Rating:  - Pretty good, but lacking something
I bought this book because I am a web designer, but I'm terrible with Javascript, so I intended to try to figure it out a little bit with this book. It seems promising, as it goes from the ground all the way up to Ajax, but it uses the annoying practice of code snippets interspersed throughout the text, which can get kind of confusing.
I'm also not positive all of the examples work, although that could be my own error. It's definitely not a bad book, but it is probably slightly over the heads of individuals such as I.
Rating:  - Poorly organized, sloppy examples, and HEAVY emphasis on accessibility standards compliance
I've had very positive experiences with Apress in the past, but I was really disappointed with this book....and it sounds like some of the other reviewers share my frustrations.
The example programs are sloppy and have errors (yes, the versions posted online work, but it's a massive pain in the a$$ to stare at the book for twenty minutes only to realize that there's an error in line x and line y doesn't even need to be there...and it's a bit unfair to expect the reader to know when to stop staring at the book and check the online version to see if it looks any different). Additionally, the author frequently dumps large amounts of code on the reader and instructs them to ignore parts (or to "ignore everything except for"). It happends over and over, and it gets annoying.
Also, from the beginning of the book, there is a heavy emphasis on web accessibility standards. Ensuring that your site can be accessed by visually impaired or otherwise disabled users is fine and great, but the examples get bloated because of it and, imho, it really gets in the way of learning the basic concepts.
If you want to learn Javascript and DOM, I'd recommend that you go to the Mozilla online docs for Javascript and DOM. The documentation and examples there are first rate. If, after learning Javascript and DOM, you want some recipes that *might* be helpful in ensuring compliance with accessibility standards, this book may be for you.
Rating: - Just type it okay?
This book gives all kinds of javascript examples, right from page 2 and half of them don't even work. The author introduces new concepts and terms without a single explaination and then expects you to use them later on in the book. There are lots of references to "you'll learn more about that later"- we want to know what it means now or we'll never get to later! The book is disorganized, shows impractical examples, and the code that DOES work would be just as easily done in html.
Rating:  - Great book to learn how to do JavaScript properly
Up until now, most JavaScript books I have seen have not really described how to be a good JavaScript programmer - most of them have lead by example (which is how many JavaScript programmers I know learnt JavaScript). Unfortunately learning JavaScript by simply viewing other people's code without understanding why it was written the way it was could also lead to learning by bad example.
Christian Heilmann's "Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax" is different - it teaches the reader the concepts that will help them to become a good JavaScript programmer. Perhaps more importantly, it teaches how to use JavaScript, CSS, DOM, and Ajax in a degradable manner, so that all visitors to your web site will be able to access it. Christian explains not only the guidelines for developing good code, but the reasons why it is important.
Christian's passion for creating maintainable, standards compliant, usable websites is clearly visible in his writing. Throughout the book he reiterates key issues that good programmers should know, and demonstrates them in his code.
This is an excellent book on JavaScript, and one that I will thoroughly recommend to anybody new to JavaScript programming. I also recommend it to anyone who plans to make their website more accessible to a wider audience (and who doesn't want that?).
Rating:  - What a pleasant surprise!
What a pleasant surprise, amongst a development landscape full of JavaScript libraries to actually find: Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and Ajax by Christian Heilmann. To state it boldly, this is the JavaScript book we have all been waiting for (though, John Resig and Jonathan Snook both have books coming). Why? Because the author actually uses modern object oriented (Object Literal) coding principles in the books examples. As well, the book has a progressive enhancement mindset, and explains the difference between several implementations of the same functionality, based on accessibility. All of this is done without the use of a JavaScript library! However, in a way the author provides his own little library of helper functions, which is certainly more digestible than Prototype, Dojo, YUI or jQuery. The author even dedicates the last chapter to third-party examples, which demonstrates the usage of the YUI and jQuery JavaScript libraries.
Anyone trying to bridge the gap between CSS, HTML and JavaScript will not be disappointed with this read. It should be stated however, that the term "Beginning" in the title of this book is a little misleading. I would not recommend this book to a beginner. It's a fast-paced book, spending most of the time in the trenches of JavaScript implementation (code examples). If you are a beginner, build a foundational understanding of the language before you take on this book. If you're looking for a great book to compliment this one, I would recommend the SitePoint book DHTML Utopia.
|
