CSS: The Definitive Guide
CSS: The Definitive Guide by Eric Meyerby Eric Meyer
Tied for most recommended of 3 web development books
People recommend it as the gold standard among definitive guides, and one backend developer said it made them come to love CSS after disliking it.
People recommend it as the gold standard among definitive guides, and one backend developer said it made them come to love CSS after disliking it.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Gold standard among definitive guides
“frankly, it's the gold standard for any book calling itself a definitive guide”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “CSS sucks because we don't bother learning it (2022)” Changed a developer's view of CSS
“I was a backend developer that hated CSS before it, now I love it.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “CSS sucks because we don't bother learning it (2022)”
Other web development books people recommend
The two most recommended other web development books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSS: The Definitive Guideby Eric MeyerThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Every Layoutby Heydon Pickering and Andy Bell | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Hypermedia Systemsby Gross, Stepinski and Aksimsek | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“frankly, it's the gold standard for any book calling itself a definitive guide”
“I was a backend developer that hated CSS before it, now I love it.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.