Customer Reviews

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (Nutshell Handbooks)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a welcome addition to any web development or interface design library. Unlike so many other books on J(ava)Script this book is authoritative (as of its pub date) and compendious; it is an invaluable reference. Like most O'Reilly books, this one manages far more material in greater detail than the typical bookshelf-bending how-to behemoth in far, far fewer pages.

- The syntax coverage is flawless, at times ruthless, and efficient.

- Flanagan shows how powerful, and genuinely object oriented, JavaScript is--prototypes are typically ignored in other books on the topic, with Nick Heinle's as a notable but incommensurable exception.

- Cross platform issues are handled well. When this book was written the IE/Netscape 4.x object models had not been fully explored and exposed as divergent as they are--no current book fully attacks this topic. Compatibility issues are handled straight back to Navigator 2.0. However, given recent browser developments, we're in need of a third edition (and Opera coverage).

- The examples are clear, eminently useful, and will help out even cookbook coders.

I've spun through at least 7 different books on this topic since 1996: if you're a beginner to programming, or a designer hoping to add to the toolbox, this one might be rough going at first. Once you're comfortable with JavaScript, this is the *only* book you will keep.

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.

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.

JavaScript, The Definitive Guide is pure O'Reilly: it explains JavaScript and allows you to write the code you need to write. I understood the JavaScript object model and was able to successfully initialize global JavaScript variables and pass them between frames in a complex web application after using this book.

The book is not overburdened by lame "hello world" code snippets, thus not geared toward beginners. If you write code for a living and need to understand JavaScript, this is the book to get.

A superb book, written by a serious programmer and a skilled writer. Honest about JavaScript's flaws, bugs, and strengths (albeit still a bit diplomatic about the lack of debugging environment).

Vastly better than all but the very different and complementary Peachpit press book: Gesing and Schneider, JavaScript for the World Wide Web.

If you want to do JavaScript, you NEED both the Gesing and Flanagan books, and nothing more.

Warning: The dynamic frameset example on page 206 is missing an n.document.close() statement. This is critical to working with dynamic framesets. No-one's perfect.

http://dragon.labmed.umn.edu/~john/
John Faughnan

The introduction and core JavaScript sections of the book are well written, and manages to keep the reader's attention. It is excellent in pointing out the inconsistancies in JavaScript implementation across the various browsers and platforms. Good programming code - detailed enough to evoke thorough understanding of the topic, yet consise enough to avoid tedium. The second half of the book, the reference section is an invaluable tool for quick, detailed information about every object, property, function, and method of the core JavaScript language. Excellent book in every regard!

I own several O'Reilly Nutshell handbooks (HTML, Perl, JavaScript, Java, etc.), and as far as I'm concerned, they're simply the best. I love the design, the structure, the readability, and everything else. When I want REFERENCE, I get O'Reilly. And JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is one of the best in the series. The only other JavaScript book I'd get is Netscape's OFFICIAL JavaScript 1.2 book (and that's just because David Flanagan hasn't completed his 1.2 edition).

JavaScript the definitive guide is a reference resource. As a reference it really doesnt help you understand the intracacies of programming JavaScript. I use this book when I need a quick answer to a something like syntax, properties and methods. As a reference this book is very useful. However, to solve tough problems, get hands on help and work through the logic of programming scripts, I rely on Netscape ONE developers guide.

Take it from someone who develops scripts every single day: You need a good reference book and a good practical-handson book

For a 600-page book, there certainly isn't much you can use. The first 150 pages (9 chapters) cover elementary stuff like statements, arrays and operators. Although this introductory stuff would have been great for beginners, the author's high-handed style is focused on advanced folks, meaning even though there's 150 pages on basics most people can't understand it.

The next two chapters drone on and on and on and on about structure and name space--another waste of 50 pages. The real meat of the book runs from chapter 12 to chapter 17, a 100 pages of real stuff that may be useful if you can stomach the first 200 pages.

Afterward, the author starts elementary discussions on compatibility, LiveConnect and security. Although these are useful subjects, once again the author assumes that you know what's he's talking about, meaning these chapters are pointless. Either you know the stuff already or you don't and you certainly aren't going to get anywhere with the author's discussion. The next 200-pages provide a JavaScript reference that is flawed and not current. Granted, the book professes to cover JavaScript for Navigator 2.0 and BETA Navigator 3.0.

In summary, after reading this book I was very disappointed and felt cheated out of my money. In the end, I sent the book back and got a different book. My choice this time was based on a friend's recommendation (Netscape ONE Developer's Guide, which covers both client-side and server-side JavaScript, LiveConnect and other Netscape technologies). If you want to learn real-world JavaScript, I too recommend Netscape ONE Developer's Guide. Thomas Warren

Not much food for thought... More of an outline/overview than what you actually need to master JavaScript. Flanagan's style is a bit sketchy as well