CSS2 Course: CSS en català
what
The 'CSS2 Course' (translated from the catalan version, 'CSS en català') is a full CSS course that explores most of the CSS2 specification.
CSS is the acronym of Cascading Style Sheets, which is the language that is used to define the style of HTML elements, thus allowing you to establish the presentation of an HTML document. This course covers the syntax and the detailed study of almost all the selectors and properties defined in CSS2.
The course is not yet finished. In adittion to certain chapters, all of Section 4 (CSS positioning) is still under construction. Hopefully in the not too distant future everything will be ready. Note also that translating this document to English is not a simple task, so please be patient if what you need is not ready yet.
If you had never heard about CSS before and all this seems a bit confusing, I'd recommend that you read Section 0, where the concept of style sheets and their relation to HTML is introduced in greater detail.
As a sample of the interest and power of style sheets I've chosen to write these pages using only HMTL and CSS. No graphics nor scripts. The only images are the examples that (should!) clarify some of the explanations, and the marker for the list items ( 
), that substitutes the (imo) usually ugly dot used by most browsers. There is also a short script that shows / hides the solutions to the exercises. In any case, the appearance of web pages is due only to the use of CSS.
who
This is not an elementary text. It covers most concepts in high detail, and except for some concrete aspects it sticks to the CSS2 specification terminology and precision. In addition, it is quite a long document, hence the term 'course' and not tutorial or article.
So if you are looking for a fast and simple introduction to CSS this might not be the best place to start. On the other hand, if you are interested in learning CSS in a solid way, or you already have some basic knowledge of style sheets and are willing to go further in your study, this course can be a useful tool.
You can use the course as reference material as well, although that is not its main purpose. From the table of contents you can direcly move to any chapter, so it shouldn't be difficult to access specific content, even if the course has not been structured with this intention.
requirements
The course does not presuppose any previous knowledge of CSS. Section 1 presents the syntax and elements of a style sheet in a general way, going deeper into the language details in the following sections.
However, basic HTML knowledge is needed, as well as feeling comfortable with the Internet world.I've tried to explain at least briefly those concepts that might be new for some readers, but not the most basic ones, such as what a font or a link is.
In addition I've included an introductory Section 0 that covers certain topics more or less related to style sheets, which will be used throughout the course. Although Section 0 is not necessary, giving it a look isn't a bad idea, just so you can be sure you are already familiar with what's in it.
navigation
I guess the navigation menu is quite intuitive, but I'll comment on it a bit just in case. At the end of each page you'll find a link to the next page ("Next... x. Next page"). In addition, all pages have a navigation menu with buttons to go to the previous and next pages, as well as to the table of contents (ToC). From the table of contents you can access any chapter in the course.
acknowledgements
This course would have never been what it is without the help of several people. That's why I want to thank Mar Batlle for her corrections and suggestions about writing style, Marc Pagès for the greatly beneficial talks about web design, and Carles Pucharcos, Xavi Pérez and Mycle Heupel for their advice and support.
I'd like to thank Albert Valls for the long time invested in this project and the many proposals he has made, and every body who had the patience to suffer my CSS-attacks. :)
Big big thanks go to Kristy Verenga for her generous and invaluable help in the correction of this english version... if she doesn't kill me first! :)
info
CSS2 Course: 'CSS en català'
version 1.2 (021219)
url: www.dense13.com/wec/curscss
translated from the original Catalan version 'CSS en català' v1.2
translation: Gonzalo Pérez de la Ossa
revision: Kristy Verenga
© 2002, weC - Gonzalo Pérez de la Ossa (wec@dense13.com)
