Dojo: The Definitive Guide (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: node list, dark roasts, simulating classes, Name Type Comment, Function Extension, Hello World (more...)

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Of all the Ajax-specific frameworks that have popped up in recent years, one clearly stands out as the industrial strength solution. Dojo is not just another JavaScript toolkit -- it's the JavaScript toolkit -- and Dojo: The Definitive Guide demonstrates how to tame Dojo's extensive library of utilities so that you can build rich and responsive web applications like never before. Dojo founder Alex Russell gives a foreword that explains the "why" of Dojo and of this book. Dojo provides an end-to-end solution for development in the browser, including everything from the core JavaScript library and turnkey widgets to build tools and a testing framework. Its vibrant open source community keeps adding to Dojo's arsenal, and this book provides an ideal companion to Dojo's official documentation. Dojo: the Definitive Guide gives you the most thorough overview of this toolkit available, showing you everything from how to create complex layouts and form controls closely resembling those found in the most advanced desktop applications with stock widgets, to advanced JavaScript idioms to AJAX and advanced communication transports. With this definitive reference you get: A concise introduction to Dojo that covers everything through the version 1.1 release Well-explained examples, with scores of tested code samples, that let you see Dojo in action A comprehensive reference to Dojo's standard JavaScript library (including fundamental utilities in Base, Dojo's tiny but powerful kernel) that you'll wonder how you ever lived without An extensive look at additional Core features, such as animations, drag-and-drop, back-button handling, animations like wipe and slide, and more Exhaustive coverage ofout-of-the-box Dijits (Dojo widgets) as well as definitive coverage on how to create your own, either from scratch or building on existing ones An itemized inventory of DojoX subprojects, the build tools, and the DOH, Dojo's unit-testing framework that you can use with Dojo -- or anywhere else If you're a DHTML-toting web developer, you need to read this book -- whether you're a one-person operation or part of an organization employing scores of developers. Dojo packs the standard JavaScript library you've always wanted, and Dojo: The Definitive Guide helps you transform your ideas into working applications quickly by leveraging design concepts you already know.

About the Author

Matthew A. Russell is a computer scientist who currently lives in Franklin, TN. Hacking and writing are two activities essential to his renaissance man regimen.

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Product Details Paperback: 500 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (June 24, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596516487 ISBN-13: 978-0596516482 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #8 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > Ajax #16 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Programming > JavaScript #16 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Microsoft > Web Browsers

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
node list, dark roasts, simulating classes, light cinnamon, node manipulation, object returns, string attribute, event listeners, form dijits, layout dijits, xdomain build, other dijits, callback chain, easing function, greet method, prototypical ancestor, nls directory, programmatic creation, lifecycle methods, form widgets, using dojo, child widgets, simulated classes, layout widgets, browser utilities

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Name Type Comment, Function Extension, Hello World, Boolean Whether, Summary After, Server Communication, Name Comment, Core Implementations of Data, Function Used, Last Name, First Name, Parameter Type Comment, String Used, Managing Source Code, Exploring Dojo, The Definitive Guide, Accordion Container, Form Widgets Table, Boolean Indicates, Data Abstraction Example, Array Processing, Returns Object, Firebug Lite, Hands-on Dijit, Sub Communication

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	86% buy the item featured on this page: Dojo: The Definitive Guide 4.1 out of 5 stars (18) $26.39
	5% buy Mastering Dojo: JavaScript and Ajax Tools for Great Web Experiences (Pragmatic Programmers) 4.0 out of 5 stars (7) $28.43
	4% buy JavaScript: The Definitive Guide 4.4 out of 5 stars (290) $31.49
	3% buy Concise Guide to Dojo (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) 3.7 out of 5 stars (3) $21.89

