Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
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Book Reviews of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Classroom in a Book
Book Review: Not very good, even for a beginner
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this book because I remembered using the CIB series to learn Photoshop 3. That book was very good. This one is not, and is definitely not worth the $54.99 list price.
There is very little explanation of WHY you do each task, and most (if not all) of the examples are nearly complete already - you just add the last bit of the project. You don't create anything from scratch, you just follow along and complete the project with little to no explanations about what you're doing or why.
Also, the lesson on creating forms informs you 4 pages into the lesson that although the lesson teaches how to create a form, the form won't actually do anything when you click "submit" because you'll need to "see Dreamweaver Help, 'Building applications visually'" to learn that part.
While constructing forms that can't do anything may seem helpful, I expected a little bit more from a book that lists for $55 and has "Adobe Press" as the author/publisher. I would have thought this book would be the most thorough beginner class you could find, but instead it's more like the first day of the beginner class, where they give the overview of what you'll learn.
I feel especially disappointed when I see other books such as the Dreamweaver CS3 Bible that are four times as thick and $5.00 cheaper.
Book Review: Very basic, expensive, leaves you wanting more.
Summary: 2 Stars
This was the assigned textbook for my Web Scripting class at the Art Institute and I actually ended up filing a complaint due to my severe disappointment with this book.
One thing I've noticed about the "Classroom In A Book" series is that it is always VERY basic... stuff that you can learn for free by doing simple Google searches with appropriate keywords. And there would be nothing wrong with the basic nature of the book, but the price tag really doesn't make any sense. If you purchase this book at a book store, it can easily run you 50 dollars! And the book isn't very thick at all.
I would highly recommend Dreamweaver The Missing Manual, it is easily 4 times larger than this book, contains thorough and comprehensive exercises with files you can download and the author knows the application, inside out.
Namaste,
Dey
Book Review: Getting help only if you pay by body parts...
Summary: 2 Stars
I know a thing or two about tutorials/manuals for I often test them as a beta-tester. The following comments are for all five of the CIBs. Yes, I have worked though each one.
As a bare start its ok but its just too much of a skimpy overview for the high price its requesting. This book should have been a PDF, unlocked, with the software. If you want a good intro at a reasonable price, don't buy this book. As for its content, I have found errors that should have been found long before it got to print. If you really want it, than wait a few more months for an updated edition. As for the pdf version, stay away from that too. Its DRM settings are overly restrictive, i.e., only 30 text selections over 30 days. There are much better books coming soon at the price with respect to its in-depth coverage. So buy them. :-)
Book Review: What???
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this book because it says it's from Adobe.
How can a company that makes such great software fall so short on it's books? I remember when I bought my first copy of Adobe Illustrator CS, I didn't go buy a book. Why?
It came with a book! A darn good one, too!
What I like about this book:
1. You can read it start to finish in a coffee shop (not too many pages).
2. It's very lightweight to carry around (not too many pages).
3. You really feel like you got thru it really fast (see above).
What I don't like about this book:
1. It glimpses over EVERYTHING.
2. It leaves me wanting more.
3. It brought me back to Amazon.com to look for a better book on the subject.
Book Review: 2 [reluctant] stars.
Summary: 2 Stars
Dreamweaver CS3 is undoubtedly the single best web/html authoring application to have ever been published, i.e., at the time of this writing, but this instructional manual is not worthy of the software. Note that reviewers who give this book high marks seem to do so while making no comparison to anything that is, or potentially might be, better. In other words, `the book has been of some help' (as compared to having no help at all). Well, I'll grant it that much, but that's hardly a ringing endorsement.
I have found it to be clumsy, opaque, disjointed, pretty much annoying. But yes, it's slightly better than nothing. I definitely recommend taking a look at reviews for other Dreamweaver manuals.