A few days ago, I was stuck. I really wanted to get into web development, for which you need to start with HTML and CSS. Now the problem was that most online references simply throw a gazillion terms at you, and you just hope these things we are learning make sense to us. Once you are done with learning how to make forms in HTML, something you will not even be using until you learn about javascript, you are made to go through tens of hundreds of CSS properties that you just hope to skim through.
I wanted something that could teach me the basics and equip me with enough knowledge to make sense of results I find on a internet and move on incase I find something new or get stuck. I just wanted enough knowledge to set me up for a project, which I did make.
So then, I came across a book from the same series I had once read for Java, Head First HTML CSS. These guys have an entire catalogue of many more languages, which you can look up on the web, and they are absolute gems.
I would describe them as picture books, filled with information and dry humor, makes an amazing book to lay back and read. These books are easy and quick to skim through, if you want, which you probably shouldn’t, just try coding the stuff yourself.
A very important note though, these books are not reference books, these will equip you with the 10–20 percent you need to get started with your project and not be scared to look up and learn things. These are just to give you the confidence to get started and are amazing at doing that.
All these books are written in an informal, conversational language which make it way more easy to read through, than a more technical book. Although a technical book will have all the information you will ever need, you will not need majoriy of that information 80 percent of the time, This is called the 80 20 rule. Which means that only 20 percent of the things in a skill do 80 percent of the tasks. The rest 80 does the remaining 20 which can be simply learned through experience instead of boring the hell out of yourself, before even making something significant.
When I first read this book, I tried to make a personal portfolio website, which also needed grids and flexboxes, some topics in CSS, but the book did not cover them up that well, but when I looked it up, it all simply made sense.
Just do the 20 percent and your imagination and curiosity will do the rest.
