Top 10 Web Development Books

Table of Contents

Let’s explore the best Web development books

Web development also called Website development, deals with the construction, creation, and maintenance of websites, and the people who design, construct, and manage websites are called web developers or web devs. A great number of Web development courses and tutorials are present online that are of immense help to studying the basics of web development as well as its advanced concepts. However, nothing beats the usefulness of a good Web development book that is handy to refer to whenever necessary.

Also, depending on your needs and requirements i.e., whether you are a beginner wanting a full detailed web development book or someone looking out to refresh your knowledge on a particular web development concept, or a professional in the field wanting to expand your web development knowledge, you can find a book here that caters to your needs.

Top 10 Web Development Books

Below we have listed the Top 10 Web development books for you to refer to. These books are available on Amazon and help you learn more and expand your Web development knowledge. Moreover, they are also useful to improve your web design business and grow your career.

1. HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites

Book Details

Author: Jon Duckett

Publisher‏: ‎ John Wiley & Sons

Latest Edition: 1st edition (November 8, 2011)

No. Of Pages: 490 pages.

Book Summary

This web development book teaches you to design and build websites using HTML and CSS. The book is unique in that it introduces HTML and CSS in a way that makes them accessible to a variety of individuals from different backgrounds, be it hobbyists, students, or professionals.

The topics are explained in a simple and engaging way by using graphics and lifestyle photography that are similar to those seen in magazines and the paper quality is excellent.

In this book, you will learn about HTML and CSS3, the structuring of web pages and sites, preparing images, audio, video, and control typography and layout. Its attractive code samples will help you develop beautiful websites.

Ideal for

it is ideal for beginners studying HTML and CSS as it covers everything from the basics to advanced concepts. Moreover, also suitable for Web designers and programmers, online and content editors, marketers, e-commerce managers, bloggers, and hobbyists.

Click here to get “HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites” on Amazon

2. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

Book Details

Author: David Flanagan

Publisher‏: ‎ O’Reilly

Latest edition: 7th edition (June 23, 2020)

No. Of Pages: 704 pages

Book Summary

This web development book has been a bestseller for seven years and the latest edition covers the 2020 JavaScript. The new chapters cover the classes, modules, iterators, generators, Promises, async/await, and metaprogramming.

The book has all the information on JavaScript language and the JavaScript APIs used by web browsers and by Node. It documents the Java Script language definitively and provides in-depth information on the important client-side and server-side APIs available to JavaScript programs.

Ideal for

Programmers wanting to learn JavaScript and also web developers who want to upgrade their skills and mastery to further levels.

Click here to get “JavaScript: The Definitive Guide” on Amazon

3. Eloquent JavaScript

Book Details

Author: Marijn Haverbeke

Publisher‏: ‎ No Starch Press

Latest edition: 3rd edition (December 4, 2018)

No. Of Pages: ‎ 472 pages

Book Summary

This book teaches you JavaScript through practical guides and projects and shows how to write beautiful, effective codes. The book covers all of the ideas of JavaScript and helps you learn the basic principles of it including variables, control structures, functions, and data structures. Furthermore, advanced subjects like object-oriented programming and conditionals are also taught.

This web development book also helps you learn about error handling and bug fixing, modularity, asynchronous programming, and also web browsers. You will gain practical experience in tasks like artificial life simulation a simple programming language, and a paint program.

Ideal for

Suitable for beginners

Click here to get “Eloquent JavaScript” on Amazon

4. Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja

Book Details

Author: Josip Maras

Publisher‏: ‎ Manning

Latest edition: 2nd Edition, August 18, 2016

No. Of Pages: ‎ 464 pages

Book Summary

While the previous books on this list will help you learn the basics of JavaScript, this web development book helps you to go further than the basics and master the more difficult JavaScript concepts.

The book illustrates core concepts and techniques using practical examples. It helps you in mastering key JavaScript concepts like functions, closures, objects, prototypes, and promises.

The book not only teaches you to write effective code with functions, objects, and closures, but you also get to learn how to avoid JavaScript application pitfalls. Furthermore, the book cover concepts from ES6 and ES7. To summarize you don’t need to be a ninja to read this book, but you will most probably end up becoming one after you are done with it.

Ideal for

It is suitable for learners who already have an idea of JavaScript and want to improve their knowledge and atone their skills further.

