If you want a good, solid foundation of JS, read this book
927680
If you want to learn JavaScript from the ground up, and have a solid foundation, this is the book.

JavaScript: The Good Parts is ok, and Effective JavaScript is quite good too, but for a good foundation of JS, I'd still read this book first.
3727804
The author's writing style is great. The flow is clear. Most importantly, this is the only book so far that talks about how to use Backbone.js and ASP.NET Web API together.

The book not only introduces you the technologies you need in order to build a SPA, but also gives you a brief introduction and comparison of other similar technologies that are available out there. Not too long, not too short, but right to the points.

There is a code example you can follow through out the book, and finally it's not a To-do app. I know somebody would say there are many typos in the book and author's coding style is not consistent (sometimes he uses upper case and sometimes lower case for JavaScript's classes), but hey, this is the only example embedded in the book that works for me so far.

Overall, it's a must-have.
3499607
Murach's JavaScript literally assumes you know nothing and gets you to coding some fairly advanced JavaScript.  The very beginning is too easy for a lot of people as you've probably heard of HTML and CSS by the time you read this book. It's easy enough to skip over though. (And if you haven't heard of HTML and CSS, go back and read Murach's book on that first!)

I like that the book introduces practices such as fluent APIs, closures, and even the module pattern. I like that that book teaches using console.log() in addition to the Chrome and IE debuggers. Personally, I learned about some ECMA 5 features including functional programming methods and the global JSON object.

I would have liked a warning about how to use break/continue well or not misuse it. I was surprised to see the basics of functions introduced in Chapter 10 since they were used in Chapter 9. And the last chapter on jQuery felt incredibly rushed. I know it was meant to be an overview, but I feel like covering less and moving slower would have helped.

There are lots of small applications in the book so you can see how to use what you learn. Many chapters even have multiple applications. And as with any Murach book, the end of chapter exercises/review questions are excellent.

---
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
4868157
I ordered this book in a time of need: what was supposed to be someone else's project was left hanging when they transferred away, and I happened to be the next best candidate, despite knowing very little about PHP and SQL. So, I checked around, and this book was brought up on a number of occasions as a quality source of information for beginners. A few days later it was sitting on my desk, and I began thumbing through it to get a feel for it.

First of all, I was very impressed by the style of the book. The author uses visual cues to great effect, showing you how your code and the finished result should look. This promotes writing pretty, manageable code, and ensures that you get the right results (or, when you're getting an example of a common pitfall, that you messed things up properly). The author starts you off on what could be real project, and builds useful skills that you're likely to use in a variety of projects. Layers of complexity are added to this same project, with detailed and clear explanations of what you did and how it works. The introduction of SQL is done well, and ensures you've got a solid foundation in the principles of how it works before you add it to your script.

Much, much more is covered by the 'tutorial' bit of the book, and there's also a number of case-study-style projects after it. A number of common projects are built up on the assumption you've read the rest of the book and know what you're doing, and the code itself (downloadable from the author's webpage) is very useful as a starting point for your own projects. Ullman's webpage is also an exceptionally useful resource, far surpassing any other I've seen. There are regular giveaways of new books, all the code samples are collected there, there's detailed errata collected by the author himself, and most useful of all, there's a forum where the author and other readers of the book can help you with your coding struggles. I asked a few questions there and got a quick, detailed, useful response, and a good explanation of where I'd gone wrong. Help like that will normally run you $75/hr.

After reading through the book (and referring to it as necessary), I was ready to go. Over the span of three months and starting with essentially zero knowledge, I wrote two fairly large and complex scripts with the help of this book. My stumbling points were few, and the work impressed everyone who saw or used it. If you need a crash course in PHP/SQL site development, or are simply interested in a comprehensive book that'll bring you to a solid intermediate level in your PHP scripting with an SQL backend, this is an excellent choice.
3280102
This book is a wonderful introduction into the skills to make things come alive across browsers and devices. The examples are simple and fun to build. Each have a nice core functionality that you can use to make whatever you can think of. CreateJS is a great avenue to making lively web content and this book has all the essentials you'll need. I find myself using source code from this book for all my CreateJS projects.
2879543
Frankly speaking, I had to sleep a night over before typing this review.

And even now it is not an easy, straight-forward task to write this recension. I'm not sure whether I'm the right kind of audience this title is actually addressed to. It clearly states that this book is for web developers which are very familiar with jQuery library but would like to extend their knowledge to vanilla JavaScript. Not being part of this particular group it felt strange to go through the various chapters after all. This title is clearly addressed to experienced jQuery users and developers especially while looking for improvements in performance and better ways of optimisations. Sometimes just to simplify the existing jQuery code in order to avoid the heavy load of the complete jQuery library and sometimes for the better understanding of JavaScript and its syntax.

