In our wonderful world of web design, there are 3,647 ways to accomplish the same goal—approximately. And that absurdly fictitious number is increasing every day. Instead of one, correct way of solving a particular problem, we're both blessed and cursed by the abundant choices we have as web designers. It's these choices that make designing for the Web fun and interesting, while at the same time overwhelming. CSS Mastery will help cure that overwhelmingitis (a word that I've just invented).

Andy Budd has been writing, designing, and speaking about standards-based web design for years, and we're now lucky to see his clear, easy-to-follow way of teaching essential CSS techniques compiled in this very book. The result is a card catalog of indispensable solutions, tricks, and tips that a web professional such as yourself should not be without.

I've always frowned on publications that suggest a single, correct way of accomplishing a goal, and Andy does the complete opposite, offering multiple methods for tasks such as styling links, creating tabbed navigation, utilizing time-saving CSS3 solutions, or creating fixed, fluid, or elastic layouts, as well as giving tips on how to troubleshoot those pesky browser bugs that go along with designing with CSS (to name but a few). Armed with these popular and stylish approaches to common design elements, you'll be better prepared to make your own informed decisions.

And as if that wasn't enough, Andy's gone ahead and enlisted the help of two imitable designers to help pull all the pieces together, showing how these essential techniques can work together. I've long been a fan of Cameron's and Simon's work, and to see two great case studies covering fluid, bulletproof designs as well as flexible style solutions, respectively, well, that's just a gigantic bonus.

So dig in and start chipping away at those 3,647 ways to master your CSS.

Dan Cederholm

Author, Web Standards Solutions