Click here to get “Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja” on Amazon

5. Fullstack Vue: The Complete Guide to Vue.js

Book Details

Author: Hassan Djirdeh, Nate Murray, and Ari Lerner

Latest edition: September 19, 2019

No. Of Pages: ‎ 464 pages

Book Summary

This web development book deals with Vue, which is one of the popular JavaScript frameworks. The book boasts of helping you to master the whole Vue framework by providing strong foundation concepts and teaching you best practices to deal with the JavaScript framework. It shows code variation for every step and by showing you how the end result looks, makes it easier for learners wanting to reproduce it.

Furthermore, the book has practical examples and exercises that cover all concepts and makes your learning experience interesting and easy. The book will make you like the frontend again and helps you get rid of the JavaScript fatigue which is likely in most cases.

The book helps you learn everything you need to know to work professionally and by the end of the book, you will be able to create a Server-Persisted shopping cart, calendar application, and verify forms. What more, you will also build bullet-proof apps with testing.

Ideal for

It is suitable for intermediate and advanced users who already have knowledge of the basics of JavaScript.

Click here to get “Fullstack Vue: The Complete Guide to Vue.js” on Amazon

6. Road To React: Your Journey to Master React.js in JavaScript

Book Details

Author: Robin Weiruch

Publisher: Self-published

Latest edition: 2022 edition

No. of Pages- ‎ 365 pages

Book Summary

This book is considered your road to mastering React.js in JavaScript. It is comprehensive, pragmatic, and yet concise. Furthermore, this book helps you learn all the fundamentals of React.js with Hooks, all the while building a full-blown React application step by step. Every chapter gets you started with a new React key feature

The book starts from basic concepts and goes further step by step wherein each new chapter builds upon the learnings from the previous chapter. In addition, exercises provided at the end of each chapter further makes the lessons interesting. In addition, it covers advanced feature implementations like client- and server-side searching and also topics such as testing and performance optimizations.

The main feature of this Web development book is that it not only answers the how but also the why. Also, since this book is self-published, the author updates it whenever needed and there is no question of the book becoming outdated as is the problem with most other programming books

Ideal for

It is a great choice for someone who is an experienced developer wanting to know more about JavaScript frameworks.

Click here to get “Road To React: Your Journey to Master React.js in JavaScript” on Amazon

7. Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript: With jQuery, CSS & HTML5

Book Details

Author: Robin Nixon

Publisher: O’Reilly Media

Latest edition: 5th edition (June 19, 2018)

No. of Pages- ‎ 832 pages

Book Summary

With this popular hands-on guide, you will learn to tackle dynamic web programming using the latest version of today’s core technologies like PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, and key jQuery libraries. Even with just your basic HTML language, it teaches you to build data-driven, interactive websites using the jQuery framework.

The book helps web designers pick up valuable web programming practices like how to optimize websites for mobile devices. By the end of this web development book, you will be able to build a fully functioning social networking site that is suitable for both desktop and mobile browsers.

Furthermore, you will also learn how to construct dynamic web pages that change depending on user input, how to use cookies for high-level security, master designing of user experience (UX), and master basic design ideas.

Ideal for

Not suitable for novices without prior experience in software development. The book is curated for software engineers and seasoned front-end developers.

Click here to get “Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScript: With jQuery, CSS & HTML5” on Amazon

8. PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide

Book Details

Author: Larry Ullman

Publisher: Peachpit Press

Latest edition: 5th edition (November 3, 2017)

No. of Pages- ‎ 704 pages

Book Summary

The book makes you learn PHP and MySQL web development by providing a great number of demonstrations and real-world examples thus helping you create dynamic database-driven Web sites. You will achieve an extremely solid understanding of PHP through this web development book.

The book boasts step-by-step instructions, complete scripts, and expert tips to guide you. After helping you with the basics of both PHP 7 and MySQL, the book covers core issues starting from security to session management to jQuery and object-oriented programming techniques. It also stresses on latest features and techniques throughout thus keeping you up-to-date.

Every chapter has a well-explained topic that is followed by a working example. Furthermore, the book has a comprehensive reference guide that you may use as and when required over the years.

