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JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides) Paperback – May 13, 2011

by David Flanagan (Author)

140 customer reviews

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Since 1996, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide has been the bible for JavaScript programmers—a programmer's guide and comprehensive reference to the core language and to the client-side JavaScript APIs defined by web browsers.

The 6th edition covers HTML5 and ECMAScript 5. Many chapters have been completely rewritten to bring them in line with today's best web development practices. New chapters in this edition document jQuery and server side JavaScript. It's recommended for experienced programmers who want to learn the programming language of the Web, and for current JavaScript programmers who want to master it.

"A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers...well-organized and detailed."
—Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript, CTO of Mozilla

"I made a career of what I learned from JavaScript: The Definitive Guide.”
—Andrew Hedges, Tapulous

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages (Definitive Guides)

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Product Details

Series: Definitive Guides
Paperback: 1096 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 6th edition (May 13, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0596805527
ISBN-13: 978-0596805524
Product Dimensions: 7 x 2.4 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Web Programming > JavaScript
- #16 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Object-Oriented Design
- #18 in Books > Computers & Technology > Web Development & Design > Web Design

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Customer Reviews

140

4.5 out of 5 stars

5 star		73%
4 star		12%
3 star		6%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

392 of 433 people found the following review helpful

Could be better

By Patrick Goetz on May 6, 2011

Format: Paperback

Readers should note that most of the reviews of this book refer to older editions which are -- due to the rapid evolution of javascript -- completely different books. I've spent a considerable amount of time the last few months reading the 6th edition of this book and have a number of complaints. But first, the kudos: this book is more comprehensive than any other javascript reference.

Complaints:
- the text is frequently non-linear in the sense that author will talk about undefined feature X, stating that feature X will be explained a couple of chapters later. Sometimes this is a good way to gradually introduce concepts, but it's used too much here. Some critics of this book have suggested you need to know javascript before reading this book, this might be why.

- Almost every concept is followed with the caveat "but this feature doesn't work in Internet Explorer prior to version Z. For that you have to use this entirely different function f". This makes the text unnecessarily confusing. How about talking about *standard* ECMAscript and relegating the caveats to end of chapter notes, perhaps adding a superscript to alert the reader about version incompatibilities?

- The examples are poor -- most show how to re-implement javascript 5 functions in javascript 3, or how to get a standard function to work in Internet Explorer 8. Who cares? This is why we have jQuery and Dojo -- in order not to worry about stuff like this. A few examples like this would provide welcome insight into dealing with compatibility issues, but in this case my eyes started to glaze over after a few hundred pages.

Case study: Chapter 17, "Handling Events".Read more ›

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49 of 50 people found the following review helpful

For those doubting a book is better than what can be found online

By Charlie on April 25, 2012

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I simply wanted to say how much David's book has meant to my learning and understanding of Javascript, and programming in general. I had initially tried learning through many free sources online, and while most were very good in tackling specific issues or illustrating solutions to esoteric problems, none gave me the confidence that I was getting a solid foundation in the language, or programming in general.

In search of something better, I looked to stackoverflow which constantly recommended David's book. To be honest, I pirated it first. But after the first 3 chapters I went straight to Amazon and bought it, as well as Javascript Patters from Stoyan and Douglas's Crockford book Javascript: the good parts (another big hit on the stackoverflow forums). I was dumbfounded at how easy and clear his book made the language. For the first time, ideas were presented in a logical order, with concepts obviously introduced to build on previous ones. Concepts I've been told are essential (hoisting, closures, etc) but were intimidating because I'd never seen them in a cohesive narrative, shocked me in how intuitive they actually were when written well and paired with succinct examples.

I know this all seems overzealous enough to border on the insincere, but for someone who always had a passion for technology and wanted to create his own, but was beginning to be deterred from it all because I thought it was simply above my grasp, I want to say thank you to David and O'Reilly.

They very may well have single-handedly created a new developer, and have dramatically changed my life in the process.

Thanks again.

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59 of 63 people found the following review helpful

Provides a deep dive into JavaScript development

By James Skemp VINE VOICE on May 23, 2011

Format: Paperback

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is not just a complete reference of the language, like O'Reilly's other 'thick books,' but also provides a deep dive into JavaScript development. However, if you're just starting out and will be using one of the various libraries (like jQuery), this book may not (yet) be for you.

First, the sixth edition is the first I've read, so I can't speak to any changes. Instead, my review is focused on the book as a first-timer reader to the 'series.'

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is broken up into four parts; Core JavaScript, Client-Side JavaScript, the Core JavaScript Reference, and the Client-Side Reference. If you've ever picked up one of O'Reilly's other reference books, like Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, you know about what to expect from those last two parts - a deep reference to the language.

The first two parts, however, are a 'deep dive' into the actual language itself. Unlike a mere reference book, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide actually teaches you how to develop in JavaScript, starting at the core fundamentals, and working your way up to more advanced topics.

Part of the 'deep dive' aspect also includes following best practices, making numerous references to Douglas Crockford's JavaScript: The Good Parts throughout the first part of the book, which is about 30% of the book. Alone, the first part of the book provides an excellent, near-complete, tutorial on the language.

Historical information is also included, which I found to be very interesting when it came up, as well as implementation-specific functionality, that has limited use at this time (and as such, I personally found it distracting, and began skimming over later instances, but it's still nice that it's provided).Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

good as a reference only

This book is a good reference to Javascript, but a poor tutorial, and inappropriate
if you're not already a programmer. My review is of the 6th edition. Read more

Published 6 days ago by A. Chong

Five Stars

Great as a reference book. Every JS dev should have this on hand.

Published 25 days ago by Aaron

Five Stars

Great item. Fast shipping. TYSM for a great transaction!

Published 2 months ago by Textile Artisian

Five Stars

Great book!

Published 2 months ago by Robert834

all is

all is ok

Published 3 months ago by Mauricio Carrasco Solís

Boring, disorganized, and uninspiring

Yes, it's comprehensive and nuanced. But my goodness--it's BORING. It saps the beginner programmer of all initiative. There's something very non-linear about it. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Amanda S. Williamson

Excellent book. It is well organized and written well

The title says it all. Excellent book. It is well organized and written well.

Published 3 months ago by Ray Knapp

Incredible JavaScript Resource

Just made it through 3.10.3 and have had an incredible experience! The author is very clear and very careful to explain the deep-down aspects of JavaScript, building on core... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Tanner

Five Stars

Excellent book. Basic concepts explained very clearly.

Published 4 months ago by Kadri

Works as a learning book as well as a reference

Fantastic book. Having read a dozen other JavaScript books, this one is clear, exhaustive, and uses simple and practical code examples. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Michael T.

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