Cover of Learning web design

Learning web design

by Jennifer Niederst Robbins · first published 2007

11mentions
7recommended by
9HN commenters
2010–2026first – last mentioned

78% recommend22% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Structured, practice-driven introduction to HTML, CSS and web graphics, with exercises after each lesson; suited to true beginners and to anyone wanting solid fundamentals before newer features.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Overview: Do you want to build web pages, but have no previous experience? This friendly guide is the perfect place to start. You'll begin at square one, learning how the Web and web pages work, and then steadily build from there. By the end of the book, you'll have the skills to create a simple site with multi-column pages that adapt for mobile devices. Learn how to use the latest techniques, best practices, and current web standards-including HTML5 and CSS3. Each chapter provides exercises to help you to learn various techniques, and short quizzes to make sure you understand key concepts. Th

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Mentions per year

30 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 3 mentions2011: 0 mentions2012: 0 mentions2013: 0 mentions2014: 0 mentions2015: 0 mentions2016: 0 mentions2017: 0 mentions2018: 0 mentions2019: 0 mentions2020: 1 mention2021: 2 mentions2022: 2 mentions2023: 0 mentions2024: 0 mentions2025: 0 mentions2026: 1 mention200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • megameter · Jun 18, 2020 · Recommends

    …likely that even if this man doesn't have access to the Internet, the computer he uses has a web browser, and therefore some version of Javascript. Therefore, I would pick Web tech as the entry point: Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics, Javascript the Definitive Guide, Eloquent Javascript, and Javascript the Good Parts. Failing that, he will probably have to bootstrap from…

    on “Ask HN: Advice for a prisoner learning to program” ↗
  • pramodbiligiri · Dec 3, 2021 · Recommends

    Second this! Refactoring UI has very practical and effective advice for creating web UI's. Apart from this, I recommend "Learning Web Design" (5th Edition) by Jennifer Robbins. It has a broad sweep and still gives you all the practical tips. Learning React (2nd Edition) is a good one if you're going to use React. P.S: I did a similar Ask…

    on “Ask HN: Best self-starter resources to learn web design?” ↗
  • gabrielroth · Nov 16, 2010 · Recommends

    For CSS, I've recommended "Learning Web Design" by Jennifer Niederst Robbins to several people. It's a bit out of date now (doesn't cover HTML5 and CSS3) but you shouldn't be learning the latest additions before you have a solid grasp of the basics…

    on “CSS Positioning 101” ↗
  • joshstaiger · Oct 7, 2010 · Recommends

    Some previous discussions: Ask HN: Learning Web Design — http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1604915 Ask HN: How can I get better at design? —http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1474315 I’ve found this online book great — http://designingfortheweb.co.uk/book/index.php…

    on “Ask HN: Where to look to learn UX/Design” ↗
  • untamedmedley · Oct 16, 2010 · Recommends

    1. If you don't already have familiarity with HTML and CSS, learn those first. I recommend a book called Learning Web Design: http://www.learningwebdesign.com/ It teaches like a math book, with practice problems after each lesson. 2. Pick a language to learn. I had a C++ background that I hadn't touched since high school,…

    on “Ask HN: Zero programming experience and badly want to learn. Where to start? ” ↗
  • pramodbiligiri · May 6, 2021 · Recommends

    I’ve been skimming this book called “Learning Web Design (5th Edition)” and it does a good job at that by including sections on the big picture and long term trends. Its author has been in the web dev field for decades and has written multiple books on the…

    on “HTML Tips (2020)” ↗
  • pramodbiligiri · Aug 7, 2021 · Recommends

    …resource that was recommended on that Ask HN. The authors have a book and some videos. Very actionable and systematic advice. That formed the basis of my understanding. For more specific techniques, the Learning Web Design 5th Edition (by Jenna Something) is very good. I skimmed Don’t Make Me Think, which validated some of my own thoughts and helps you avoid silly oversights. I also read Design of Everyday Things but found…

    on “Show HN: Paper Time – Listen to abstracts of CS papers, like a custom podcast” ↗
  • echoradio · Dec 3, 2021 · Recommends

    Second Robbins’ “Learning Web Design.” Also, if you’re really a true beginner, also try “HTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide” by Joe Cassabona. VQS is great because as you’re trying to learn an aspect of code, it includes a text explanation,…

    on “Ask HN: Best self-starter resources to learn web design?” ↗
  • atribecalledqst · May 26, 2026 · Recommends

    …else have I read that's paid dividends over the years: - Modern Operating Systems (Tannenbaum) - Learning Python (Lutz) - JavaScript - The Definitive Guide (Flanagan) - Programming PHP (Tatroe) - Learning Web Design (Robbins) - Algorithms (Sedgewick) - A book I read whose name escapes me now, about technologies like RS-282/RS-484 and serial communications in general - (I could probably put down Cuckoo's Egg too…

    on “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore” ↗
  • Hippoly · Oct 20, 2022 · Mentions

    I've read this much about this: 1) Learning Web Design Book by Jennifer Niederst Robbins 1 rem= 1* browser's default font size 1 em= depends on the element type, for h1 it's something, for h2, it's sth else. 2) https://css-tricks.com/confused-rem-em/ >While…

    on “What's the difference between CSS “em” and “rem”?” ↗
  • …I’ve finished learning basics of HTML and CSS indvidually. I.e topic by topic w/o creating a project. If you want to know the topics that I’ve learnt, I’ve learnt around everything contained in the book “learning web design by jennifer robbins”. Now, I want to do some projects using only html and css. Please share some beginner friendly projects(websites) to do. I’m really stuck and unable to create any projects even though…

    on “Finished learning basics of HTML and CSS” ↗

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