Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle Reading App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
$19.91
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
Frequently Bought Together
{"currencyCode":"USD","itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":19.91,"ASIN":"1491904151","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":15.93,"ASIN":"1449335586","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":16.64,"ASIN":"1593275404","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"1491904151::IEyj%2F2ThXPOLUo3j89dI6hXGrtnDApdJm6s2z9aUBfQ9NuBmAxb4%2F0O0aLFkdynlAhv1rVZDVfZ6iwum9SCjyh3rptXXrNGlrXQfiMpsWTjacIKDxqRx%2BQ%3D%3D,1449335586::pdf9gNfbOlOpqpJkEdFhRKxgFxIpk0TeE7S6BGa79aWNIiQwJtqsPT0yKT6PuPvq9Pl%2Bln0kFs3v%2FIdYUwZ4sAxxDlRoP4wkWhAb%2BYs76So5IiJheqf5PQ%3D%3D,1593275404::yeCXzUub0t7MVHYZQNuTdMK5w6SM39jgY6%2BRxsQtMCegZ8bEkNos0dVy1oUrh%2Bp1E7PfZPrbV4vYxmJewVK%2BERpm9%2BeDUPKwrJJDzAMDzPAmLeu2j2QL0g%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","yz":"same","xy":"same","xyz":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["Add to Wish List","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"]}}
Shop the new tech.book(store)
New! Introducing the tech.book(store), a hub for Software Developers and Architects, Networking Administrators, TPMs, and other technology professionals to find highly-rated and highly-relevant career resources. Shop books on programming and big data, or read this week's blog posts by authors and thought-leaders in the tech industry.
> Shop now
Kyle Simpson is an Open Web Evangelist from Austin, TX. He's passionate about JavaScript, HTML5, real-time/peer-to-peer communications, and web performance. Otherwise, he's probably bored by it. Kyle is an author, workshop trainer, tech speaker, and avid OSS community member.
Kyle Simpson explains the semantics of using "this" in Javascript and why it is not the same as Java. The Javascript keyword "this" is often misunderstood. Many works treat it as the Javascript equivalent of Java's "this" or Python's "self," and while that understanding will lead to working programs in most cases, Simpson explains where that understanding will break down in a way that many programmers will not be able to anticipate. He later discusses Javascript's prototypal inheritance and how it works different than typical inheritance designs.
This text should not be a first introduction to the language and maybe not even a second or third. The topics covered are quite advanced and require a relatively high familiarity with Javascript to begin to understand. At times the text can be very confusing and require re-reading sections to fully grasp, however this is due to the complexity of the material covered and not due the author. The author's writing style is quite clear and his examples are well explained. Code samples are very short and to the point, not wasting space with unnecessary filler code which so many technical books do (pages of GUI code for explaining a simple input/output example for instance).
This is the first example I have seen of covering these topics in this manner, and while at first I was unsure if they really warranted their own book, I did not realize how poorly I understood the semantics of "this." I would highly recommend the text to anybody who expects to do much work in Javascript, in particular in creating or working with frameworks, where a full knowledge of the topics covered could prove indispensible. After reading this text, I would be interested in reading the other texts in the series as well.
(I received an electronic copy of the book as part of OReilly's reader review program.)
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
'this and Object prototypes' is the second book in the 'You Don't know Javascript' book series. I would argue that this book probably could've served as the first book becuase this book challenges developers to actually re-consider the need of and use of the classical design patterns and assessing the benefits and drawbacks of it. In other words it challenges developers to actually be engineers instead of just developers.
It is my opinion that I and other developers have been lazy in that we just accept classical software design as the way software should be developed without really thinking about what that actually means and the benefits and drawbacks of classical design patterns. Rather than fully embracing the benefit of behavior based delegation-oriented design in Javascript, developers have typically shoe-horned in the classical design patterns into Javascript.
If you were even mildly disappointed in the first book in this series 'Scope and Closures', you will pleased to know that this book is head and shoulders better than the first book in this series and really is a shining example of what a good programming book should do is challenge you to think about software design in ways you had not previously really given much thought to.
Gone is the somewhat pretentious tone of the previous book. Instead the author takes a different tone as he aims to teach developers think about the implications of classical and behavioral design patterns. It is as if Kyle got better at writing a book that people can read and learn from. There are plenty of code examples along with detailed explanations of what Javascript is actually doing behind the scenes. This may actually just be a good computer science book to have in general.Read more ›
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
I can't quite decide if this is a great book attempting to teach the subtleties of a cryptic programming language or if the "bad parts" of Javascript just aren't worth knowing about. Ultimately I'm pretty psyched by this book and its approach to the subject matter by focusing on select topics in the language, and I'm really looking forward to reading other books in this "You Don't Know JS" series.
I've been putzing about in JS for about a year, teaching myself how to do things by googling individual topics. The only book I've consulted in the past is "Javascript: the Good Parts" - I am very much part of the intended target audience for this book, that is, people who have learned just enough JS "to get by" and use the language just as a way to connect buttons to JSON requests. I confess I did not even know that Javascript has objects or a "this" before reading this book.
The entire text of the book is available online as a free pdf file to download. I have no idea why O'Reilly allows this for so many of their books now (I do not think the various sites that offer these downloads are pirating anything). In any case, this is a nicely bound book in a convenient size; I've been putting it in my knapsack and reading it on the train to and from work.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
There’s no introductory tutorial or review of basics, so some experience with JavaScript is advised if you want to hit the ground running.
Those with C++ or Java backgrounds will figure it out, but if you picked up JavaScript piecemeal (not uncommon) and don’t have an OO background, there are easier to follow tutorials and books out there that explain objects and the ‘this’ context reference. Personally, I think ‘JavaScript Succinctly’, downloadable from SyncFusion, does a cleaner job with more practical code that’s a better fit for those without OO experience.
I think I get where the author is coming from; he writes well and the code is well though out. I coded in C++ with an OO background before JavaScript existed and, like him, for a long time refused to take it seriously as well. But the ideal audience for such a narrowly focused book is people who appreciate and enjoy the nuances of language semantics and they’re the ones who likely already get JavaScript’s not-quite-real-OO features.
In short, if you’re a language geek invoved with JavaScript, you’ll probably love it. But if you’re looking for a clear, practical tutorial on advancing your existing JavaScript skills in an OO direction, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this one.
Comment
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes No
Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
