Customer Reviews

Head First JavaScript

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Let me begin by saying that Head First Javascript is a good book, at least compared to any other JS books I've seen. It isn't, however, a particularly good "Head First" book.

What I mean by this is that the other Head First books I've used (XHTML & CSS, SQL, and C#) have been highly interactive, easy to use, and really got the concepts into my head. I was amazed that, after just a few days with these books, I could actually build professional-looking web pages that were rigorously standards compliant; or create complex applications in C# quickly and easily; or navigate the intricacies of building and using SQL databases. The Head First method certainly seemed to work.

So when I heard the HF people were producing a JS book, I was overjoyed. Sadly, it's been a bit of a letdown. The book smacks strongly of rushed production, lacking many of the features that makes the HF series special. For example, in the C# book, the authors take the reader through application construction in a step-by-step manner, carefully explaining everything as they go. The effect is of a very knowledgeable teacher standing over your shoulder and guiding you while you code. The reader is actively involved in every exercise, building their code from scratch. There are copies of every piece of code available for download at Head First's website, but these are merely tools for checking the reader's work.

In the Javascript book, however, much of the interactivity is missing. The book reads like a walkthrough of the code samples, with most of the user participation taking the form of pencil and paper exercises. The reader could actually complete the book without switching on her PC. Even the code solutions on the HF website seem to be just tossed up there, with the page numbers each example refers to contained in a Read Me file (the book itself just contains a general instruction to grab the code from the website, without any indication of which code).

This all sounds pretty negative, and I must confess to being somewhat disappointed with the book. That said, it's still far superior to any other JS book I've tried. By the end of Head First Javascript, I did feel that the general scope of Javascript had sunk into my brain. I had a feeling for its overall structure and the ways in which it could be applied. I know that I can now tackle a more advanced JS book and absorb the concepts much more easily.

What I don't feel is ready to sit down and write Javascript. The whole experience with this book was just too fragmentary and too lopsidedly didactic. The experience was insufficiently hands-on to enable me to become comfortable with the nitty gritty of JS scripting. When I finished HF's C#, XHTML, and SQL books, I could sit down and churn out code, with only a few O'Reilly Pocket Guides beside me to refresh my memory on syntax and structure. That's not been the case with Javascript.

Head First Javascript just seems to lack the "stickiness" of the other titles in the series.

The first headfirst book I read was the HTML one and I have been hooked ever since. I took a class in javascript last semester and was hoping this book would come out before finals but alas that didn't happen. Anyways, I got this book when it first came out and I have been going through it since. Here are my observations

Pros: 1)The pacing is well-balanced. For those with no experience in programming they slowly but surely introduce you to if statements, variables, loops, functions, and arrays. Ch 7 and 8 hit the sweet spot in terms of usefulness and ease of learning. The book gets more challenging at the end but by that time I was ready for the topics they introduced.
2) Chapter 7 is definitely my favorite chapter of the book. It introduced me to a much more efficient way of data editing/validation. I had always used indexof but this chapter introduced me to regular expressions and they ROCKED my world! A very practical and useful chapter.
3) The code examples- The examples they use in the book are very relevant to what you might actually use on your own website. Each chapter introduced the code layer by layer so as to not overwhelm me with its complexity
4) Attention to detail- As I read the book, I often had unanswered questions and then a couple of pages later the author would answer it. If there was function or object I wasn't familiar with, it would be explained with the pencil writing.
5) The FUN Factor! The code examples they use like the choose your own adventure in ch.8 are very creative and interesting. Some might consider the humor sophomoric but a young college student like myself appreciated it.

Cons: 1) This is not a reference book. That's a double edged sword depending on what you are looking for though. This book is a great starting off point for beginners and by the end I felt I had become very proficient in javascript. Even though this book will be my main guide for Javascript, I know there is still more for me to learn and I'll probably buy that Oreilly book with the rhino on the cover.

Bottom line: If you are taking a class in javascript or want to know how to make your web pages more interactive, this is a great introduction to javascript. Even though I still got an A, I know I could really have used this book last semester in my javascript class.

