7 Best HTML Books for Every Level (Spring 2023)
To become an all-around Frontend developer with an overall view of the programming language or specific technology, you need to supplement online courses and tutorials with the best books for HTML and CSS.
Front-end development is still one of the most sought-after professions because it pays well. Ironically, finding the best HTML books and resources can be daunting as many people in the industry rely on online material. Coding beginners register for online courses, while seasoned coders rely on HTML/CSS forums. We have rounded up a list of the best HTML books (best HTML and css books) for both beginners and advanced learners to help you make an easy and informed choice.
The two primary things that guided us when making the list are level of proficiency and application. One book may not benefit an experienced developer looking to build a mobile app much like it would a beginner developer looking to get into game development.
| Name | Nomination | Overall rating |
|
1. HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites A HTML and CSS book with a minimalistic layout and easy-to-follow illustrations of complex concepts for web designers and programmers. |
Editor’s Choice | 9.9 |
|
2. HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide A great beginner’s guide to learning coding, mastering the basics of web design, and designing responsive websites. |
Best for Beginners | 9.8 |
|
A HTML and CSS book with a unique instructional approach in teaching various skills needed in the job market today. |
Best Instructional Approach | 9.7 |
|
4. Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS The best book on HTML and CSS with exhaustive information about user interface responsiveness on mobile devices, desktops, and tablets. |
Best for Working with Fonts |
9.5 |
|
5. A Smarter Way to Learn HTML & CSS A book that helps you learn and remember HTML and CSS techniques better with interactive exercises at the end of every chapter. |
Most Unique Approach | 9.4 |
|
6. HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies A great book with all the information about HTML and CSS in beginner-friendly notes that are suitable for beginner and advanced coders. |
Best All-in-One Option | 9.3 |
|
A friendly guide with tips and tricks on learning web design and development with the three core languages; HTML, CSS, and Javascript. |
Most Versatile | 9.1 |
Detailed Product Reviews
Features:
- Author name: Jon Duckett
- Level of proficiency: web designers and programmers
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
- Edition: 1st edition (November 8, 2011)
- No of Pages: 490
This HTML and css book by Jon Ducket tops our list for all the right reasons. It is one of the best web development books to learn HTML and a top Amazon seller. The author, Jon Ducket, is a renowned web designer and developer with over 15 years of experience. The book is a top preference among many web developers because of its satisfyingly minimalistic layout that makes HTML/CSS less intimidating and super-easy to follow. Moreover, unlike many authors, Jon Ducket uses colorful infographics and screenshots to illustrate some difficult concepts that would be intimidating to beginners.
The HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites covers everything about HTML/CSS. You can learn how to build a website from scratch, design various website elements, and work with the languages on both PC and macOS. You will make the most of the code samples provided in their original color and demonstrated as well-labeled screenshots of the text editor.
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What we liked
- Easy-to-follow minimalistic layout
- Covers all the basics of HTML/CSS
- Easy illustrations for beginners
- It has useful examples and code snippets
What could be better
- It has some outdated information
Features:
- Author name: David Durocher
- Level of proficiency: beginners
- Publisher: ClydeBank Media LLC
- Edition: n/a
- No of Pages: 359
The HTML & CSS Quickstart guide lives up to its name with everything that the author; David Durocher covers in the book. The book is highly suitable for beginners as it covers more than just the HTML and CSS basics. You will get to learn about CSS elements, styling, HTML tags, and how to build and adequately responsive website with a step-by-step guide. Besides website design, the book has information about website structure and organizing elements like images, fonts, gradients, sprites, and multimedia. As if that’s enough, the book gives insights into markup best practices and practical examples of how to update and debug websites.
The HTML & CSS Quickstart guide is designed exclusively for beginners. Its simple writing language and style make it an excellent resource for anyone learning to code and create websites. Mr DuRocher’s approach to teaching HTML and CSS is unique. He progresses from high-level overviews of HTML and CSS to practical advice on how to build a website.
