Microsoft Silverlight Books

The best book on going below the surface of Javascript

The author knows what he is saying. His style is like Bjarne Stroustrup in "The C++ Programming Language".
Although JavaScript is loosely typed and flexible, if you don't know the intention of each of its object and "type", your code will be a mess, and debugging on messy JavaScript code is painful. David Flanagan guides you to avoid that mess.

Cuong Huy To
22 October, 2010

A dream come true!

Explains JavaScript with almost perfect clarity. Great for someone who is painfully confused by JavaScript.

A. Ferraiolo
02 July, 2010

The author forgot what Javascript mainly is for

Hi,

The big problem for this book is that the author plays Javascript for Javascript. I know that most readers come here for the useful stuff for Web development, but I have to work hard to dig them out from vast useless language feature and examples. For example, I want to see from very beginning how Javascript useful in my web site, but sorry, it comes at second half book. For example, I want to see how to use client site validation in my JSF page, but sorry, little if any. for exaple, I want to see how to handle multiple actions in my struts JSP page, but sorry, you have to think by your own. The author is so enjoyful by Javascript language itself and forgot what most readers comes here for.

Thanks

Fei Li

Fei Li
15 June, 2010

Agree with others - just another average reference book.

This is just a reference book that assumes you are already familiar with many concepts. i.e. Most examples don't even show you the code that created objects - they just assume you can infer what the code looks like by the calls to various objects' methods and properties. This looks like they took the online reference and added some comments.

O'Reilly puts out a lot of really good books - such as those by Jessie Liberty. This is clearly not one of them and should only be used as just another run of the mill refs.

You are better off doing a web search.

moflaher
02 June, 2010

Agree with others - just another average reference book.

This is just a reference book that assumes you are already familiar with many concepts. i.e. Most examples don't even show you the code that created objects - they just assume you can infer what the code looks like by the calls to various objects' methods and properties. This looks like they took the online reference and added some comments.

O'Reilly puts out a lot of really good books - such as those by Jessie Liberty. This is clearly not one of them and should only be used as just another run of the mill refs.

Also, this guy struggles to say simple things. You will often already know the subject and gloss over his poor attempt to explain. If you are a beginner, you will struggle with most of this hacked out book. This guy should have stayed with the poorly written Nutshell books.

You are better off doing a web search.

moflaher
02 June, 2010

The name of the book really means it. THE Definitive guide!

If you want to deeply understand JavaScript beyond simple day-to-day client side scripting, this is THE BOOK. This book is not for beginner programmers. I would guess, an intermediate level of knowledge in a programming language, preferably C-based, would be essential to keep up with the book's goal.
Flanagan is pleasure to read. This is a slam dunk! And he did it again with The Ruby Programming Language. He deeply understands what he is explaining and does such a good job passing that information. I read this book cover to cover twice, certain chapters multiple times - especially chapters 8 and 9 that covers Functions, Classes, Constructors and Prototypes, and now use it mostly for reference. If you can follow this book and understand all the contents, you can call yourself an advanced JavaScript programmer.

Oguz Cakici
02 April, 2010

The name of the book really means it. THE Definitive guide!

If you want to deeply understand JavaScript beyond simple day-to-day client side scripting, this is THE BOOK. This book is not for beginner programmers. I would guess, an intermediate level of knowledge in a programming language, preferably C-based, would be essential to keep up with the book's goal.
Flanagan is pleasure to read. This is a slam dunk! And he did it again with The Ruby Programming Language. He deeply understands what he is explaining and does such a good job passing that information. I read this book cover to cover twice, certain chapters multiple times - especially chapters 8 and 9 that covers Functions, Classes, Constructors and Prototypes, and now use it mostly for reference. If you can follow this book and understand all the contents, you can call yourself an advanced JavaScript programmer.

Oguz Cakici
02 April, 2010

Hope this isn't really THE definitive review

I am an experienced programmer, well versed in languages I have learned from O'Reilly books. I read this book cover to cover a couple of years ago. It certainly is thorough.

I have just spent six hours trying to hook in a simple javascript function to my php application. UGH! I swear some of the coding examples in the book are just plain wrong! I finally got the function to recognize a 'hello world' program both written in the file and in an external file. I had to go to the web for a simple tutorial to do this. I now have a five line program that just plain doesn't work! So I looked up 'debugging' in the 'DEFINITIVE' guide. It is clueless. So am I. I have never, ever had this much trouble picking up a new language from a book.