I liked the Headfirst HTML/XHTML/CSS book, but I found this one poorly organized and discouraging. The exercises frequently required knowledge of concepts that had not yet been introduced. And I found the extended examples used in the book (such as an unrealistic and complicated movie theatre "seat finding" dealeo) unnecessarily confusing.

After starting it several times and struggling through 300 or so pages I broke down and bought The Book of Javascript (2nd ed) by David Thau. I'm much happier: good clear explanations from the get go, and a focus on javascript as actually used in the world.

Short version: Very disappointed by Head First JavaScript ("HFJS"). Loved Head First HTML/XHTML/CSS ("HFHTML"), felt like I retained everything from it immediately, but couldn't figure out why the info in HFJS wasn't sinking in. Turned to web tutorials (better), and finally changed to Simply JavaScript(Sitepoint), a much more clearly written and explained book.

Long version: Less than a month ago, I knew very little about web design, much less any sort of programming. I'd tried to teach myself HTML from a rather dry text perhaps ten years ago, but nothing stuck. But I had a desire to give it another go, and set about finding another HTML book. I settled on HFHTML -- while it took many more pages to explain concepts which other books treated succinctly, the writing was much better in the Head First volume and I guessed I'd retain more from it.

It turned out to be a fantastic purchase, I devoured the book and within a week or so became proficient enough at HTML and CSS to code some complex site layouts. Since my latest site required dynamic behavior, JavaScript seemed like the logical next step. Given my positive experience (almost miraculous) with the HFHTML book, my first choice for a JavaScript book was HFJS. The many positive reviews on Amazon reinforced my decision.

When it arrived, I eagerly began from the beginning, skipping nothing (just as I'd done w/HFHTML). Did the quizzes, the crosswords, but from the beginning, things were a little off. In HFHTML, the authors show you where and how to introduce new code in your example pages, but in HFJS, it wasn't even clear whether you were supposed to be coding along, or merely just reading the book's examples. And while HFHTML proceeded very logically from basic to more advanced concepts, HFJS appeared to be veering all over the place. I persisted for 250 pages, but had to admit to myself that none of it was sinking in.

I turned to some web tutorials (better), and finally, purchased Simply Javascript (Sitepoint). While it is not a perfect book, either, I think it explains JavaScript more clearly than HFJS, and is better about starting the beginner off with good coding habits, such as keeping JavaScript code in separate files, rather than in the header of the HTML document (something which HFJS doesn't do). It also cuts to the chase of what most aspiring web designers want to use JavaScript for, which is dynamically modifying the content of pages via the Document Object Model ("DOM").

To be fair to the HFJS author, JavaScript is a SIGNIFICANTLY harder language to learn than HTML or CSS. And HFJS does a good job introducing and explaining the types of JavaScript data (e.g., text, boolean, number). But HFJS overall was a disappointment, and doesn't live up to the high standards set with HFHTML.

I pre-ordered this book on the strong reputation this line of books has. I like the Head First Java, 2nd Edition book, and still believe their Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML book is the best book there is for learning "smart" XHTML and CSS at the same time--whereas many books have NOT handled that balance well.

I sponsor a high school computer programming club and my students had me pre-order this book for them, as they loved the Head First HTML book and felt this would be their best bet at really understanding JavaScript.

JavaScript is a strange language to teach. Although you want to teach the basics of programming, you also want to have early exciting examples that show its possibilities when embedded in a web page. This book does about as well as can be done in one book, with sections on loops, decision making, de-bugging, functions and objects for those new to programming. Then there are also chapters on the most common uses of JavaScript, including, of course, forms and validation.

If you're familiar with the Head First approach, you will find this book to fit in perfectly with their other titles. This is the kind of book you buy, highlight, and write in. Active learning. This is not a reference book.

I'm not a Javascript expert. I'm trying to learn it. This book is better than others I've seen, particularly on the concepts of the language.

