JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford
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Book Reviews of JavaScript: The Good Parts
Book Review: Crockford's book will improve the web
Summary: 5 Stars
I have tried to learn strong Javascript skills many, many times over more than a decade. My shelves are full of thick 'Bibles' on the topic. The problem has been, amidst all the terrible features of the language (and let's be honest, it has way more than it's fair share), I never had the patience, perseverance or time to break through to the gold. This book is brilliant. From the first chapter, Crockford is speaking my language.
The best bit about all this is that, "the best bits" of Javascript are actually pretty amazing! Deep in my head, by looking at others' work (Google!), I knew that a great language was hidden in there somewhere - but it always eluded me. Those days are finally over!! I can't wait for my next web project!!
I have read more computer books over the past thirty years than I can remember. Despite it's deceptively short length, this is one of the very best.
Book Review: An invaluable reference
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book because I wanted to get better at Javascript. Having primarily used JQuery and little bits of custom Javascript I thought that this book might help me better understand how to use Javascript in powerful ways without the help of a library. It did that and more. While reading this short and opinionated book by Javascript's most celebrated enthusiast I instantly began to recognize coding techniques and patterns and put them into practice. I continue to consult this book as a reference for best practices. A book this inexpensive is sure to leave out a few things and this one does. One aspect of Javascript I hoped to find in this book that was missing was DOM scripting. But that's okay. I learned why the DOM and Javascript should not always be thought of as one and the same and learned to better understand the code powering some of the more popular DOM scripting libraries. Love it!Book Review: Short and to the point!
Summary: 5 Stars
No messing with the DOM in this book! Here you learn the core syntax of Javascript in an easy to read way, while staying away from the pitfalls of the language.
I read it in a matter of two days, and I really feel more confident about my Javascript with this knowledge under my belt.
Combine this with one of the books on jQuery and you could be a rockstar in no time at all!
Consider one (or several) of these books:
Learning jQuery 1.3
jQuery in Action
jQuery UI 1.6: The User Interface Library for jQuery
Book Review: half best-practices tutorial, half advice collection
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book expecting a textbook manual on how to use some JavaScript features. I ended up having an easy to read compilation of thoughts about the whole language, from an experienced Yahoo! member. But the best book feature was the way the author managed to convince us about the concept of "good part". It isn't an evangelic script - it has clear examples of why you should avoid certain language features (e.g., type inference in comparisons), along with sample recipes to make programming in JavaScript a pleasant experience (e.g., how to make good use of closures to encapsulate information within objects).
All in all, if you're into JavaScript (either warming up or as an old-school web developer) you will definitely benefit from the information within this book - and you'll find it light enough to make its reading pleasant!
Book Review: Finally, another good book about JavaScript
Summary: 5 Stars
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide has been, for years, the only really good JavaScript book available. It's amazing, since JavaScript is the world's most popular language. Nearly every computer has it.
JavaScript: The Good Parts is well written and terse. I'm an experienced programmer, and have worked with JavaScript for some time now, so I don't know how well it would work for an amateur, but I suspect any programmer that has no JavaScript experience would do very well to read this book first and keep The Definitive Guide as a secondary reference, especially when reading someone else's JavaScript.
I rely heavily on the YUI libraries that Crockford's company puts out, and on Crockford's JSlint.com utility. Put together with the advice in this book, and JavaScript shines as a very nice language.