Customer Reviews

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (Definitive Guides)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I used the previous editions for years and just received this one, from what I see the author has brought it up to date with the latest standards and additions, also devoting chapters to more extensions and tools, about server side applications, jquery and more.

The only way I can think of to improve the reading experience is to split the book.
Of course this could easily add a lot to the price, which at 25£ for this kind of content is really a bargain.

I like Flanagan's style (in this, and in his Ruby book as well) and if I could have only one javascript book, this would be it.
But like with all dynamic languages, coding serious applications in javascript requires some discipline and style that I feel are not addressed enough here -- I may be wrong because I'm not going to read it all again, but I have not seen it mentioning jslint or something like that.

So if you have a previous edition, or none at all, by all means get this one. For completeness and building one's style, I also suggest a careful read of the smaller O'Reilly trilogy (js the good parts, js patterns and high performance js).

It's a bit difficult to review this book. The current and previous editions have been reviewed numerous times by several Amazonians and javascripters. I can only concur with the majority of reviewers, and echo their sentiments about this book. Any javascript programmer worth his salt has a copy of this book on his/her desk. If you are programming in javascript (or planning to) then you must buy a copy of this book ASAP.

The definitive guide is a massive book, and will intimidate newbies (i.e. people who are either new to programming or new to javascript), but this book does the difficult task of catering to both the novice and expert javascript programmer.

It can be used to learn the language(syntax and semantics) if you are not familiar with Javascript, and it can be used purely as a reference book. It covers both client side and server side programming. It does an impressive job of covering a wide range of topics from basic stuff like loops, conditional statements etc to advanced topics like closures, prototyping and beyond.

Despite being a very technical book, the writing is lucid, and steers clear of jargons most of the time. The chapters are independent and can be read/referenced out of order although the reader will benefit by reading the chapters in order.

Highly recommended!

- A J

I never really "got" javascript . I used it from time to time on web sites when I had to, but never wrote any original code - it was always cut and pasted from some site like DynamicDrive. Then jQuery came along. It was obvious from the demo sites that you could do some amazing things with this library and that it took away the ever present hassle of making stuff work with all the different version of IE. So I started to use jQuery and tried to understand about the $() and all the other seemingly impenetrable ()}); rather than just copy and paste. But it was an uphill struggle.

Then I read David Flanagan's chapter on functions then the chapter on jQuery in this book and it all became clear. As did lot's of other stuff about js. This is a brilliant book. The background about js - why it is like it is - is explained. The bad bits are spelt out and the good bits are thoroughly explained and demonstrated. Not for beginners - e.g. if you don't know what "overloading" is, you will struggle. The term (and many others) is used with the presumption you'll understand it.

But if you've a hankering to understand how js really works then get this book. I can't praise it enough !

I've read through a couple of starter books on Javascript and have past experience of C programming. However this book really is on a higher level and I feel like I am actually learning the true 'nature of the beast', painful as it is. Whereas the starter level books tell you how to make things work in the real world, this book describes why they work that way.

It's like learning how to drive a car and wanting to know how the gear box is put together at the same time though. I'm sure you could do a lot of Javascript programming with out the level of detail this book goes into, however hopefully my efforts will be rewarded !

I'd say that the examples used often introduce complicated syntax or extra twists that go beyond what is being illustrated, as a newby this does really make your head hurt, however I generally get there in the end if I go back and review what I have read. I've read a lot of Unix man pages in my time and reading this book is kind of like reading one long man page. Pretty un-relenting stuff compared to the chatty nature of the Dummies books for example ! Wish me luck completing this please ;-)

25-09-11

I have now finished reading the first part of this book. The second part is what I am really interested in and I am now hooked ! It's amazing to think that JavaScript is at the heart of the internet and WWW 2.0 . It surely can not be a wasted effort to learn about JavaScript. There is not a more authoritative book to learn from either as far as I know .

13-10-11

I'm now half way though the jQuery section of this book. I have revisited some of the easier books I read prior to this one today and it strikes me how they all gloss over the details. I promise you that once you have read through all the examples in this book and understood them you will feel like you have really advanced ! I feel like I am now getting ready to start making web pages and hope to try to make a living out of it.

One thing that stuck me is how the Author says he has been effected by Piracy. OK so it's good to have on-line copies of books, but I really like having a physical copy. I like to take it out with me and read it sat in the car for example. At Amazon's price you will probably end up paying that much in Electricity by the time you complete this book any how ! If nothing else this book is a great read and I find it highly stimulating to learn so much detail about a language that is so intrinsic to the web. I fail to see how time invested in reading this book can fail to pay dividends ! Great book .

4-Jan-2013

I've really studied hard into HTML and CSS and now I've come back to this book and started reviewing the 'Client Side' section, having read it through some time ago. I have learned a lot from this book about programming in general and it's interesting to see from this review how far I have progressed in my reading ! Upon reflection I think some of the material in Pt. 1 of this book could be skipped, probably for 80-90 percent of readers... Details that are 'nice to know' but not essential unless you write advanced Library code or are trying to solve a specific problem.. So perhaps bare this in mind if you seem to be getting bogged down ! BTW The PDF version of this sits on my 'Retina' iPad and I love it !

This is a great, thorough JavaScript reference guide. I haven't had the time to read the full book (it is really big) but have read some chapters describing areas I needed more information on, and both the literature and code examples have really helped me.

This is the 6th edition, it covers some jQuery and HTML5, again the areas I needed are very well explained.

I understand that this is considered the Javascript bible, therefore I knew it was going to be a very useful book. You don't have to be an expert in computers to understand the book, just to know some basic maths and various basic internet functions. Even after only reading the first chapter I felt I was a lot smarter in coding.

This is a great book if you have experience of developing in almost any language using classes, etc. Not for the beginner. Sometimes the detail it goes into can be overwhelming, but at least it's all there rather than missing stuff out.

I bought this book when I started learning Javascript and I'm still referring to it now. Extremely well laid out, very well written. If you have anything to do with JS then buy it.

Well written & very complete. Truly definitive.

Still very readable. So I would definitely, or definitively, recommend it.

Thank you.

Good one - at last all the info I need in one place. JS is a language that has grown like topsy...I expect it'll be replaced by something else in a couple of years, but for now this is the book you need.