Callum's style of writing is clear and the numerous code samples used to emphasize the various techniques are good ones and easy to understand. Quite interestingly, it put a light smile on my face when I compared his sample code of sending an AJAX request to some code in one of my own blog articles I wrote back in 2006. JavaScript is clearly a mature language and certain requirements are simply done this way. And Callum explains the nuts and bolts of JavaScript very well.

Personally, I gained most out of this book from chapter 5 - JavaScript Conventions. The paragraphs and code snippets on Optimizations and Common Antipatterns gave me a better understanding on various aspects of JavaScript development, and I definitely have to revise a couple of code fragments I have written in the past.

Overall the book provides solid information on JavaScript for jQuery developers and is worth the money spent. Just be sure that you're part of the targeted audience.
2474944
I opted for the book to learn something new and I did. Ive been prototyping for years and wanted to see what the take on various tools would be with all the new tools available today.

I especially like the charts on page 50-52 showing the status of various applications relative to Fidelity, Complexity and Function, though initially I was surprised at where some prototyping tools fit.  After reading the book, its more understood why some ended up where they did.

As this is one of the several SItepoint books I have reviewed I have noted that similarly, there is a very involved Table of Content and no index. I struggle with this.  I know in the past, I have relied on Indexes to help me find a subtle point, but cant quite remember where I read it. As I was reading this book there were many great references, that I deliberately tagged with a post-it-note, knowing that it would be a bear to find it again, or recall which section it was in.
In a bunch of User Centered design books, I don't understand this choice.  It certainly isn't user centered.

Overall this book is a great reference, for both experienced and inexperienced people interested in Prototyping.  I was fully expecting in my experienced mind to be jaded and ready to say Duh quite a bit, but I found the book insightful.  I liked they way they also emphasized that you could do a reasonable prototype with Keynote or Powerpoint (you can) rather than being dismissive of such an inexpensive (certainly relative to Axure) option.

I had wondered if we should be going the HTML route and quickly realized that this option, though powerful, was largely too involved, unless you had some idea what you were doing or significant support doing so. In fact a few of the sentences in this section had me laughing out loud, as I was clearly clueless.

One thing I did disagree with in this section under CMS, the statement was made, to test function using a vanilla graphic design.  That is a tricky thing to do.  If you are creating an interface that is going to be part of a system that has a very specific graphic language, you might want to test with that in mind as well, unless you want to do it twice.  Ideally the underlying functions you want to be sure work, but in some cases you cant divorce it from the graphics.  With the latest trend being minimalist and often using only words as buttons, testing with an obvious button may not correctly represent what the end design will be when it uses only text that is highlighted in some way.

Another thing I had found years ago, using an ancient tool, to create my first web-based prototype to use to test for a course, is that some of the tools you use, lead you to create an interface that is heavily influenced by those tools (buttons, drop downs, layouts, etc.).  As many developers are influenced by the architecture, they are trying to create and make their code as elegant, that it can be, it does not mean, the resulting UI presented to the user will be as usable as needed. When UI people do this with all the available prototyping tools out there, they too can be influenced as well.  Of course user testing will sort this out, but it is a phenomena, I have seen many times and with all the tools to prototype out there, might be leaching into the UI/UX community out there as well.  I did not see this mentioned. I thought this would be important to note in a book describing many tools to use.

In the end, the emphasis on being to easily share, is an important one.  Sometimes you pay for outside testing and this is critical.  Other times, you need to easily be able to access the UI on several devices and locations.  Im glad to see this pointed out in section 8, though it was often emphasized in Summaries on each of the tools, as either a Pro (easy to share), or a Con (not easy to share).
1169940
If you've been in web programming for a while, you're undoubtedly familiar with JavaScript, but may have dismissed it as a "toy language" for flashy graphics effects without much substance.  Although JavaScript is certainly the web professional's tool of choice for flashy graphics effects without much substance, the language itself is surprisingly substantial.  I had been meaning to learn more about it for years and tried off and on by looking at example scripts and reading online documentation here and there.  I finally decided to break down and buy a book on JavaScript, and I'm glad that it was this one.  I can't recommend it highly enough - it's especially targeted at people with programming experience.  This book doesn't waste your time with basic constructs or meaningless metaphors; it gets to the point, describes JavaScript, and lets you get on about your business.

As the book itself clarifies, JavaScript itself is just a programming language and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with web browsers per se.  However, since virtually all JavaScript programming is done for the purpose of controlling web pages, the author specifically dedicates one third of the book to the core JavaScript language, and another third to a thorough description of the bindings between JavaScript and the browser.  (The final third is a well-indexed reference that you'll find indispensable).

