Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Dojo: The Definitive Guide
by Matthew A. Russell

Dojo: The Definitive Guide
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Book Summary Information

Author: Matthew A. Russell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-24
ISBN: 0596516487
Number of pages: 500
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780596516482
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Book Review: Fills in the necessary blanks on Dojo
Summary: 5 Stars

Dojo is a comprehensive JavaScript toolkit that provides a layer of insulation between you and browser inconsistencies by leveraging JavaScript and other web technologies. Dojo is very good in situations where YUI is already being used. Dojo has a standard JavaScript library with a collection of drop-in replacements for customized HTML controls and CSS layout hacks, build tools, and unit tests.

Part 1 of this book is a standard library reference that exposes you to the various nooks and crannies of Base and Core, the parts of the toolkit that comprise a JavaScript standard library. Base contains rich functionality as diverse as AJAX calls, DOM querying based on CSS selector syntax, standardized event propagation, and functional programming utilities like map and filter. Core includes lots of additional features for operations like animations and drag-and-drop. While this can be incredibly useful, these features just aren't as common to all use cases as the features in Base.

Part 2 explores the rest of the toolkit, including complete coverage of Dijit, the rich layer of drop-in replacements for customized HTML controls. Dijit is designed so that it can be used in the markup with little to no programming required, and makes it possible to build attractive web pages that already look and behave much like user interface controls from desktop applications.

Part 2 concludes with a discussion of the build system and unit testing framework provided by Util. The build system includes a highly configurable entry point to ShrinkSafe, a tool that leverages the Rhino JavaScript engine to compress code by as a third or more. DOH stands for the Dojo Objective Harness, and provides a standalone system for unit testing your JavaScript code. This is also discussed here.

This book assumes that you've done some web development with client-side technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. You by no means, however, need to be an expert in any of these skills and you really don't need to know anything at all about what happens on a web server because Dojo is a client-side technology. Just knowing what they are and how they are used is more than enough. As in most O'Reilly applied programming technology books, there are plenty of code examples. The book just doesn't talk about all of this stuff, it actually shows you the technology in action.

If you are an existing web developer or even a hobbyist who is able to construct a very simple web page and apply a little JavaScript and CSS to brighten things up a bit, then you are qualiified to read this book. If you haven't even heard of HTML, JavaScript, or CSS, and have never written any code that works with any of these languages and technologies, then you might want to consider picking up a good introduction on web development before tackling this book.

The following is a detailed table of contents:

Part 1: Base and Core
Chapter 1. Toolkit Overview
Chapter 2. Language and Browser Utilities
Chapter 3. Event Listeners and Pub/Sub Communication
Chapter 4. AJAX and Server Communication
Chapter 5. Node Manipulation
Chapter 6. Internationalization
Chapter 7. Drag-and-Drop
Chapter 8. Animation and Special Effects
Chapter 9. Data Abstraction
Chapter 10. Simulated Classes and Inheritance
Chapter 11. Dijit Overview
Chapter 12. Dijit Anatomy and Lifecycle
Chapter 13. Form Widgets
Chapter 14. Layout Widgets
Chapter 15. Application Widgets
Chapter 16. Build Tools, Testing, and Production Considerations
Appendix A. A Firebug Primer
Appendix B. A Brief Survey of DojoX

Summary of Dojo: The Definitive Guide

Of all the Ajax-specific frameworks that have popped up in recent years, one clearly stands out as the industrial strength solution. Dojo is not just another JavaScript toolkit -- it's the JavaScript toolkit -- and Dojo: The Definitive Guide demonstrates how to tame Dojo's extensive library of utilities so that you can build rich and responsive web applications like never before. Dojo founder Alex Russell gives a foreword that explains the "why" of Dojo and of this book.

Dojo provides an end-to-end solution for development in the browser, including everything from the core JavaScript library and turnkey widgets to build tools and a testing framework. Its vibrant open source community keeps adding to Dojo's arsenal, and this book provides an ideal companion to Dojo's official documentation.

Dojo: the Definitive Guide gives you the most thorough overview of this toolkit available, showing you everything from how to create complex layouts and form controls closely resembling those found in the most advanced desktop applications with stock widgets, to advanced JavaScript idioms to AJAX and advanced communication transports. With this definitive reference you get:

  • Get a concise introduction to Dojo that's good for all 1.x versions
  • Well-explained examples, with scores of tested code samples, that let you see Dojo in action
  • A comprehensive reference to Dojo's standard JavaScript library (including fundamental utilities in Base, Dojo's tiny but powerful kernel) that you'll wonder how you ever lived without
  • An extensive look at additional Core features, such as animations, drag-and-drop, back-button handling, animations like wipe and slide, and more
  • Exhaustive coverage of out-of-the-box Dijits (Dojo widgets) as well as definitive coverage on how to create your own, either from scratch or building on existing ones
  • An itemized inventory of DojoX subprojects, the build tools, and the DOH, Dojo's unit-testing framework that you can use with Dojo -- or anywhere else

If you're a DHTML-toting web developer, you need to read this book -- whether you're a one-person operation or part of an organization employing scores of developers. Dojo packs the standard JavaScript library you've always wanted, and Dojo: The Definitive Guide helps you transform your ideas into working applications quickly by leveraging design concepts you already know.

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