of use included with learning. Nightmare-CodeWeaver! I want Macromedia back.

Overall the book is an excellent value.I think the author took on a really big task tackling this topic. I also think he did a great job! HTML5, CSS3, JQuery Mobile and even Dreamweaver support for these technologies is a moving target. What's true at press-time, may not be true the day after. Also each of these technologies are pretty "thick" topics on their own.My expectation when I bought the book was this. Once I was done, I would feel more confident and knowledgeable about Mobile Web Dev and the technologies mentioned. Not that I would be an expert on any one of them. Also that I would learn how to leverage DW CS5.5's tools to make my job creating content easier. The book and the author met my expectations. There's a good mix of conversational dialog and "type this, click that" hands on. I am at a good place to start diving more deeply into each topic.The reasons I gave it a four instead of five is because the flow of the book was sometimes confusing. There were also one or two hands-on tasks where the author left out sample info and expected you to fill in the blanks. Code copy and paste in the Kindle PC version was clumsy and stuck a really long copyright statement after the code. Not sure if Amazon gets dinged for that or Packt, but it was annoying. Downloadable sample code would be nice.

David Karlin's new book is one every Web and Mobile designer using Dreameaver will want to own. My Kindle version is just the thing - readable on all of my apparatus, synced to continue where I left off. Well worth the purchase

This is a solid book. I am not pro web designer, just someone who wants to be in control of my own website and be able to update it myself. Consequently, I really like the approach that the author takes in both explaining the big picture of all the concepts and then going into minute detailed, dummy-proof explanations of each step of each process in how to actually design for the web and devices in Dreamweaver. In particular, I found it very helpful in the chapter about how to best use HTML5 to enhance my viewer's experience on iphones and make it more accessible as my old site was not originally designed with that in mind but now it is an obvious necessity. I am definitely not a coder but by following the steps in the book, I was able to make my content much more accessible by using HTMLl5 and the code hints in DW.

This book does a great job of defining the landscape for HTML5, Dreamweaver, and mobile implementation strategies. I found the chapters on HTML5 Layout Strategies, Media Queries, CSS3 Transformations and jQuery Mobile to be excellent.I like David's explanations on HTML5 strategies as they relate to user experience and design... two disciplines that aren't always easy to combine. Responsive Web design, or Multiscreen as Dreamweaver labels it, is the hottest topic in web design today. Responsive Design allows you to develop a single page, with alternate CSS rules depending on the user's screen size. An alternative trend for mobile web development is to design and develop specifically for mobile. A very popular framework for the is jQuery Mobile. The two chapters covering these topics will bring designers and developers quickly up to speed with these two mobile-enabled strategies.

I agree with others. Big topic, clearly explained. Highlight is concptual overview. Begins with Dreamweaver basics which I didn't need but moves quickly to CSS3 effects & HTL5 structured pages. Biggest downside, if that's what it is, lies not with the book but Dreameavers minimalist HTML5 & CSS3 support. By the last half of the book, its pretty much code view, I could have worked thru the mobile & jquerymobile sections with just a code editor. I have print version so cant confirm code copy issues but the snippets were short enough that typing worked, and I like to freestyle anyway.