Since you're probably most interested in the JavaScript-browser bindings (the core language is fairly well documented online), let me say that this books coverage of it is excellent.  It covers the entire history of JavaScript, detailing compatibility issues between Netscape, IE, and Mozilla (all the way back to the very first release of Netscape) and detailing exactly the sorts of uses that JavaScript is typically being put to these days.  An example in the section on event handling shows how to implement drag and drop on a web page in JavaScript (bet you didn't know you could do that!) and there's even a lengthy section on the relationship between JavaScript and CSS.

I couldn't be happier with the book - it lived entirely up to my expectations and was well worth the money I spent on it.
3293516
In developing mid to large scale web applications nowadays, it's a common practice to leverage JavaScript frameworks such as Prototype, Scriptaculous and JQuery. As the author of JavaScript Cookbook points out, "in order to use a framework library like jQuery to its best ability, you need to understand what's happening under the hood." JavaScript Cookbook provides a good amount of information on the fundamental and new features of JavaScript. For example, the book covers ECMAScript 5 features (e.g., Array object methods "forEach", "map" and "filter") with concrete use scenarios in the format of classic "cookbook" receipts, accompanied with snippets of code in the context.

Going beyond these isolated "problems", the book also provides insights into what is needed in building real world web applications in terms of good practices and pragmatic idioms. For example, when showing you how to gracefully handle no JavaScript situations, the book provides a "historical" perspective on the existing solutions, how they have been evolved over the time and what establishes the current standard of good practice. The receipt starts with the simple <noscript> tag solution and presents a more concrete progressive disclosure form example in the middle; In the "See Also" section, a list of further readings (with URLs) are provided on the topic of "progressive enhancement". The book also covers more advanced topics such as how to implement object oriented programming with JavaScript Object and building custom code libraries.

Through different receipts, to depict the fast evolving landscape of front-end development, the book covers eye-catching topics such as HTML5 API such as "drag-and-drop", "web worker", filesystem access, as well as creating mobile widgets and native smart phone applications with HTML/JavaScript using open source translation tools.

As a UI developer, I've found the book a very good casual reading for me to get up to speed with the new APIs and trends and refresh my knowledge about the idiosyncracy of the language. The code snippets in the book are very complete and could be really handy to tackle some of the real-world problems.
2889860
This is a very very good book. The chapters on object oriented javascript and how to apply design patters (creational, structural and behavioral) in your applications make it very worth while. The author uses best practices in his coding and makes javascript "fun". I recommend this book if you want to take your coding skills to new levels. i am not done reading it but i have already learn so much... i cant stop reading it. I highly recommend it IF you already know JS and want to reach new heights. I don't really think its a beginner book. That said anyone with a fair knowledge of javascript can pick it up.
3741465
I was looking for a book that would give me a solid understanding of JavaScript, and this did just that.  Each of the chapters takes only a few minutes to read followed by 20 short online exercises that force you to pay attention to and practice what you just learned.  I had done some basic HTML before but otherwise didn't have much experience programming.  After this book, not only do I feel like I know the fundamentals of JavaScript--although I need more real world practice--I also feel more confident learning additional languages.  It took me about 40 hours to go through all 89 chapters.
3663381
I just finished the book, it was great!  I didn't care about the few pages on Flickr, but was cool the author showed how to use various Apis like maps and flickr.  Honestly this was my first book on anything Javascript, I just built a php site and implemented ajax, live binding and chaining all over to make some pretty cool dynamic features.  Of the programming books I have read this has probably got to be the easiest to follow.  The examples are all complete, which is refreshing since so many publishers put out untested code, the code is complete!
The book had me going enough to finish it in just a few weeks.
Thanks for the book.
3741518
This book enables you to enter the world of web client development easily.
It takes you from the very foundations of javascript,  through backbone and ASP.NET server side
however you gain the fundamental understanding of client and server development regardless
of the libraries and frameworks the book authors have used for implementation.

So, if you're new to javascript, you may find the first chapters very useful. Even if you are not, the jaascript
chapter can shade some light on allot of language features you may not be aware of.

The backbone & ASP.NET chapters can give you a solid foundation of both client and server side development
and with this knowledge acquired you may even go to another frameworks implement the same principles brought in this book.

All in all, great book to start with, great book as a cheat-sheet and great book to come back to from time to time
as an experienced developer.
2941680
First off, I take one star away for the many typos I had to wade through.  But don't let that dissuade you from giving this book your time and attention.

