JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
by David Flanagan
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Book Reviews of JavaScript: The Definitive Guide
Book Review: Good textbook, great reference
Summary: 4 Stars
This refers to the 5th edition.
Ten years ago, JavaScript support was so different among various web browsers, I gave up trying to do any logical processing in JavaScript, and went into server-side programming.
Today, you still have to do a select few things two or three times in JavaScript to get them to work in all web browsers. But with much better standardization across browsers -- including broad support for Ajax, or remote scripting -- it's become worthwhile again to spend time on JavaScript development.
So, I took an online JavaScript class at the local community college. I bought this book as my reading text.
This "bible" of JavaScript skimps at times on simple examples, but provides several lengthy general-purpose code samples that show how to abstract out the client-specific or case-specific handling from an underlying set of routines.
Only the first part of this book is instructional. Then, there is the wonderful second half of the book, which is all reference. Divided into the core language reference and the client-side JavaScript reference, it's an essential quick lookup tool.
If you are new to JavaScript or (like me) brushing up on it after a long time away, choose this book as your in-depth background information and your ongoing reference text. Choose something like Dori Smith's JavaScript and Ajax for the Web, Sixth Edition (Visual QuickStart Guide) for your smaller, quick-start examples to play with.
Unfortunately, as long as browsers don't all support all the same JavaScript and CSS, there is still too much tedious hacking needed to provide a useful interface on the client side. Neither this book nor any other will get you past that little problem.
Book Review: Who Cares About Core vs. Client? Just Give Me an Alphabetical Reference!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using the JavaScript 1.1 version of this book by David Flanagan for years, but it was becoming less and less useful to me as I increasingly needed to look up new additions to the language that were missing from the older 1.1 book.
I took the plunge and purchased the new 5th edition of the book. Flanagan still only provides mediocre examples, like when he explains parseInt() he only shows integer arguments so it's no big surprise that he gets back integers. It would be much better, say, if he showed how parseInt(2.5) returns 2 so it really can't be used to validate that the input argument is an integer.
My boss has the "JavaScript Bible 6th Edition" by Goodman, but that book merely teaches the language, if you have that kind of time. You can't really look things up in that book. Where this book by Flanagan excels is in its reference, but I hate the new arrangement. Flanagan provided an A to Z reference in the 1.1 book, but not any more.
I nicked this review down a star because Flanagan now groups content in the reference by whether it applies to what he calls "core JavaScript" vs. "client JavaScript". Who cares? Speaking as a developer who jumps among multiple languages -- JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, HTML, LotusScript, @formula language, Java -- to support several web applications, when I need to look something up in JavaScript, I just want an alphabetical reference.
I don't really care if something is "DOM Level 1 Core JavaScript". I don't even know what the heck that means! I'm not a JavaScript purist. JavaScript is just one of the tools I employ. Flanagan needs to realize that his technical books are not novels, we don't read them from start to finish.
Despite my frustrations with the book, it's still a worthwhile purchase, I don't regret it.
Book Review: Excellent Coverage of JavaScript
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is divided into four parts - Part 1 covers core JavaScript and it has an incredible amount of detail and examples illustrating fundamentals and intricate details of the language. As the author points out amply by giving specific code examples, even experienced programmers will be surprised by unexpected behavior if they are not careful! Part 2 covers Client-Side JavaScript which is of most interest to web developers - this book simply does an outstanding job of presenting various topics in this part with amazing clarity. Part 3 has Core JavaScript Reference and some of the examples and explanations from Part 1 refer to this part. Part 4 has Client JavaScript Reference and there are references to this part from some chapters of Part 2 as you may expect. Essentially, parts 3 and 4 have the comprehensive API reference.
I read parts 1, 2 in full and I tested the code examples. For the most part, the examples run fine without any problem. The only exception was the chapter 23 that explains scripting flash and I was getting some exception when I tried to run it in both IE and Firefox. Where there are significant differences between IE and Firefox, this book does point out which is really helpful since these two are the most widely used browsers. While this book is not a light read, it is very comprehensive and therefore the only book you ever need on JavaScript. With this book (and possibly few searches on google searches), any one will have all info needed to implement specific functionality using JavaScript. Highly recommended to both novice users and highly experienced JavaScript programmers/developers.
Book Review: Best JavaScript Reference!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the 5th edition of this almost thousand page book (992), and has been pretty much the gold standard for JavaScript reference books. I have the 4th edition that came out a few years ago and it was worth upgrading to this new 5th edition.
JavaScript use has changed a lot the past few years and this new edition definitely focuses on the changes that have been following JavaScript with Ajax and DOM implementations. The book is totally updated for updated browser support (IE6, Firefox, Opera and Safari) and details any specific browser quirks as well. This book will replace your hours of surfing online for JavaScript sites looking for that one obscure thing that you can't find in your other books. I also like it because it is easy to find things with its divided sections into: Core JavaScript, Client-Side JavaScript, Core JavaScript Reference, and Client-Side JavaScript Reference.
I really can say that this book does not leave anything out. Though I'm not a JavaScript guru (yet), but this book is as complete as you'll find (even comparing it to the Bible books). This should not be your first JavaScript book, unless you have some programming background because it can be a little daunting going through everything because it is so detailed. If you do any real JavaScript programming or development (or will be doing some in the future), this definitely has to be in your bookshelf.
Book Review: JavaScript: The Deep Doctrine
Summary: 5 Stars
Note: My review is based on the 5th edition.
If you want to know how JavaScript really works, this is *the* book for exactly that. Understanding the core concepts of the language, such as the prototypical OO model, closures, functions as data, etc. will help you go far if JavaScript is something you use on daily basis.
While there are numerous JavaScript libraries in existence today (jQuery, MochiKit, Dojo, prototype, YUI, etc.) that simplify a lot of what needs to get done client-side, understanding the language itself is still necessary for those times when the abstractions that the libraries provide leak/fail or don't provide some feature you want.
If you are frustrated by JavaScript, you only need to spend the time educating yourself about how it really works. Once you do, and with some experience, you will reach that state of Nirvana that allows you to work easily in this language.
Note: This book is not a technique book - i.e. it will not really teach you any cool tricks, per se, so much as give you an undiluted understanding of the core features of the language. If you want tips/tricks/technique and already know JavaScript, you might do well to check out John Resig's APress book on JavaScript: Pro JavaScript Techniques