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Real World Adobe GoLive 5 is a big book on how to use Adobe's Web site authoring package in the real world to meet real design needs. This is not a take-you-by-the-hands class on GoLive, although it does cover application basics in the first section. Rather, it gives you solutions to real problems, and the authors expect you to have some familiarity with GoLive before you start.

The first of four main sections covers the basics: the interface, setting up GoLive preferences, and how the program works. Section two is all about "Pages"--the visual page editor, the text editor, and everything you can do with both. "Sites," section three, covers GoLive's excellent site-management tools, and section four discusses advanced topics like JavaScript, DHTML, cascading style sheets, and more.

The book is more like an extensive reference source than a tutorial. Virtually every feature is explained and can be looked up in the index, but you won't find a concise chapter on how to build an awesome site from A to B. This is the kind of book that you use as a desk reference, looking up topics as needed. Often, the examples cited are explained and illustrated more clearly than in Adobe's documentation.

One drawback is the lack of a CD-ROM. Examples, projects, source code, code snippets, animation--even a demo version of GoLive itself--would more than justify a CD-ROM. On the other hand, there are plenty of screen shots and sidebars.

GoLive 5 has matured into a powerful tool and has become a valuable member of the Adobe product family. Real World Adobe GoLive 5 is an important asset and reference book for the GoLive user. --Mike Caputo