I have to give this book a rating of 1.



Mary F. Anderson
08 February, 2010

Hope this isn't really THE definitive review

I am an experienced programmer, well versed in languages I have learned from O'Reilly books. I read this book cover to cover a couple of years ago. It certainly is thorough.

I have just spent six hours trying to hook in a simple javascript function to my php application. UGH! I swear some of the coding examples in the book are just plain wrong! I finally got the function to recognize a 'hello world' program both written in the file and in an external file. I had to go to the web for a simple tutorial to do this. I now have a five line program that just plain doesn't work! So I looked up 'debugging' in the 'DEFINITIVE' guide. It is clueless. So am I. I have never, ever had this much trouble picking up a new language from a book.

I have to give this book a rating of 1.



Mary F. Anderson
08 February, 2010

Great Book!

i recommend it to anybody that wants to learn JavaScript from the basics and on ...

abdo mazloum
01 December, 2009

Great Book!

i recommend it to anybody that wants to learn JavaScript from the basics and on ...

abdo mazloum
01 December, 2009

Java Script

Because I purchased this book as a gift I cannot review it personally. However the person who received it was very happy with the book.

Annie Oakley
15 October, 2009

Java Script

Because I purchased this book as a gift I cannot review it personally. However the person who received it was very happy with the book.

Annie Oakley
15 October, 2009

Wrong book

I got the wrong edition. I searched for fifth edition and picked the book from "Used and New" section. It was a wrong edition there. I don't know where the problem is. It took me about two months to get my refund. Be careful when selecting books from the "Used and New" section

Mohan Parthasarathy
12 September, 2009

Wrong book

I got the wrong edition. I searched for fifth edition and picked the book from "Used and New" section. It was a wrong edition there. I don't know where the problem is. It took me about two months to get my refund. Be careful when selecting books from the "Used and New" section

Mohan Parthasarathy
12 September, 2009

The book is aptly named!

I have to agree with the bulk of the reviews that I've read about this book: it IS the DEFINITIVE guide to Javascript. I'm just learning Javascript, and I bought another book that was an overly gentle introduction to Javascript (since I've been programming for quite some time), and after I went through that one and another one, I finally bought this one, and I half expected that it would be a little bit hard to chew at this point in my Javascript learning curve: not so! There are very very few typos (I spotted a couple in the first 150 pages), and the author explains everything very very clearly. I could scarcely be happier with this book than I am.

(This review concerns the new 5th edition.)

Dave Slayton
28 August, 2009

The book is aptly named!

I have to agree with the bulk of the reviews that I've read about this book: it IS the DEFINITIVE guide to Javascript. I'm just learning Javascript, and I bought another book that was an overly gentle introduction to Javascript (since I've been programming for quite some time), and after I went through that one and another one, I finally bought this one, and I half expected that it would be a little bit hard to chew at this point in my Javascript learning curve: not so! There are very very few typos (I spotted a couple in the first 150 pages), and the author explains everything very very clearly. I could scarcely be happier with this book than I am.

(This review concerns the new 5th edition.)

Dave Slayton
28 August, 2009

The best book for Javascript out there

I have had a very wrong notion and understanding of JavaScript until I read this book. This book is a must for serious JavaScript programmers.

VJ
02 August, 2009

The best book for Javascript out there

I have had a very wrong notion and understanding of JavaScript until I read this book. This book is a must for serious JavaScript programmers.

VJ
02 August, 2009

Gave Me What I Needed - And More!

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

I needed a reference guide to JavaScript. I am by no means an expert, I just wanted point solutions that were rather more "in depth" than the "geek boards".

My success criteria here are: 1. Did it make sense of JavaScript? and 2. More importantly, if I wanted a point solution - was it there?

Yes on both counts.

I am still new to JavaScript - so I will update this review later.

Matthew J. Faulkner
25 June, 2009

Gave Me What I Needed - And More!

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

I needed a reference guide to JavaScript. I am by no means an expert, I just wanted point solutions that were rather more "in depth" than the "geek boards".

My success criteria here are: 1. Did it make sense of JavaScript? and 2. More importantly, if I wanted a point solution - was it there?

Yes on both counts.

I am still new to JavaScript - so I will update this review later.

