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Apart from the occasional article in magazines I had seen very little about HTML when I started this site. On looking in local bookshops I found that most books were in the region of £30 - rather more than I wanted to spend. My starting point was a small book at only £5.99:
How to create pages for the Web using HTML by J.Shelley: Bernard Babani Books ISBN 0 85 934404 5
The version I used written around 1995 and is consequently rather out-of-date, but there is now a more recent version (which I have listed above): it is clearly written and is a good starting point for the beginner, who can then go on to more complex ideas. It deals with basic text formatting and the use of images, forms, and frames.
For the more experienced user who requires a comprehensive reference work I would strongly recommend:
HTML Programmers' Reference by Thomas A.Powell & Dan
Whitworth: Osborne/McGraw-Hill (1998) ISBN no. 0 07 882559 8
There is now a second edition: ISBN 0 07 213232 9
It is a clearly laid out reference to every tag in HTML up to version 4, showing syntax and attributes, and also showing which tags are or are not implemented in various browsers including Internet Explorer 1, 2, 3, & 4, Netscape Navigator 1, 2, 3, & 4, and Web-TV. It is quite the best work of its sort I have seen. At the time of writing it is available from Amazon.com, though it may be out of print and only remaindered or second-hand copies available.
You could also try the BARE BONES GUIDE TO HTML by Kevin Werbach, a downloadable document in a variety of languages.
All the books I have seen on Cascading Style Sheets are rather expensive, so I will recommend some on-line sources. CASCADING STYLE SHEETS LEVEL 1 is the authoritative specification by W3C (the organisation which defines web standards), written by Håkon Wium Lie and Bert Bos. It is extremely comprehensive - also very long: 182kB (it is an HTML document running to 54 pages of A4 when printed).
That document lists all the specified command in css, but unfortunately browser support is patchy: many commands simply have no effect (or sometimes undesired effects); CSS Pointers Group have published a list of CSS bugs and workarounds in all the major browsers.
Mkaz.com has a reference section on style sheets and HTML.
Braden N.McDaniel has compiled a comprehensive list detailing Support for Cascading Style Sheets Level 1 in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 which might be useful to someone even though that browser is now obsolete.
Java is an area I have only looked into briefly: I don't have the energy (or, I suspect, the ability) to learn it properly. The simple example I used was lifted from a book of ready-made Java applets: INSTANT JAVA by John A.Pew - Sunsoft press/Prentice Hall (1996) ISBN 0 13 565821. (It is one of a series of books on Java, all of which come with a CD-ROM carrying examples and programs.) However I should warn you that I felt it did not make clear the relationship between the HTML and the .class files it calls on, and in particular that one class file can call on others - I had to find out which ones by trial and error. The book is $29.95 but I bought it at a discount so it may be discontinued and perhaps available more cheaply.
JavaScript on the other hand is much easier to work with, and on the whole fairly stable. The combination of JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets and HTML has become known as 'Dynamic HTML' or DHTML. Peachpit Press have two excellent books on the subject, clearly written and reasonably priced. DHTML and CSS FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB by Jason Cranford Teague - Peachpit Press (ISBN 0 32 142351 8) has a related web site containing all the examples (so you don't have to type them out). JAVASCRIPT FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB by Tom Negrino & Dori Smith - Peachpit Press (ISBN 0 32 142334 8) also has a related web site.