But when the rubber meets the road -- the programming -- it's a disaster. New concepts can only be learned by personal effort, and I make a point of attempting the programming myself, trying to reinforce these novel concepts through repetition. But like a distressingly large number of Javascript books, the code published in the book doesn't work. Seriously: If you punch in the code on, say, page 59, the result -- even with the necessary CSS and PHP sheets -- is a buggy, incomprehensible mess. It's only when you download the code from the Head First site that you see the authors left critical commands, words and punctuation out of the script on the physical page. How are you supposed to learn by doing when you're handed script that simply won't work?

A good introduction to the underlying ideas of Javascript. Awful on the execution. Unfortunately, it's not the only book out there with these problems.

This book falls short of the excellent and easy to follow examples that Head First HTML book introduces.

The first forty pages uses several operators and code without a clear explaination of how it works. There are also excercises that assume some knowledge of concepts beyond what has been explained. This may help help you to ask the right questions but it doesn't help you solve problems.

More diagrams following the values passed through functions would have been helpful as well. Although the author points to code and tells you what it does, it would be much more helpful to actually see the values and actions each step of the way.

I recommend other books for the complete beginner such as JavaScript Demystified. It's a manageable length with consistantly great reviews.

If you are expecting the same detailed, coherent, basics-to-details approach that has been so successful in other Head First publications, forget it. It's as if this book's authorship was outsourced to someone who is unaware of what has made Head First one of the premier names in technical education. Poor overview of basic concepts, rambling examples, confusing diagrams, etc. I own at least five other Head First publications and this one it not even close to them. Spend you money elsewhere.

Overall, I'm a huge fan of HF books. In this case, however, I feel like the book didn't go as deep as it could have or as I was expecting. It's a great introduction to JavaScript, but it doesn't cover the concepts I need to take me to the next level. Prototyping, closure, even the '===' operator are all left out, which is what you really need to take JavaScript from fun little additions to heavy-weight client side software.

I'm keeping this book as a good reference for my team, but I need to find something more in depth to satisfy myself.

Let me begin by saying that J. Mitchell's review couldn't be more dead on. I too have been extremely pleased with O'Reilly's other Head First titles (especially their near perfect introduction to HTML and CSS). As such, I was really excited to sit down with HF Javascript. Unfortunately, I quickly found that the user interactivity that characterizes other Head First titles was sorely lacking. Elisabeth and Eric Freeman's HF HTML with CSS & XHTML, for example, provided an immersive experience in which every exercise greatly enriched the learning process--while working through the exercises I was actually writing HTML/CSS, and felt as if I was actively discovering the ins and outs of strict XHTML. After a week working through that book, I opened a couple of files and got right to work on some preliminary site designs--I honestly don't believe a semester long university course would have prepared me better.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for HF Javascript. While the book initially appears to adhere to the tried and true Head First program, it fails in the most fundamental category of instruction: hands on participation. While the book provides the reader with a good deal of worthwhile coding examples (via files downloadable from the HF website), these files are already complete, little to no user input required. I often just found myself looking at wholly functional .html files wondering why I was completing most of the exercises by pen inside my book instead of by script on my computer. While the explanatory sections really expanded my understanding of Javascript function, the rest of the book did little to enrich my understanding of how to actually incorporate the language into my own pages. After two somewhat frustrating chapters, I found myself spending more and more time at free tutorial sites like w3schools.com and echoecho.com increasingly relying upon those website's examples and exercises. What has so impressed me about other HF titles in the past are the numerous "light bulb" moments contained in every chapter, moments in which one gets the sense that one isn't simply following along, but rather thoroughly grasping a concept to the point of being able to easily employ it outside of the book's exercises.

All that said, Michael Morrison's entry in the HF series is by no means worthless. If you're looking for a general explanation of Javascript, I could suggest no more concise and clear introduction. Likewise, the downloadable files and in-text examples will provide a good base from which to launch further inquiry on the web (there are a lot of great free Javascript tutorials out there). In fact, with some minor revisions to the exercise sections (i.e. more actual coding, less pen and paper matching/fill in the blank), this book could be incredibly useful--here's hoping for a second edition.