Matthew J. Faulkner
25 June, 2009

JavaScript: The Deep Doctrine

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

Jason Bunting
03 June, 2009

JavaScript: The Deep Doctrine

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

Jason Bunting
03 June, 2009

An indespensibe reference

A fantastically complete reference to Javascript. This is not a "learn Javascript" book, however - but a reference. The examples are not as detailed as in other "learning" books - but as a reference guide it cannot be beat. It is extremely rare that I can't find what I'm looking for in that book. I am using the 5th edition of the book, which is much better than the older editions - and I feel is the new standard for what should be called a "Definitive Guide". Pitfalls, quirks, browser differences and a complete (as of 2006 at least) property/function reference for both core and DOM javascript objects. Highly recommended.

J. McGroarty
30 April, 2009

An indespensibe reference

A fantastically complete reference to Javascript. This is not a "learn Javascript" book, however - but a reference. The examples are not as detailed as in other "learning" books - but as a reference guide it cannot be beat. It is extremely rare that I can't find what I'm looking for in that book. I am using the 5th edition of the book, which is much better than the older editions - and I feel is the new standard for what should be called a "Definitive Guide". Pitfalls, quirks, browser differences and a complete (as of 2006 at least) property/function reference for both core and DOM javascript objects. Highly recommended.

J. McGroarty
30 April, 2009

And it's only $32? Wow.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn JavaScript, and it is doing just that!!! There is so much stuff packed into this book that it is amazing, and I can't believe I only payed $32 for it! It covers everything you need to know. It goes into more detail about JavaScript than any book on any other language I have seen. And all the pages are not little flashy examples. It is a real reference for those who are serious about learning JS.

psulover901
04 April, 2009

And it's only $32? Wow.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn JavaScript, and it is doing just that!!! There is so much stuff packed into this book that it is amazing, and I can't believe I only payed $32 for it! It covers everything you need to know. It goes into more detail about JavaScript than any book on any other language I have seen. And all the pages are not little flashy examples. It is a real reference for those who are serious about learning JS.

psulover901
04 April, 2009

Who Cares About Core vs. Client? Just Give Me an Alphabetical Reference!

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.

Ken A. Collins
03 April, 2009

Who Cares About Core vs. Client? Just Give Me an Alphabetical Reference!

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.

Ken A. Collins
03 April, 2009

All I need to know.

Flanagan has provided me with all I need to know about JS. I have not read the book cover to cover, but refer to it often. The information I have needed has been easy to find and the examples have saved me hours of tinkering. He hasn't failed me yet on JavaScript issues.

Gary N. Walters
05 February, 2009

All I need to know.

Flanagan has provided me with all I need to know about JS. I have not read the book cover to cover, but refer to it often. The information I have needed has been easy to find and the examples have saved me hours of tinkering. He hasn't failed me yet on JavaScript issues.

Gary N. Walters
05 February, 2009

Great Taste of Javascript

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan is probably the best reference possible for this extremely useful, but complex language. I came to this book with absolutely no knowledge of Javascript, and so this book was my first real taste of the language. The first part of the book deals specifically with syntax and foundations of Javascript, so anyone with programming experience can read the first part of this book and be comfortable with programming in Javascript. This section is integral for understanding the nuanced complexities of a language without having to struggle with hard to find errors. Simple distinctions of types and values were very helpful to me.

The second part of the book is a by-examples tour through the intermingled worlds of Javascript and web browsers. Here you'll learn DOM scripting, AJAX, DHTML events, and more to make appealing interactive webpages. Personally, I found this section a little harder to use, and I would have preferred a, perhaps simpler, or at least more atomic explanation of AJAX as I am still confused by the whole concept. In either case, this section covers everything you need to know about Web 2.0.

The last two sections of the book are straight reference about everything in the core of Javascript and in client-side Javascript. This is a very well organized section of the book and it helps when you need to know exactly how a certain method or class works and this section alone is worth the cost of the book.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a taste of Javascript or for anyone who is looking towards Javascript as a way to access web programming. The book is not for everyone, but I would argue that Javascript is a very important language to learn in this web-centric age.

Andrei Mouravski
03 February, 2009

Great Taste of Javascript

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan is probably the best reference possible for this extremely useful, but complex language. I came to this book with absolutely no knowledge of Javascript, and so this book was my first real taste of the language. The first part of the book deals specifically with syntax and foundations of Javascript, so anyone with programming experience can read the first part of this book and be comfortable with programming in Javascript. This section is integral for understanding the nuanced complexities of a language without having to struggle with hard to find errors. Simple distinctions of types and values were very helpful to me.