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews 5 star:  (11) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 14 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The First Book of Its Kind, June 21, 2008 By  Robert H. Burroughs (Rhinebeck NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    I'm up against a deadline for a web application. The going is slow when you have to hand-carve the HTML, JavaScript, CSS and PHP. Dojo saves you at least two-thirds of the work, so I'm very grateful for it. But it takes some getting used to, and the on-line documentation is, well, succinct. Russell's book came along just in time. It's a lifesaver. The Introduction alone is worth the price. I found out about some invaluable Web development debugging tools that I'd never seen before. Russell provides a clear, concise explanation of some very important JavaScript notions: Closures, Context, and Anonymous Functions. And all of this before we even get to the toolkit! The book makes the Dojo easy to use and easy to understand. There's a wealth of coding examples, as well as complete lists of objects, methods, and so forth. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A must Have for Dojo Developers, September 30, 2008 By  M. Addesa (N Andover, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This book is an outstanding resource for anyone who plans to work with the Dojo Toolkit. Dojo is my personal favorite toolkit for JavaScript development. This book really helps to explain not only the "how to" of Dojo but also the "how come". It is a great reference for Dojo's core functionality, for Dojo's Dijit widgeting system and for the Dojo build system and test harness. It gives great practical advice on how to exploit the power of dojo.query, and provides great coverage of Dojo's data stores for data source abstraction. It has excellent coverage of dojo.fx for animations, it provides an invaluable desktop reference for Dijit. There is also a excellent coverage Dojo's Data Transport apis like XmlHttpRequest, dojo.io.script(Dynamic Script Tag injection for JSONP or JSON with a check string mechanism), as well as the use of iframes for data transport. If you are working with Dojo this book will make your life a whole lot easier. One thing you should know before buying this book. It does not have in depth coverage of anything in the Dojox package, so you will not find anything in this book on the Data Grid! Take a few days and give it a read, then keep it on your desk for reference. You can't go wrong. 10 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The Dojo Mojo, July 1, 2008 By  Kenneth Sall (Columbia, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Matthew Russell has captured what makes Dojo the "magic sauce" of the Ajax world. As he indicates in the book's dedication, Dojo can be your friend in combating browser idiosyncrasies. Since Russell has been an active participant in the Dojo development community for a long time, he's in an excellent position to write from an expert's viewpoint. Another Amazon reviewer has covered the book's contents thoroughly. "Dojo: The Definitive Guide" is very well-organized and covers lots of ground. I appreciate the fact that the author doesn't simply rehash online documentation; instead he provides real insight and coherent explanations. Like most O'Reilly books, the table of contents and index are invaluable in rapidly honing in on a particular subtopic. To get the most out of this book, you do need to have some web development background (JavaScript, CSS, HTML), but then who else would be purchasing this book? While the book might have benefited from a discussion of Dojo use with YUI, Google Gear, or other toolkits, the author points out this is out of scope. I imagine this saved more than a few trees. (Check out the ongoing efforts of the OpenAjax Alliance if you need to combine multiple frameworks.) I would have preferred access to the code examples packaged in a convenient zip file; perhaps the author will add that to his O'Reilly catalog page (URL given in the preface or just search for "Dojo" at oreilly.com). However, these points do not detract from the thoroughness in which Russell has covered a difficult and rapidly changing topic. This book is certainly worthy of the fine O'Reilly imprint. The fact that it is edited by the always discerning Simon St. Laurent is definitely a plus. If you are a web developer who needs cross-browser support, you need this book in your library.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars Not comparable to Javascript the definitive guide This book covers most of the main dojo/dijit components - but is quite lacking with regards to the dojox area. Read more Published 6 months ago by J. McGroarty 2.0 out of 5 stars bad examples and error prone This book doesn't do justice to an otherwise excellent series. The examples are error prone and just do not work. Usually a technical book provides the complete source code. Read more Published 7 months ago by Opinion 4.0 out of 5 stars Useful This book does a good job of being a helpful reference manual with just a little extra. Anyone who has worked/struggled at all in depth with Dojo will tell you one... Read more Published 7 months ago by RRPeterson 4.0 out of 5 stars Better than "Mastering Dojo" by the "other Russell" This book is more detailed and has more practical documentation and answers than "Mastering Dojo", which I found preachy and unnecessarily opinionated. Read more Published 8 months ago by GoJohnnyGoGoGoGo 5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on DOJO. Period. This is the best book on DOJO out there. The dopes that gave it anything less than four stars are smoking crack. Read more Published 9 months ago by John Wheeler 5.0 out of 5 stars Dojo Delight Dojo the definitive guide is a great resource. It's well written and the author was careful on his explainations. It's very easy to read. Read more Published 9 months ago by Brett R. Boling 5.0 out of 5 stars A must read This tome by Matthew Russell is the definitive guide to Dojo. The author combines lucid prose with an exhaustive explanation of the Dojo toolkit. Read more Published 10 months ago by Dr. Mike Cecil 5.0 out of 5 stars This book has become my Dojo bible I tried really hard to get into Dojo without any reference guides, but really struggled. Then I bought this book. It's become my Dojo bible. I use it every day. Read more Published 11 months ago by Darren Schreiber 5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction which covers all 1.x versions and offers plenty of examples and tested code sets Any computer library strong in web development will find DOJO: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE an excellent introduction which covers all 1. Read more Published 13 months ago by Midwest Book Review 3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad but author has no clue This is not a bad book on a great toolkit but clearly the author is clueless on how to write a book. For instance, who is it for? Read more Published 14 months ago by Taruvai Subramaniam Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596516487
• ISBN-13: 978-0596516482
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,629 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > Ajax
  #16 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Programming > JavaScript
  #16 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Microsoft > Web Browsers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Book of Its Kind, June 21, 2008

