Even if Al Gore didn't actually invent the Internet, it's not been around all that long--I think most people would probably agree that 1993 or so was really the start of the World Wide Web as we currently know it. And in that relatively short decade we've seen massive--exponential, geometric, almost obscene--growth and change happen across the entire web. For better or worse, there are now at least a dozen programming languages, each subtly different from the one before. Keeping up with one markup language, let alone learning half a dozen programming languages, is enough to make your head spin.

This is why I'm enormously thankful for books like The Web Programmer's Desk Reference: A Complete Cross-Reference to HTML, CSS and JavaScript by Lázaro Issi Cohen and Joseph Issi Cohen (No Starch Press, 2004). I think every web designer, programmer and developer would agree with me--that HTML makes up the "skeleton" of most every page on the Internet. Going with that same house analogy, CSS would be likened to the "façade," or decorative elements--siding, windows, drapes, and so on--while JavaScript would be, roughly, the "invisible" aspects, such as plumbing or wiring.

And yes, while there are plenty of other web-relevant languages and standards out there, a good, functional and working knowledge of HTML (plus CSS and JavaScript to a somewhat lesser extent) is critical for anyone working in the Internet industry to have. (That's one of my minor beefs with the book--the term "Programmer" in the title makes it seem exclusive to programmers. This isn't the case in any way, and this sometimes-scary word could, I think, be potentially off-putting.)

While HTML is vastly easier to grasp than, say, C++ or even PHP, it's still (to coin a term) "sprawly" enough to necessitate a ready reference. After all, at the end of the day, who is going to remember all the browser compatibility information for the compact attribute of the <ul> tag? And while there are certainly plenty of reference websites out there (many of which are outdated or just plain bad--ironic...), I would venture to say that most designers/programmers/developers/etc. probably prefer a print reference that can be bookmarked and annotated. I know I do, anyway.