Customer Reviews

Beginning Ajax (Programmer to Programmer)

5 star:		(0)
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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is really disappointing. The code examples are not at all well suited for the book's supposed target (starting level).

The first example (page 21) is too complex for a beginners' book *and* for a first chapter... and they even say so! (Quote: "Note that this example is quite complex.") I wonder, if they knew it was too complex to grasp at a first glance, why didn't they change it? They introduce even XSL without any need -this can only discourage a beginner. Believe me, I can think of a thousand better examples, and I'm not an expert in Ajax.

It doesn't get any better in the next chapters. The authors can't manage to explain fundamental things like the XMLHttpRequest object, which is an essential part of Ajax, and consequently should be an essential part of a book about Ajax for beginners.

So... I really don't recommend this book. I usually enjoy Wrox books, but I have to say this title is absolutely not worth the money. If you are a beginner, try Wiley's Ajax for Dummies instead. Hope this helps!

I have had a PC in my home since 1991. I hold certifications in C/C++ and Unix System Admin, and I am working on my LPI certification, so I have read many computer science books. This book is horrendous. There are code mistakes throughout the book, and the free code from the publisher has the same mistakes.

In the chapter three shopping cart project the code has the <a href ... tag inside of double quotes, you can't put HTML tags inside of quotes.

If I could I would give this book a negative rating. Save your money and buy your books from O'Reilly, WROX is the absolutely worst publisher of computer science books I have ever come across in my 20 years of personal and professional experience.

I was really looking forward to digging into AJAX and learning to use it effectively with PHP. This book didn't do that at all. It starts out with an example that covers nearly every aspect of AJAX and just expects you to understand why and how all of these methods were implemented. Going further into the book didn't help. Although you began to understand better the ideas that were implemented in the first example half way through the book, they made the examples even more complex with pages of code to do simple tasks; like anyone is going to write these complex routines that require pages of code when it can just as easily be done with much less. The book is very JavaScript centric and focuses very little on the languages it interacts with(PHP/ASP). Im not sure if its because it was wrote in 2007 or if they just decided to omit it but it doesnt mention PHP's inherent AJAX functions at all (which make implementing AJAX require significantly less coding). Overall look for a newer book that covers language specific implementations, much more has been done with the idea in the past couple years that the book just doesnt get to

I'm giving it three stars for the JavaScript language reference included as an appendix. I've been trying to find one for ages. There's really good documentation for PHP, but for JavaScript it's nearly impossible to come by. The appendix laid it out well.

As for the two missing stars vague descriptions, complex examples, and examples and ideas that you probably wouldn't actually use account for those...

Note: I only paid about 6 bucks for this book. I have no qualms about tossing it if I find one better -- it's a bit disappointing, but it does convey the basic idea of Ajax. I'm a bit of a novice at JavaScript (I have used it though), but I consider myself skilled at PHP. I was able to create several Ajax functions for a site I've been working on with the aid of this book. So as far as I'm concerned it's fulfilled its $6 of usefulness... Time for a better book.

This book has a decent approach to the material, and explains the use of many tools and techniques.

However, the code examples are hard to follow at best, and often don't even work as printed. The programming style used in the code examples is garbage; the examples have generic, non-descriptive variable names, are not indented, and have syntax errors. As a book targeted for beginners, I would think that more time would go into polishing this central aspect.

For a book aimed at those learning a new programming technique, the book commits the cardinal sin...bad code.

The code errors are rampant; sometimes blatant, sometimes not, but occur often enough that trying to follow the examples becomes a technique in frustration rather than learning. It would be fine if the exersizes were in code examination or forensics but it is intended as a beginner's book.

For the amount of money this book costs, one would be loathe to throw it away, but I feel I have no choice.