What we liked:
- Covers more than the basics of HTML and CSS
- Easy to follow for beginners
- Plenty of visual examples
- Helpful hands-on activities
- Offers insights into markup best practices
What could be better:
- After buying the book, you have to sign up for an email list
- Features:
- Author name: Anne Boehm, Zak Ruvalcaba
- Level of proficiency: both for beginners and professionals
- Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates
- Edition: 5th edition (December 14, 2021)
- No of Pages: 602
This Murach’s book is one of the best HTML/CSS books with an instructional approach. Many developers swear by the book being a total game changer. It is a 5th edition written in 2021, thus has up to date information that suits learners looking to join the job market presently. The book has everything you need to know about web development, from the basics to more complicated stuff like enhancements like CSS animations, forms, video, and responsive designs. You will also learn website usability and deployment. What’s more, after mastering HTML and CSS skills, you will find Murach’s book a useful on-the-job reference.
This book is highly acclaimed because its authors; Zak Ruvalcaba and Anne Boehm, are highly experienced in writing and computing. With all Anne Boehm’s books, it is evident that she has a gift for making complex concepts easy to understand and less intimidating. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced web developer, Murach’s HTML and CSS will come in handy for both learning and referencing purposes.
What we liked:
- Well written by experienced authors
- Covers all the basics of web development
- It has information about website usability and deployment
- All the information is up to date
- Easy to follow
What could be better:
- Some steps are not clear enough
Features:
- Author name: Ben Frain
- Level of proficiency: both beginners and professionals
- Publisher: Packt Publishing
- Edition: 3rd edition (April 30, 2020)
- No of Pages: 408
The Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS is the best learning and reference book you can get when it comes to user interface design. The author Ben Frain discusses user interface responsiveness across different devices at length. The book is satisfyingly engaging right from the first page as Mr. Frain uses a relaxed, non-formal tone. He covers all the HTML/CSS elements that affect website usability, like user accessibility, variable fonts, font loading, CSS grid, and much more. Each of these elements are covered in different chapters of the book, making the content easy to follow.
Besides user interface information, the Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS book provides tips on developing animations, media queries, grid layouts, transitions, transformations, and many other CSS frontend customizations. By the time you are done reading the book, you will have the desirable HTML5 and CSS skills needed to develop future-proof responsive websites.
- Suits both beginners and professionals
- Written in an engaging, relaxed, non-formal tone
- Easy to understand
- It has tips for various CSS frontend customizations
- In-depth information about the new CSS grid layout
What could be better:
- The book has no color in its pages
Features:
- Author name: Mark Myers
- Level of proficiency: beginners
- Publisher: n/a
- Edition: n/a
- No of Pages: 231 pages
This book truly is a smarter way of learning HTML and CSS. The author, Mark Myers, uses a unique approach of simplifying web development’s complex concepts in short chapters and including interactive exercises at the end of each chapter. The short chapters allow you to learn coding faster, and the interactive exercises allow you to remember what you learned longer. At the end of every chapter, you will be directed to a practice site that has the interactive activities, and you cannot proceed to the next chapter until you answer everything correctly. Every time you give a wrong answer, the system will redirect you to the question until you get it right.
The best thing about this book is that it is well-sequenced. This makes learning super-easy for beginners. After learning a new concept, you get to apply the knowledge immediately for further understanding. Moreover, the author covers all the HTML and CSS basics well.
What we liked:
- It is well sequenced
- It offers practical activities
- Complex concepts are simplified in short chapters
- All basics are covered
- Easy to follow writing style
What could be better:
- Some examples are oversimplified
- No visual examples
Features:
- Author name: Andy Harris
- Level of proficiency: both for beginners and professionals
- Publisher: For Dummies
- Edition: 3rd edition (January 7, 2014)
- No of Pages: 1104 pages
The HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies is one of the best books for HTML and css beginners. The all-in-one guide for dummies covers all the basics of HTML5 and CSS3. It has incredible beginner-friendly notes that newbies can easily understand. The author, Andy Harris, explains in simple terms the principles of working with HTML5 and CSS3 then proceeds to give tips on how to seamlessly integrate them with MySQL, Javascript, and Ajax to form responsive websites. Essentially, the book not only covers the basics of web design and layout but also server-side and client-side elements.
The HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies is a fantastic option for advanced coders just like it is for beginners. Many seasoned web developers swear by it being a great source for learning the new rules. It is well-written with lots of examples that make it easy to understand or re-learn the fundamentals of coding.
What we liked:
- Covers the full stack of Web development
- Easy-to-follow writing structure
- Great in-depth examples
- It has beginner-friendly notes
- Suitable for both beginners and professionals
What could be better:
- Some steps are not straightforward enough for beginners
- Some visual examples are a bit outdated
Features:
- Author name: Jennifer Robbins
- Level of proficiency: beginners
- Publisher: O’Reilly Media
- Edition: 5th edition (June 19, 2018)
- No of Pages: 808 pages
The Learning Web Design book is hands-down the best book on HTML, CSS, and javascript. It is written by a highly experienced web designer in the world; Jennifer Robins. She has been building websites since 1993 and is one of the top veterans in the industry. The book will give you great decade-old insights on HTML, CSS, and Javascript, the three primary languages of web development. You will learn how to set up HTML pages with images, forms, links, text, and tables as well applying CSS to animation effects, page layouts, colors, backgrounds, and text formatting.
The books is filled with short quizzes and exercises that will help you understand and remember the concepts you learn in each chapter. Its latest addition has the latest developments like Flexbox, and grids for page layout. Moreover, besides the learning content for responsive web design, you get bonus content SVG graphics.
What we liked:
- Well-organized
- In-depth, step-by-step guides
- Plenty of examples for every concept
- It covers all the HTML, CSS, and Javascript basics
- Easy to understand conversational tone
What could be better:
- The papers are too thin and see-through
Things to Consider
You may not know what to look for when choosing web development learning sources. This section contains all the information that can help you choose suitable learning material.
What is HTML?
According to MDN Web Docs by Mozilla, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) is a markup language that defines your content’s structure. It has a series of elements that you use to enclose different parts of your content to make it appear in a certain way.
HTML is the foundation of web pages as it is the language in which many websites are written. It is used to make functional web pages.
Features of HTML
The main features of HTML are;
- It is a markup language that is platform independent
- It is easy to learn
- It is easy to use. You can make an effective presentation with HTML easily.
- Allows the addition of videos, audio and images on a web page
- You can add hypertext to the text with HTML.
How to Learn HTML
According to digital garage by Google, the best ways to learn HTML are;
Creating web pages: This is the best and easiest way of learning HTML. You don’t need complex tools to write a web page on HTML. You can get started with a text editor and a web browser. When you advance to creating more complex pages, you will know what it takes to build a website from scratch.
Watching HTML tutorials: Online tutorials are often broken into easy to follow step-by-step guides that can help you learn the basics of HTML. When following a tutorial online, you can make your end product different from the one being illustrated so that you stimulate your brain by thinking through the concepts and applying them. Taking notes during the tutorial will also help you understand and remember the concepts.
What is CSS?
W3C defines CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) as the language used to describe the presentation of web pages including layout, colors, and fonts. CSS is used to adapt the presentation of web pages to different types of devices with large or small screens. You can use CSS with any XML-based markup language and it is independent of HTML.
Features of CSS
Web Control: CSS is easy to learn and has controlling power on HTML documents. Although it is independent of HTML, it can be integrated with both HTML and XHTML markup languages.
Website design: With CSS you can manage web pages’ presentations by controlling layout, background colors and images, font style, text color and display variations for different screens and device sizes.
Makes other languages easier to understand: Once you cover the fundamentals of CSS and HTML, other languages like JavaScript, Angular and PHP become much easier to understand.
Essential for Web designing: You must master CSS to become a professional web designer.
How to Learn CSS?
According to an article by Free code camp, the best way to learn CSS as a beginner is to learn some HTML basics first. Once you have some HTML background you can go ahead and read the theory about CSS, how it works in the web, and its usage. After reading the theory, you can proceed to watching tutorials on how to create a basic website and then practice as much as you can.