The second part of the book is a by-examples tour through the intermingled worlds of Javascript and web browsers. Here you'll learn DOM scripting, AJAX, DHTML events, and more to make appealing interactive webpages. Personally, I found this section a little harder to use, and I would have preferred a, perhaps simpler, or at least more atomic explanation of AJAX as I am still confused by the whole concept. In either case, this section covers everything you need to know about Web 2.0.

The last two sections of the book are straight reference about everything in the core of Javascript and in client-side Javascript. This is a very well organized section of the book and it helps when you need to know exactly how a certain method or class works and this section alone is worth the cost of the book.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a taste of Javascript or for anyone who is looking towards Javascript as a way to access web programming. The book is not for everyone, but I would argue that Javascript is a very important language to learn in this web-centric age.

Andrei Mouravski
03 February, 2009

An excellent book about JavaScript and DOM

Both an excellent tutorial and an excellent reference. I've read this bulky volume almost from cover to cover - even the reference chapters - and enjoyed every word.

It covers both the JavaScript language and DOM scripting via JavaScript. It clarifies the differences between the various DOM APIs implemented by the major browsers.

The author is somewhat judgmental (and with good reason, in this reviewer's opinion) to Internet Explorer's non-standards-compliant implementation, but nontheless, he does an excellent and thorough job describing this very popular API, as well as the W3C standard (implemented by FireFox and Opera, for instance).

The book also covers interoperability between JavaScript and Java, and between JavaScript and Flash (i've only skimmed through these chapters, though, so i won't vouch to their quality...).

I recommend complementing this book with Crawford's slim and exquisite "JavaScript: The Good Parts" (read Flanagan first).

Prerequisites for reading Flanagan: an aquaintance (really, a mere aquaintance is good enough) with HTML, CSS, Structured Programming and the Object Oriented paradigm. A knowledge of Java is assumed in a couple specialized chapters.

Itai
09 January, 2009

Good reference book

I bought this book a while ago. It's comprehensive. It goes into a lot of details. I think it's good as a reference book, not for page to page reading.

Forest Light
30 December, 2008

Good book.

This is I believe the best book about basic Javascript on the market right now.

Pros: Technically complete, solid writing style, understandable examples, no better intro books on the market.

Cons: Authors repeatedly show that they prefer class-based object systems, which Javascript is not. Authors do not effectively teach advanced Javascript prototype-based object usage and in fact seem to view it as a nuisance to be avoided. Authors don't regularly use closures except in section on closures.

I would recommend following this book up with "Javascript: The Good Parts" and making sure you fully grok how to use closures to avoid namespace pollution.

Sean Fritz
24 October, 2008

Best Language Explanation I've Ever Seen

I've learned a lot of tech in my time, and this book does the best job explaining the fundamentals of a language that I've ever come across. Flanagan basically builds the whole language piece by piece, explaining the fundamentals of every aspect.

There are some more esoteric techniques he doesn't cover, but I hardly consider that a shortcoming; aside from those, he basically covers the entire breadth of JavaScript, both in its core design and in practical browser-based applications. This really is the definitive book on JavaScript, even if it is two years old (which is ages in Internet time).

Matthew Waggoner
20 October, 2008

Comprehensive, a little boring

This book is downright comprehensive and thoroughly deserves its "definitive guide" title.

But, the example scripts the author gives are long and deadly boring, which is why I won't give it five stars.

To "get" JavaScript, you need shorter scripts which are easier to learn from.

My recommendation is to use this book in conjunction with the w3schools website.


Magic Mouse
28 September, 2008

Almost Too Thorough. Not the best Choice for Beginners/Creatives

This is the book all the JS rockstars out there tend to recommend to people. I don't think it's for everybody personally. It's very thorough and explains JS and its various incarnations at a high level of intricacy that I wouldn't recommend to beginners who are easily distracted (i.e. more heavily creative-brained designers). I'm fairly evenly brained myself and I occasionally found myself zombie-reading as exciting as some of the specifics are too me.

On the other hand, if you want to know just about everything there is to possibly know about JS, this is the book. And that's worth five stars to me.

A good place to get a start with JS if you've never programmed is a decent class or self-teaching the basics online. Then I recommend Jeremy Keith's DOM scripting. Then the Complete Reference. Then this bruiser when you really want get in deep.

Erik H. Reppen
27 September, 2008

Easy read and understanding

Great book, easy read, well formated and very instrutive. You will find everything that you need about JavaScript (covering standard ECMAScript v3). From the basics to the most advance about the language.

