CSS Tutorials is Live!

We’d like to announce TopTenREVIEWS’ new site, CSS Tutorials, which is dedicated to reviewing instructional products for teaching people efficient methods of using the Cascading Style Sheets web language.

The CSS Tutorial rating criteria weighs three broad categories: Features, Ease of Use, and Support for 10 of the more popular CSS tutorial products on the market.
CSS: The Missing Manual earns the highest review score. It covers the basics, intermediate, and some advanced CSS techniques with equal parts instructional and entertaining writing. The book includes step-by-step tutorials complete with project files that can be downloaded from the publisher’s website for a practical approach to learning, as well as an abundance of small features that give it a high level of polish.

Cascading Style Sheets is simple compared to other web languages, but that does not mean it is immediately easy to understand. A good tutorial product simply conveys theories and techniques so newcomers get a firm grasp on every aspect of the language without having to think too hard.

We looked for notable and useful features within each product, those include Code Examples, which depict the correct format so users can transfer the code to their own development. Cross-browser support is a necessary evil in web development and must be included in a CSS-related product.  A good CSS tutorial should also include forward-thinking options like CSS3 and downloadable project files so users can see exactly what the lesson is talking about. A small feature, but one that is rapidly becoming more important, is information regarding developing for mobile platforms.

Ease of Use relates to easy it is to understand the lessons, follow the tutorials, and/or operate the software. Support relates to options for further assistance (contacting the author, errata files, etc.).

To get a refresher on what CSS is all about and why it's useful, be sure to consult the “Why learn CSS?” Learning Center article.

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