I liked the reading the preface in this book which makes some good assumptions. I like the idea of project based learning, chunking and progressive disclosure.
This book was written with a few simple assumptions in mind: that even if you’re a beginner, you are relatively intelligent and motivated, you have a general familiarity with typical graphics programs and web browsers, and you have some basic HTML experience.
You will never find yourself overwhelmed by unnecessarily complex exercises or dry, labored discussions. At the same time, however, you will be inspired to create in new and different ways.
Information in this book is grouped together in small digestible parts. This process is known as chunking. To see how this works, try to remember the following nine-letter sequence: pnggifjpg. Not too easy. Now try to remember the chunks PNG, GIF, and JPG. Simple, eh? The difference is in the presentation. Chunking makes it easier for you to understand broader ideas, instead of just repeating things by rote.
As previously mentioned, this book doesn’t try to teach you everything about a given topic before you’re ready. Instead, it features “progressive disclosure,” in which a topic is revisited in more depth as your knowledge and needs grow. For example, don’t be concerned if a specific chapter doesn’t describe all of the settings in a particular dialog. You may learn about portions of the dialog in one discussion and revisit the options in the remainder of that dialog later. This reduces the chance that you’ll feel overwhelmed.