When I first approached Rails, it felt like a framework to build "toy" apps.  And as the author points out, most Rails books promote a superficial treatment of Rails and so you don't get a feel for the kinds of techniques that you can employ to create well-architected apps.  This book changes that.  This book reminds you, if you've forgotten, that tried and true architectural principles can still exist within a Rails application.  So in the end, its a very viable framework for Enterprise applications no matter what people may try to tell you.

This is not a shallow read, however.  I have re-read more than one chapter to ensure that I understood all that was being conveyed.  As such, be ready to focus.  I see that as a selling point, hopefully you do too.

Favorite tips and chapters:

- Code organization: to include creating logical, physical, service, and utility folders to separate layers
- Organizing apps with plugins -- which are more vertical than what you may be used to
- Use the database -- RI, triggers, SPs, views, etc should still be part of your architecture
- Employ a SOA architecture for better compartmentalization
- Shared client service plugins

The community needs more books like this, IMHO.  Great job, Dan!
583651
April 23, 2016

I had the opportunity to receive a kindle copy of HTML: QuickStart Guide - The Simplified Beginner's Guide To HTML (HTML, HTML5, HTML and CSS) for free, in exchange for a fair and honest review, and I have to say, I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given that opportunity, as this is an incredibly well-written introduction into the world of web development, as it does more than simply provide a step-by-step guide to building a web page in a particular format: it provides the beginner with a real foundation for understanding HTML5, as well as the seeds for good practices and habits that the web developer should form, right from the beginning.

The author does an excellent job of building good, foundational knowledge through the book's structure, beginning first by explaining what, exactly, HTML is, giving a brief outline of its history to show how it evolved into HTML5, and covering the most basic terms and definitions that the author gradually builds upon, in the following chapters, through a web page building project that grows more complex as the author adds to the reader's knowledge. By the time the reader reaches the end of the book, the reader will have a good, sound knowledge for building an HTML5-compliant web site. Further, throughout the reading, the author highlights the reasons as to why seasoned and practiced web developers may do what some may feel redundant, as well as how best to design a web page so that it's as accessible as possible to the visually impaired. I love that last part, the most:  throughout the entire book, the author reminds the web designer that while visually pleasing elements are nice, the most important thing about good web design is that there is meaning to it; this way, it's as accessible as possible to as wide an audience as possible, whether the audience are those with visual impairments, those with technology that may not be able to more properly handle HTML5, or search engines that are looking for particular things for their filters. And by thinking about web design, this way, the reader is better able to choose the HTML5 elements that best conveys the intended meaning of the web page's content. In this way, we see how well these ideas form a wonderful synergy to help the reader learn.

The book only covers the basic and most used elements of HTML5; java scripting and css are beyond the book's scope. That being said, if the author has written books about those other two subjects, I will most definitely buy them, when I'm in a position to do so, as I would have high confidence that they will be as clear and easy to understand as this book, while giving me everything I need to advance, further, in web design. Until then, ahem, I have a poor, neglected web site that I need to tend to...
328152
While most of the newer JSP books have sections or chapters on tag libraries, this book is totally devoted to this important area.
It is extremely well written, logically planned and executed.
It is meticulous in the details. Very few errors or typos. "Crafted" is a word that comes to mind.
The style is clear and conversational, in which the pros and cons of various possible alternatives are examined before plunging into the details of the selected one, much like the way a developer would think about it.
The sample code is great and there is a web site from the authors (which unfortunately seems to be neglected.)
I stopped the reading of all the other books on Tag Libraries to finish this one, and now I can motor through them with ease, spotting hasty assumptions and errors right away. (there is a lot of sloppy writing in many other books, but not this one)
I only wish I could have had the benefits of these authors insights and analysis regarding the open source tag libraries at Jakarta, but they are not mentioned. Maybe another book or paper?
I look forward for other books by these authors, and would buy them without hesitation, just to experience their masterful technical approach to software development.
A fantastic book, if that is a term that can be applied to technical material. :)
2000520
The way the Javascript concepts ware presented step by step pleased me, of course you need to have a previous knowledge of javascript, so I suggest you to learn about javascript basics before, but after reading this book it is common to program in "jQuery" because the author makes the use of this library so natural that you forget most about the JS basics before you knew jQuery.

The book presented me many resources from the jQuery that I did not knew or did not used correctly.
The book structure is tailored for quick reference, even the text being very pleasant to read, it was created to make it easy to be used as a reference later on your work, it is great for situations like "I do not remember how to do X", you take a quick look at the index and find a complete sample about the subject, this is even best if you buy an ebook version where you can use search and it has cross references enabled.
The only complain about this book is that it does not have a section about performance, it is written as if any selector used in jquery had the same performance or if it had the perfect implementation, but even with this missing part, the book is great and I recommend the reading for anyone that is using or planning to use jQuery.