T. W. Freres
23 September, 2008

begginers

I just read first few chapters of this book. Good news is that the material is expressed in an accessible manner. However if you have an interest in programming languages and trying to read this book as JavaScript language tutorial or reference things like "lambda functions" (should be "lambda expressions"), or discussions about how (in authors view) JS interreter "inserts semicolums" (it does not. whitespace is used as token separator while parsing) make it look pretty bad.


Vadim Zaliva
15 August, 2008

Awesome Book -

As a nuts and bolts kind of guy, I appreciate the layout and information available in the newest revision of this Book on JavaScript. If you're looking for a tutorial, this isn't it, but if you're looking for a reference manual, this is for you. Very cool book.

J. Muller
09 August, 2008

Good introductory and reference book

This book could easily serve as an introductory text to JavaScript. It offers enough depth for beginning JavaScript. Unfortunately, it does not delve enough into things like closure, which I believe is a very important language features. Furthermore, after the first or second reading, this book can handily serve as a reference book since part 3 and 4 of this book is reference to the classes, methods, and functions that are available in most JavaScript implementation.

Chris Henry
06 July, 2008

The Best JavaScript Book

This book not only assists first-time JavaScript programmers, but is an excellent reference for the more experienced developers. The examples are first-rate, and the reference sections are more comprehensive than any I've seen for this language. A MUST if you are a serious JavaScript professional.

IT Girl
24 June, 2008

A work of art

I feel that this book is really a work of art. Besides agreeing with the last reviewer that it is not fair to consider this as a book for beginners and then judge it against that standard, I'd say that even though it is not for beginners, it does not make unnecessary arcane references, etc. It is very readable, at least for someone who's had a little experience working with JavaScript. I'd say it is not even a requirement to know object oriented principles (except for those sections perhaps). The author has not only made intelligible so many of the quirks of JavaScript, but provides code which is easy to follow yet extremely useful.

As far as examples, while for JavaScript fans, it might have been nice that the book expanded into 2000 pages instead of almost 1000 that it is now, the author does, I feel, what is necessary to both explain and demonstrate the concepts, and most often, does so by creating VERY useful utility functions and "classes". Just for the utility functions alone, the book would be worth it, really. There are only a very few places where the author suggests to look elsewhere, and besides my not minding doing so given how the book already saved me so much time, the cited references would have taken up unnecessary space if the author were to include them (and they definitely weren't essential).

The book is not outdated! Unlike other books, most of the book is rarely tied down to code that can become outdated as browsers change (like the changeable but helpful quirksmode.org ). Of course, as a big fan of this book, I hope the author will be persuaded to keep making new editions (and make a hardcover!). If you really want to learn the language, this is THE book.

This book was no doubt an immense labor of love--you can feel the author is human, actually teaching, and is not trying to show off with terminology while he still does explain a whole lot of necessary terms, etc., comments the code well, etc. As with art (not the strange modern variety either), I am flabbergasted some people cannot appreciate its beauty. In a complex JavaScript application, I am building, I am using no less than 7 of the utility classes he provided in the book.

For those studying JavaScript in depth / reading this book, I'd recommend one supplement to the book: the informative articles at http://javascript.crockford.com/ (and no doubt that author's book too). The articles on private members and classical vs. prototypal inheritance are one area I felt for which additional examples and use of terminology was helpful, and allowed me to appreciate and understand the chapter in the book on classes more fully (and utilize the approaches in its utility classes as well).

Brett Zamir
16 June, 2008

The Best book of reference for a beginner

I bought this book after the helpful reviews found on amazon. This book is must have for reference, I've been using this for the past one month and its been great reference for me, a beginner.

Rama Raidu
16 June, 2008

Good reference, not suited as introduction

This work is great as reference once one has acquired some skill, however it is not a good introduction for starters.

KURT MOERMAN
14 June, 2008

Great guide and reference

This book is perfect for anyone working on Web sites and uses JavaScript. From learning JavaScript to finding "recipes" on doing work, this book has it all. I cut a project from 10 hours to 1 hour with this book's help.

Justin M. James
29 May, 2008

This one is OK

Its pretty lengthy and Javascript has developed some since this came out so I don't know how usefull it still is.

D in MN
22 May, 2008

Javascript All in one Book.

If you want to master Javascript and read just one book, then this must be the book you want to buy. Covers A-Z, detailed. If you are beginning on AJAX then this book is must read if you are Javascript beginner. 5 Stars.

S. Devasundaram
07 May, 2008