This isn’t the book for the hardcore coder, it’s not the book for the elitist programmer. This IS the book for the developer that wants to pick apart at things and take themselves through a refresher course in some CSS and HTML “lessons.”

The book covers a sample site that Dan made, called “Tugboat.” Taking you, the reader, through the series of steps he took to get the CSS and HTML looking so sharp. Using some methods and explaining them extremely well in the time that he had to do it in, Dan takes you through the steps it took to achieve such CSS3 prestidigitation as rounded corner and transitions, among others.

Guest author, Ethan Marcotte (@beep) takes you through a little bit of responsive web design, fluid grids and fluid images.

The companion video is also very helpful, informative and entertaining, as we get to see Dan play the ukulele at the end.

Overall, the book was a fantastic refresher into new ways of bulletproof web design from one of the masters in the industry, along with a master of fluid grids, images and typography as a guest author. If you’re a seasoned veteran of programming and are looking for a hardcore programming book, this is not your cup of tea.

If you’re always looking to keep up-to-date and get back to basics once in a while, this book is for you, like it was for me.