Customer Reviews

Javascript in Easy Steps

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am not a programmer. I am a person who designs web pages. Since this book was only ten bucks, I thought I would give it a try. This book does an ok job of teaching JavaScript. It will clearly walk you though each of the basic JavaScript functions and give you one example of how it works. You can download all the examples used in the book from their web site. However, this book does not teach you how to use functions together to build applications. I wish the book had exercises using combinations of JavaScript functions. It teaches you about the pieces but not how to put them together to build a simple application. I thought that teaching you how to build simple JavaScript applications would give you a greater understanding of how the functions work. Overall, this book is worth the ten dollars I paid for it. However, I will probably look for another JavaScript book with more practical applications.

This book is not best in the series. If you know another programing langugage -it is best to stay away. However, the book has a lot of examples that can help you get started. In addition, it is straight to the point, and easy to read. The applications given are more basic than in his other books, which definetly hinders in what you learn from the book. However, thats what the interent is for.

I bought this book because of other books I have read in the series. In Easy Steps is quick and to the point and isnt a thousand pages. I recently took a JavaScript class and wanted to give this book as a desk reference for a classmate. All the examples are placed in message boxes which allows you to execute commands but doesnt show you how to really use JavaScript with a web page save making a pop up message box. Because Amazon didnt deliver the book in time for a gift I was able to send it back and dodge a bullet. I would recommend the JavaScript book from Visual, JavaScript: Visual Blueprint. It has a building on the fron and is around 300 pages. I would recommend other books from the In Easy Steps series but not this one.

Cheers.

Though the title of this book would lead one to believe that the contents would be presented in "easy steps," I found this to be untrue. I read the book without having any experience working with JavaScript but with many years of experience with HTML. The starting tag presented in the very first chapter does not validate in xHTML, and I ran into several other complications throughout the following pages. The book makes a decent reference tool for simple codes, but, as was mentioned in a previous review, the author does not do a good job showing the reader how to combine steps. I had to do some creative programming on the side to figure out simple things like getting a pop-up window to open after a link has been clicked. Many times, I found myself wishing that the author had elaborated just a little further on the purpose for, effect of, and limitations on one command or another.

This book did not prove to be useful to me, and I'm sure it would prove troublesome for those with little or no experience with internet coding. All in all, I think there are better books on JavaScript out there for beginners.