Customer Reviews

Javascript Developer's Resource: Client-Side Programming Using Html, Netscape Plug-Ins and Java Applets (Resource Series)

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... and so should the person who named it. This book is not what I think of as a developer's resource (though it does at least contain an Appendix listing Javascript objects, properties, and methods). It *could have been* a good guide for the Javascript beginner, but it is positively riddled with errors of every conceivable type -- from typos and English usage errors through code listings that are just plain wrong.

from p.91: "Line 6 [of the listing on p.88] declares a local variable, i, in the function with the var i statement."

[KG] . . . Look at line 6 -- it's empty! In fact, nowhere in the listing is the variable i declared.

from p.77: "a = escape("Bugs Bunny") // a = "Al%20Bundy""

[KG] . . . Uh, really?? escaping Bugs Bunny turns it into Al Bundy?

from p.89: if (selectObject.options[i].text == "March") str += " c1"

if (selectObject.options[i].text == "July") str = " c3"

[KG] . . . I didn't post the entire listing, but the third through fifth lines use "=" (incorrectly) rather than "+=" (which means that if you choose the March and/or May from the select box, the code works as described in the text, but if you choose any of the other months, it doesn't).

There are also omissions and inconsistencies and formatting boo-boos.

from pp.55-56: in Table 2.5, "HTML statements that allow embedded JavaScript for Navigator 2.0," the list goes from <INPUT TYPE="button> through <TEXTAREA> -- and then starts over, from <INPUT TYPE="button"> through <SELECT>.

[KG] . . . Why was two-thirds of the table repeated? Why are the column headers repeated on the last line of the table? Why aren't the tags at least in alphabetical order? (If they had been, the repetition might have been caught by the editor... but then again, judging by the editing overall, probably not!)

Significant errors like this can be found every few pages. These, as well as the irritating typos ("dependant," "parantheses," "it's" instead of "its"), have reduced my confidence in the book's trustworthiness as a soi-disant "reference" work to zero. It's a pity, because as a tutorial, it's not half bad. I know just enough JavaScript to catch some (though probably not all) of the errors in the listings -- but as of page 130 or so, I've expended far too much of my own ink on these pages. For shame, Prentice Hall PTR!

If you are an experienced programmer, you might be able to follow what this book purports to teach you. The problem is that many, many of the examples and the text itself contain errors. For instance, Program listing 9.2 indicates that the scripting language is Livescript, not Javascript. Whoops! Figure 2.6 does NOT show the output of program "quote.htm". Table 2.5 repeats itself for some reason on the subsequent page. The TIP example on page 77 is incorrect. The ELSE part of the IF THEN ELSE statement explanation on page 81 is incorrect. Figure 3.3 on page 93 should really be associated with figure 3.4 on page 102, but is not. Some of the programs included on the CD ROM are not identical to the programs listed in the textbook... I could go on, but this only makes sense if you buy the book and make the errata corrections. If I were you, I would wait for the revised edition if you really want to learn Javascript without being totally confused or annoyed

On top of what others already said about this book, the index is completely useless!! It is all of almost 7 pages long, and that is with a large font, double line-spacing and a single column. I think the average letter has 10-15 references. This is WAY too little for an almost 600-page book. Books of this size usually have an index of more than 25 pages, in a smaller font, with 2 columns on a page.

I don't know how Prentice Hall could ever release this.