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Summary: Top rate javascript resource
Review: Easy to understand with step by step explainations of the script help build an understanding of the javascript language. The best resource book I've found.
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Summary: Invaluable reference and great for the beginner.
Review: I've just started using this one myself, and so far, it's proven to be an invaluable reference. I used to think JavaScript was a difficult and laborious language to learn, especially since the only coding I know is HTML, a little BASIC and some MUSH code (I'm not a programmer, can you tell? *grin*) After paging through the first few chapters of this book, and even jumping around a bit, it's not so much of a mystery anymore, and I now have a correct perception of this popular scripting language, as well as a decent working knowledge. Following the excellent path forged by other titles in the series, this guide is written in a candid, easy to understand manner. Best of all, just like the VQS Guide to HTML4, another of my favorites recommended elsewhere on this site, it's got a companion web site with all of the samples as well as further exercises. Don't waste your time reading thick books full of information you'll never use. Try this one and get to work writing JavaScript immediately. Once you get started and become better versed in the language, you'll want to keep the book nearby as an easy to use reference source.
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Summary: Excellent Jump-Start on Javascript
Review: This book was a great jumping point and I was able to immediately apply some of the scripts to current projects after day one. It doesn't pretend to be an 800-page Encyclopedia of Javascript, but a quick reference that arms you with the basics and shows you how to implement some of the more popular scripts on the web. At that, I'd say it does a tremendous job!
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Summary: A perfect book for beginners to JavaScript
Review: Negrino and Smith have written a clear and concise guide to JavaScript programming, filling a large niche for people who are not quite ready for David Flanagan's excellent _JavaScript: The Definitive Guide_. They begin with fundamental programming concepts like loops, functions, and conditionals--always with clear examples likely to appeal to web designers--and move on to somewhat more advanced topics like cookies and plugins. The code examples (available from their web site) all work and are well-chosen to illustrate each topic.Negrino and Smith write clearly and never talk down to the reader. The lack of fluff is an especially welcome contrast to the style of some of the phonebook-sized tomes on this topic. This is a book written with care by authors who clearly have a thorough understanding of the subject matter and know how to present it to their targetted readership. And the price is right, too.
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Summary: Excellent non-intimidating intro and fabulous reference
Review: Of all the Javascript books I own (and that's quite a stack!), this is my favorite -- I return to it over and over as a reference. It is light and easy to understand, gets you quickly into real world applications, and very easy to turn back to for reference. I would highly recommend this -- especially for anyone at all intimidated by the thought of "programming."
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Summary: Great if you need to know how to do something NOW
Review: I keep this book handy at all times - I usually reach for it before I reach for my hefty (but beloved) O'Reilly tome, since my task is often included in one of this book's excellent examples. Sometimes I have to go to the O'Reilly book if I need to do further customization, but the Visual Quickstart book gets me started. This is THE book I recommend for beginners. Plus, it's quite inexpensive for a computer book, so if/when you outgrow it, you don't have to feel guilty! It's too light to make a decent doorstop, though. Order it!
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Summary: NOT FOR NON-PROGRAMMERS!
Review: In spite of the assurance in the book's introduction "We don't assume that you know anything about programming or scripting" you need to have a programming background to get value out of this book. I know HTML and a little JavaScript, and I was lost by chapter 2. Chapter 2 has a ridiculously steep learning curve, along with important points left unexplained (for example brackets are used in one script, with no explanation for the significance of brackets, when they should be used, etc.) I've always been a big fan of Peachpit Press's books - this is the first time I was severely disappointed by one. I felt like a complete moron by the time I got to the end of chapter 2. In spite of years of teaching college courses in business and graphics applications, I was beginning to think - "am I just too stupid to learn programming?" And I agree with another reviewer here about the irritating style. It adds insult to injury.
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Summary: Easy to use scripts, but doesn't teach you Javascript
Review: This book presents some Javascript basic concepts and offers code for some of Javascripts most common uses such as rollovers, cycling banners, and detecting browser plug-ins, etc. These are easy to use even for a beginner such as myself. The disappointment with this book is that it does not really teach you how to write your own Javascripts. This book is designed for those who want to quickly enliven their pages by using some of the scripts presented.
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Summary: A good beginner book...
Review: It's a good beginner book, but with knowing a little Javascript experience or some html even it's a little slow. Also the javascript doesn't work on all of my browsers. (IE3, IE4, N3, N4.5)<--- Not including the one that say this one only... Doesn't even work on N4.5 sometimes... Oh well.... It's a good book for it's price, but if your intermediate java looking for an easy referance... sorry to say it's not here....
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Summary: Pretty useless book. . .
Review: Don't waste your money-- if you have half a brain and even a basic understanding of what JavaScript is, you don't need this. It has nothing on syntax, very little on anything you couldn't do with Dreamweaver or a little creative code-swiping, and about 60 pages of the 190-page book are taken up by reference materials and index. If you want to do more than build a "hello world" alert box this probably isn't for you.
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