How to Choose the Best HTML and CSS Books
When picking the best HTML and CSS books, ensure your prime option meets the following criteria;
Level of Proficiency
You should choose a book that suits your capabilities. If you are a seasoned coder, you may not make the most of a book designed exclusively for beginners like the HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide.
Beginners
As a beginner, you need a book that simplifies the complex concepts of web development. Go for options exclusively designed for beginners or those reviewed as beginner-friendly because they are likely to be written in a friendly conversational tone that makes coding concepts less intimidating and easy to understand. The HTML and Quickstart Guide on our list is one of the best HTML books for beginners.
Intermediate
With intermediate skills, you probably have the basics covered. You can choose a book that is not very basic and can allow you to expand your knowledge base. Books that claim to cater to both beginners and professional needs like HTML5 and CSS3 All-in-One For Dummies are an ideal choice.
Experts
As an expert, you need a book you can use as a reference point. Choose a book that covers everything about HTML and CSS and has up to date information like Murach’s HTML and CSS.
Application
The skills and hacks you get from any detailed HTML and CSS book can be put to various uses including;
Game Dev
A basic understanding of web development is enough to create a game. If you buy a book that has detailed information about the fundamentals of HTML, CSS and Javascript like Learning Web Design and master the concepts, you can create virtually any type of game.
Mobile Apps
Like building a game, you can leverage the power of HTML, CSS and JavaScript and build a simple mobile app. For a mobile app, you can make the most out of Learning Web Design which has enough information and step-by-step guides on how to code with all the three languages and Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and CSS for extensive information on user interfaces. The UI knowledge is essential for building the app’s aesthetics.
Desktop Apps
You can run HTML, CSS and JavaScript as a desktop application code. A HTML/CSS book with JavaScript guides would be sufficient in creating a desktop app. You can use Electron, which is a framework that makes building native apps using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript easier.
Web Services
A web service is a piece of software on the internet that uses a standardized XML messaging system. It is a self-contained, dynamic application that you can describe, publish or invoke over the network to develop processes, supply chains, and products. Web services are not tied to any operating system or programming language and are built on open standards like HTML, XML, Java, TCP/IP and HTTP. Any HTML/CSS book on our product list can equip you with the skills needed to build a web service.
Neural Networks
Neutral Networks, aka Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) is a software and /or hardware system that mimics the operation of the human brain neurons. The technology helps solve pattern recognition and signal processing problems. JavaScript skills are enough for building a neural network from scratch. With JavaScript you can easily embed your model into a running application. A book that covers the fundamentals of JavaScript will equip you with the right skills for building a neural network.
Graphics for Metaverses
You can build Metaverses by developing VR apps. Building VR apps requires basic HTML and JavaScript skills which you can get from an exhaustive book like Learning Web Design.
FAQ
Is HTML good in 2022??
HTML and CSS are still highly valuable in 2022, because the demand for the languages is still high from firms and organizations that build, manage and improve web applications worldwide.
What should you know before learning HTML?
Before you delve into HTML practically, it helps to know what HTML is in theory and how it is applicable. Some of the crucial things to go through in theory before you start coding are basic HTML tags and elements. Look at the structure of an HTML element as well.
Our Verdict
Choosing the best HTML books should not be a challenge after reading this guide. Our product list has the best options on the market. Our first pick, HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites is the best to learn HTML from. It has a minimalistic layout and easy-to-follow illustrations for complex concepts.
Our second pick, HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide is the best HTML/CSS book for a novice. It is made exclusively for beginners with a simple writing style that is easy to understand. Plus, it covers more than just the HTML and CSS fundamentals.
Our third option, Murach’s HTML and CSS has the best instructional approach. Its authors are highly experienced in both writing and computing. The book caters to the learning needs of both beginners and advanced coders. Another thing that makes it one of the best HTML books is the extra tips and tricks on Website usability and deployment.
References:
MDN Web Docs. Mozilla. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
Digital Garage. Google. https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/course/build-your-first-web-pages-with-html-and-css
W3C, HTML and CSS. https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/htmlcss
Free Code Camp. Follow these steps to become a CSS Superstar