Ideal for

This is one of the greatest web development books available that is suitable for intermediate programmers looking to work on their server-side programming language skills and knowledge

Click here to get “PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites: Visual QuickPro Guide” on Amazon

9. PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice

Book Details

Author: Matt Zandstra

Publisher: Apress

Latest edition: 6th edition (April 3, 2021)

No. of Pages- 858 pages ‎

Book Summary

The best web development book to further your PHP programming to the highest level. The book provides a solid understanding of PHP’s support for objects and has been revamped and completely updated for PHP 8. It starts with object-oriented programming techniques and moves into the design patterns and tools that help turn a code into a worthy project.

Covers key topics like class declarations, inheritance, and reflection and also advanced topics like attributes, constructor property promotion, new arguments, and return pseudo-types.

Through this book, you will learn to Work with object fundamentals and master advanced features like static methods and properties, managing error conditions with exceptions, and creating abstract classes and interfaces.

Ideal for

Suitable for anyone with a basic knowledge of PHP and wanting its object-oriented features in their projects. It is also useful for PHP coders who are looking to learn about the practices and tools that make their projects safe and stable.

The book is for experienced developers and is accessible in kindle and print formats.

Click here to get “PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice” on Amazon

10. Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common-Sense Approach to Web Usability

Book Details

Author: Steve Krug

Publisher: New Riders

Latest edition: 3rd edition (December 24, 2013)

No. of Pages- ‎ 216 pages

Book Summary

This book is more like a manual than a textbook. It is written in an informal manner, nonetheless, it is very informative. A great number of web designers and developers have read this guide to learn the principles of intuitive navigation and information design. It is one of the most recommended web development books because of its witty, common-sensical, and practical tone

This web development book covers the basics of intuitive navigation and information design and lessons on how to increase the usability of your website. It mainly focuses on basic notions of online usability which is one of the effective web development methods. Furthermore, the book boasts a variety of examples and beautiful illustrations making it a pleasure to read from.

The book also gives you a clear picture of how the majority of viewers surf the internet and how to make your site easy for them to access.

Ideal for

Suitable for a front-end developer who needs guidance for launching a new website, undertaking a website redesigning, or editing the existing site.

Click here to get “Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common-Sense Approach to Web Usability” on Amazon

Start building websites by learning more about web development and designing

Web development is not just designing a website, but involves a whole process of bringing it to life and maintaining it. It is a vast area encompassing many technologies, methods, concepts, and practices. Because of its ever-changing nature with developing trends, it is essential to gain a thorough knowledge of the principles of web development. However, no single Web development course can cover it entirely.

In the present digital era, anything and everything, be it a product or a service or even a personal brand all require an online presence and that is impossible without a website. Hence, a web developer’s career is evergreen since it is always in demand and ever-growing. This has led to the mushrooming of many online educational institutes that provide web development courses, but choose wisely which provide extensive, targeted, and easy-to-understand courses

Why choose Henry Harvin

Henry Harvin ranks amongst the Top 500 Global Edtech Companies with 300,000+ Alumni and having a customer base in 97+ countries, it also ranks amongst the Top 100 Edtech companies of India. You can learn from brilliant mentors in the field with more than a decade of work experience under their belt. It is recognized for its quality by leading publications like Hindustan Times, Statesman, Business World, The Pioneer, and leading media channels like Aaj Tak and News World India. Moreover, it is an ISO-29990:2010 certified audited from UKAF, UK Cert, and MSME

Advantages of joining the Web development course for beginners at Henry Harvin

It is a well-thought-out beginner learning program that imparts fundamental programming knowledge. Here you will learn programming concepts in HTML, CSS and a few lessons on Java and provide you with a practical learning approach.

You get a 9-in-1 program which includes a two-way live training course, hallmark certification, 10+ projects, guaranteed internship, job support, hackathons, boot camps, and E-learning access. Furthermore, with their gold membership, you get unlimited access to live sessions, recorded videos, projects, and case studies up to a year after completion of the course. Also, its guaranteed internship program and training sessions give you a hands-on work experience in the field.

Thus, if you are a beginner in the programming world and want to gain knowledge, join the Web Development Course offered by Henry Harvin, upon completion of which, you are guaranteed to possess skills that will help you become a good developer.

Conclusion

As discussed above, there are lots of good, informative, excellent books available on web development that cover everything right from the basics to advanced levels and help everyone according to their needs and requirements. These Web development books discussed above are for both novices in the field and professionals wanting to hone their skills further or for someone who falls in between.

It is quite hard to get into something new and not know where to look up resources. We have made the task easy for you by mentioning which book is suitable for whom depending on their skills so you can easily purchase the book catering to your needs and get to learning.