Customer Reviews

Head First HTML5 Programming: Building Web Apps with JavaScript

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The first 6 chapters blew me away with its coverage of JavaScript. I really wasn't expecting an introduction to JavaScript from an HTML5 Book, but I am glad it did, however, as the first half of the book is an excellent introduction to using JavaScript for DOM Manipulation as well as passing data to and from web servers and 3rd party services using the XMLHttpRequest Object. If you are unfamiliar with JavaScript, I would recommend this as your first book for learning JavaScript. The focus on fundamentals was really refreshing. The examples were believable, interesting, and challenging. And, the whole problem-solution approach used in the Head First Series Books is very useful for both learning the theory and applying it in real-world scenarios.

The last half of the book takes all the JavaScript you learned in the first half and applies it to some of the new features in HTML5 like Geolocation, Canvas, Video, Web Storage, and Web Workers. I am still amazed by the Geolocation and Google Maps API example as I just did something similar for a client. Just like the coverage of JavaScript, you get a really solid introduction to using the HTML5 features as well as background on the problems they solve. As you can see from the list of features I mentioned above, the book doesn't cover all the new features in HTML5. As with all the Head First Books you get a list of the top 10 things they didn't cover and there is an appendix that lists many of the new HTML5 Tags that aren't covered, too.

If you haven't read a Head First Series Book, be prepared for a lot of diagrams, puzzles, pictures, speech bubbles, games, and other visual and gaming strategies to help you learn. I still haven't quite got used to it, but after reading Head First HTML5 I am convinced the books are worth it even if I am not a huge fan of all the strategies.

The book is very much targeted at beginners. If you are new to JavaScript and HTML5 and appreciate lots of images, Q&A's, puzzles, and other strategies to help you learn, I highly recommend the book.

This is not an HTML 5 reference book and does not pretend to be. Go through the easy-to-follow book page by page, exercise by exercise. Come out at the end understanding how to program in JavaScript and knowing enough about HTML5 to build superior websites. Head First HTML5 Programming: Building Web Apps with JavaScript

You can always pick up a reference book to pick up the odds and ends, if you need to do so.

Don't be intimidated by the alleged 600 pages in a tutorial format. First, lots of white space, graphics and big type mean you won't be looking at sheets of man pages. Moreover, all those design elements serve real purposes. Each topic gets a breezy, easy-to-assimilate intro. Then it presents the key concept with clear illustrations. Next, you have to think about what you just learned and construct real-world examples.

After the overview, each of the nine main chapters follows the same pattern. You learn as you go. The authors present the key basic information and techniques for each category. Sure, you have to follow the book in order to build on each topic, but you really only have to work on one at a time. You won't find yourself hitting the TOC and index to try to tie in the related content. Freeman and Robson have handled that in background.

For just one peek, the web storage (chapter 9) starts off with a cutesy closet analogy in words and a 50s photo. It jumps directly into a history of the development of browser storage, particularly cookies. It illustrates the functions of cookies and presents a quiz on what problems using cookies might present.

This leads immediately into verbal and graphic descriptions of how the HTML5 JavaScript API differs from and how it has some of the same functions as cookies. This flows into an exercise where you think of the API as a Post-it note system, with tasks on creating a web page with browser storage. This is functional and you test your work in a browser. Afterward, words and images explain what happened in each stage of the browser implementing the code.

The chapter continues along that line, dealing with each aspect of storage, through flushing data no longer needed. When you complete the tutorial, including the programming, you know plenty about how web storage works and how to implement it in your own systems.

In short, using this book is a commitment. The authors make it as painless as possible and if you have a little tolerance for cute, you are likely to think it is fun going through each section. I worked through it all and don't regret it. I knew a whole lot about HTML4 but not JavaScript. I pay this book the great complement for a tutorial -- I knew substantially more coming out than when I started.

Serious programmers would quibble about what it leaves out. There's a lot more to HTML5 than they get to. The authors are plain up front that they expect you to know HTML4 an CSS first, but nothing else in the field. I definitely benefited from the JavaScript first half of the book. The HTML5 up front and in the second half are perfectly adequate for most of us. This volume goes beyond clever and into the near brilliant class in delivering what it promises.

Head First HTML5 Programming:
Building Web Apps with JavaScript
By Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Robson

Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Released: October 2011
608 pages
$49.99 paper
$47.99 ebook
$54.99 paper and ebook

I wish I could get my money back.

This book is NOT in epub format. It's just a bunch of PDF copies of the book, which is useless if you want to enlarge or highlight the text.

They shouldn't sell this on Kindle, or make them republish it as an epub and give all who bought it a free copy of the epub version.

I'd steer clear of this if you are not buying the hard copy version.

The only other book I had read from the Head First series is the Head First Design Patterns from the same authors, and has always seemed a very simple way to teach and guide you through the discovery, and problem solving. This learning approach allows not only read a lot of theory but assimilate it.