By	Robert H. Burroughs (Rhinebeck NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm up against a deadline for a web application. The going is slow when you
have to hand-carve the HTML, JavaScript, CSS and PHP. Dojo saves you at least
two-thirds of the work, so I'm very grateful for it. But it takes some getting
used to, and the on-line documentation is, well, succinct.

Russell's book came along just in time. It's a lifesaver.

The Introduction alone is worth the price. I found out about
some invaluable Web development debugging tools that I'd never seen before.
Russell provides a clear, concise explanation of some very important JavaScript
notions: Closures, Context, and Anonymous Functions. And all of this before
we even get to the toolkit!

The book makes the Dojo easy to use and easy to understand. There's a wealth
of coding examples, as well as complete lists of objects, methods, and so forth.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must Have for Dojo Developers, September 30, 2008

By	M. Addesa (N Andover, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is an outstanding resource for anyone who plans to work with the Dojo Toolkit. Dojo is my personal favorite toolkit for JavaScript development. This book really helps to explain not only the "how to" of Dojo but also the "how come". It is a great reference for Dojo's core functionality, for Dojo's Dijit widgeting system and for the Dojo build system and test harness. It gives great practical advice on how to exploit the power of dojo.query, and provides great coverage of Dojo's data stores for data source abstraction. It has excellent coverage of dojo.fx for animations, it provides an invaluable desktop reference for Dijit. There is also a excellent coverage Dojo's Data Transport apis like XmlHttpRequest, dojo.io.script(Dynamic Script Tag injection for JSONP or JSON with a check string mechanism), as well as the use of iframes for data transport.
If you are working with Dojo this book will make your life a whole lot easier.

One thing you should know before buying this book. It does not have in depth coverage of anything in the Dojox package, so you will not find anything in this book on the Data Grid!

Take a few days and give it a read, then keep it on your desk for reference. You can't go wrong.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dojo Mojo, July 1, 2008

By	Kenneth Sall (Columbia, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Matthew Russell has captured what makes Dojo the "magic sauce" of the Ajax world. As he indicates in the book's dedication, Dojo can be your friend in combating browser idiosyncrasies. Since Russell has been an active participant in the Dojo development community for a long time, he's in an excellent position to write from an expert's viewpoint. Another Amazon reviewer has covered the book's contents thoroughly. "Dojo: The Definitive Guide" is very well-organized and covers lots of ground. I appreciate the fact that the author doesn't simply rehash online documentation; instead he provides real insight and coherent explanations. Like most O'Reilly books, the table of contents and index are invaluable in rapidly honing in on a particular subtopic.

To get the most out of this book, you do need to have some web development background (JavaScript, CSS, HTML), but then who else would be purchasing this book? While the book might have benefited from a discussion of Dojo use with YUI, Google Gear, or other toolkits, the author points out this is out of scope. I imagine this saved more than a few trees. (Check out the ongoing efforts of the OpenAjax Alliance if you need to combine multiple frameworks.) I would have preferred access to the code examples packaged in a convenient zip file; perhaps the author will add that to his O'Reilly catalog page (URL given in the preface or just search for "Dojo" at oreilly.com). However, these points do not detract from the thoroughness in which Russell has covered a difficult and rapidly changing topic.

This book is certainly worthy of the fine O'Reilly imprint. The fact that it is edited by the always discerning Simon St. Laurent is definitely a plus. If you are a web developer who needs cross-browser support, you need this book in your library.