Beginning JavaScript, 3rd Edition (Programmer to Programmer)

• #45 in Best Javascript Books

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I have used the first and second editions of this book as training courseware for several years. Allthough, I was never 100% happy with the book (some important topics had been left out, the content is not cleanly organized and the examples could have been better) it served its purpose.

When I heard that the 3rd edition would be coming out, I looked forward to new and updated information, more complete descriptions and the inclusion of previously omitted information. When the 3rd edition came out, I purchased it and found it to be VERY DISSAPOINTING...to the point that it is actually worse than it was before. I will no longer use this text as a training resource as it is more conveluted than in the past and still does not include basic information that should be there.

Examples:

The 2nd edition was 1010 pages, the 3rd edition is 767 - clearly much information has been removed and unfortunately it was Appendicies B, C, & D, which were The JavaScript Core Reference, The JavaScript Client Reference, and the Latin Character Set. Now, the book just has Appendix A, which is the book's exercise solutions. The book's exercise, by the way, is a continuing example that is not very "real-world" oriented and something that most people would skip over anyway. Devoting an appendix to this, but removing the hard-core reference appendicies makes no sense whatsoever!

In none of the previous editions was there any mention of referring to external script files (.js) files, as is done as common practice out in the real world. I was hoping the new edition would include this, but not a word about it is mentioned.

The confusing "flow" of the chapters has not been corected, so you still have to get to chapter 10 before addressing errors and debugging techniques (which should be addressed as chapter 2, in my opinion as a professional trainer) and finding out that you really should be working with certain IE and FireFox settings changed if you want to be able to see your JavaScript errors show up in your browser! Seriously?! The reader is expected to go through 9 chapters without being told how to see an error message about their mistakes!! Like we don't make mistakes until chapter 11?!!

Chapter 13 is still called "Dynamic HTML in Modern Browsers" instead of what the rest of the world calls it; "The W3C Document Object Model".

There was, and still is, a chapter on XML in the book, but rather than simply merging this information into the chapter about the DOM (since the only JavaScript that is discussed in the XML chapter has to do with parsing XML via the DOM), we get a small chapter that is more about XML than JavaScript. And, there is no mention at all about using JavaScript within XML, rather than XML within JavaScript (ie. enclosing JavaScript inside of CDATA sections for proper XML parsing).

We still have the same old chapter 4 that is an overview of JavaScript and OO. Half of what you need to know about the JavaScript Native Objects (String, Number, Math, Date, etc.) is in this chapter and the other half is in chapters 8 and 9, instead of putting it all together in one place.

The bottom line for me is that this book skips important information that new JavaScript developers should know. It has no hope of becomming organized properly and crucial appendicies have been removed. This makes this book no longer useful as a reference (which serious programmers want and need).

By the way, WROX (now owned by Wiley Press) has done basically the same thing with the new 4th edition of Beginning XML. That book is still wildly incomplete and disorganized.

With this up-to-date guide, you'll find everything you need to know in order to develop interactive, robust, and personalized pages using JavaScript. It takes you step by step through this powerful scripting language so you can begin enhancing your site right away and increase visits. You'll learn how to take advantage of native JavaScript objects, manipulate objects that are available to you in the latest browsers, use cookies, and jazz up your web pages with Dynamic HTML. Great Update!!!
Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction to JavaScript and the Web.
Chapter 2. Data Types and Variables.
Chapter 3. Decisions, Loops, and Functions.
Chapter 4. JavaScript--An Object-Based Language.
Chapter 5. Programming the Browser.
Chapter 6. HTML Forms--Interacting with the User.
Chapter 7. Windows and Frames.
Chapter 8. String Manipulation.
Chapter 9. Date, Time, and Timers.
Chapter 10. Common Mistakes, Debugging, and Error Handling.
Chapter 11. Storing Information. Cookies.
Chapter 12. Introduction to Dynamic HTML.
Chapter 13. Dynamic HTML in Modern Browsers.
Chapter 14. JavaScript and XML.
Chapter 15. Using ActiveX and Plug-Ins with JavaScript.
Chapter 16. Ajax and Remote Scripting

I was required to purchase this book for a class that I was taking. It works well for the class, and I feel that the content has been thorough. The explanations have been very good.

I bought this book for a class I was taking and it help me to better grasp the the subject of JavaScript with it's practical examples and quizzes. I am a better programmer now. I can't wait for their Advanced JavaScript book if there is one.

Still the best book on JavaScript. With each edition it becomes better, if that's possible.