The first chapters are about JavaScript, being that if you want to know more of this language this book may be the best introduction to it.

Coverage in HTML5 is basic, but has a very good basis and great examples of Geolocation, Canvas, Video, Web Storage among others, thus becoming a very good point of reference.

not as good front to back as other head first titles. electronic format was OK. probably would have been better executed in a series of books. a few chapters are ok, but several just felt pasted together. maybe good for reference, but not quite like other titles that teach a concept/chapter. felt like the title was rushed. many times not easy to interpret if you should be practicing or just reading. you can open the code downloaded from their site, but i do not believe you learn by doing that. perhaps step by step outline approach is just my preference so i try not to take the score way down based on that.

overall i think oreilly could recommend or create a better path to mastery series with this and other javascript content. i'd like to see them focus on these paths more and more. decent book, but probably better alternatives or combinations of alternatives since html5 is really multiple technologies.

The format is incompatible with the Android Version of Kindle! I already have lots of Kindle Books on my android but this simply doesn't fit.

I am a guy with absolutely no formal programming experience, who wanted to jump into the field and tinker around with web building. I have over the past year read through at least 5 Head First Labs books over HTML, PHP, Design Patterns, AJAX, etc. These books have met all of my expectations and allowed me to become a fairly proficient self taught web programmer. I love the style of writing, it keeps my attention and I finish each chapter actually understanding each peice of code I am writing. Head First HTML 5 Programming does not dissapoint. It is laid out clearly and covers each topic in a logical and easy to follow flow. I would (and have) recommend this book and any other Head First Labs guide to any aspiring programmer. They are simply the best.

So, what's in it for you if you buy Head First HTML5 Programming? Well, you'll get a book that focuses on helping you "get" HTML5 and helping you not to forget what you learned. The authors approach this task by providing short introductions to a topic, such as a particular aspect of JavaScript, and then having you work exercises - some paper and some coding. The authors even encourage you to write in the book. Make sure you have a pencil!

Keeping your interest, and hence your attention, is a strength of the book. (It kept my attention but then maybe I'm easily entertained.) Lots of pictures and notes all over the place? You bet. Its all part of getting the important information about HTML5 that you want to learn (otherwise why did you get the book?) to your brain. Ah, but how to keep the knowledge in there? Now comes the second part of the author's diabolical learning plot!

Once they have your attention the authors help you retain the material by presenting it in a variety of ways and having you do a variety of exercises. If you get the book but aren't going to do the exercises don't waste your money. The exercises are key to getting the knowledge into your head and keeping it there.

HTML5 is the combination of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. The book expects that you know HTML and CSS to some extent and provides very good introductions to JavaScript and its new APIs. The topics covered in the book include:

- An extensive introduction to JavaScript
- Using the Geolocation API in your web pages
- Web apps & JSON
- Being artistic with the Canvas API
- Becoming a video star with the Video API
- Using storage in client browsers
- Using Web Workers to get the job done outside the main JavaScript thread

Head First HTML5 Programming covers all these items very well and helps you have fun creating working pages/applications that highlight the power of JavaScript. Are these topics all there is to HTML5? No, and the authors are up front about that. If you use the book well you will have a great foundation to build upon.

The authors also help you deal with the universal truth that no two browsers will support quite the same feature set. One of the principles the authors stress is the ability for HTML5 pages to handle missing features gracefully and the authors present examples of how to do this.

My one incredibly minor complaint is that when you finish an exercise you are encouraged to review the solution at the end of the chapter. Unfortunately, finding the end of a chapter is sometimes tricky with all the interesting stuff popping out of the pages. Adding an indication that you are in the solutions section of a chapter would help and fit in with the overall flow and purpose of the book.

If you really want to learn the tools to make great HTML5 pages I highly recommend this book. It is aimed to help you learn, have fun while you're learning, and to help you retain this knowledge so you can go out there and do great stuff.

Full Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.

This book is awesome! This is the first "Head First" book I've purchased and I'm very pleased with
the way the book is written. Where other tech books are dry and humorless, this one has character and
is actually fun to read. The authors really understand how dull a tech book can be and succeed at
re-inventing the delivery of such information.

To pick this up, you need to be familiar with HTML and CSS.

This is another book related to HTML 5. As I really want to learn HTML5 well I am going over through different HTML5 related titles recently. This time, book comes from the Head First's stable. If you know Head First already, you know what to expect. If you are not familiar with the series, everything is just ahead of you.

Book covers, in my opinion, the very basics of the HTML5. This way, you will be able to learn step by step how to build HTML5 based web pages. When it comes to the content, one third of the book is devoted to Java Script. At some point this is important, because HTML5 is heavily based on Java Script. On the other hand, if you are experienced developer, going through all these ifs, whiles and fors will be definitely boring. However, if you haven't done web based development since you are desktop only developer, Head First's way explanation of basics concepts might be useful.