JavaScript is a simple programming language from Netscape that can be embedded in your HTML web pages. It allows you to control the behavior of the web browser, add dynamically created text to your web pages, interact with the user through HTML forms (without CGI scripts), and, in version 3.0 of Netscape Navigator, even control and interact with Java applets and Navigator plugins. JavaScript is not an alternative to Java, but an ideal partner. The two languages have separate but very complementary features. Since JavaScript is a simple language that can be embedded directly into a web page, without need for compilation, it is accessible to more web page authors, and may actually have a larger short-term impact on the Web and on Internet computing than Java itself. This book is a definitive guide for JavaScript. The first eight chapters document the core JavaScript language, and the next six describe how JavaScript works on the client side to interact with the web browser and with the web page. These chapters are followed by acomplete reference section that documents every object, property, method, event handler, function, and constructor used by client-side JavaScript. This book also covers the use of JavaScript on web servers, as well as the object, properties, and methods of server-side JavaScript. A separate reference section documents the interaction between JavaScript and HTML -- mainly aspects of HTML that relate to JavaScript.
The book describes the version of JavaScript shipped with Navigator 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2, and also the much-changed version of JavaScript shipped with Navigator 3.0, 3.0.1, and 3.0.2. It also covers LiveConnect, used for communication between JavaScript and Java applets, and commonly encountered bugs on JavaScript objects.
In typical O'Reilly & Associates fashion, this book documents every nuance of the JavaScript 1.1 language specification. It may appear dry on the surface (many pages have the spare style of UNIX online documentation), but this is the book you'll pull off your shelf when you want to know which method returns the primitive value of an object. Flanagan's book comes out ahead of its competitors in a few other areas, too. JavaScript features a useful discussion of the limited JavaScript support found in Microsoft Internet Explorer and provides excellent documentation of LiveConnect, the software that allows JavaScript to communicate with Java applets. It also offers a taste of what's in store for the just-released JavaScript 1.2.
With a relatively small number of examples and no CD-ROM, this guide is more of a reference than a tutorial. It will serve experienced JavaScript programmers far better than those who are just starting out with the language.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Good reference book I bought this book a while ago. It's comprehensive. It goes into a lot of details. I think it's good as a reference book, not for page to page reading.
Good book. This is I believe the best book about basic Javascript on the market right now. Pros: Technically complete, solid writing style, understandable examples, no better intro books on the market. Cons: Authors repeatedly show that they prefer class-based object systems, which Javascript is not. Authors do not effectively teach advanced Javascript prototype-based object usage and in fact seem to view it as a nuisance to be avoided. Authors don't regularly use closures except in section on closures.more info
Best Language Explanation I've Ever Seen I've learned a lot of tech in my time, and this book does the best job explaining the fundamentals of a language that I've ever come across. Flanagan basically builds the whole language piece by piece, explaining the fundamentals of every aspect. There are some more esoteric techniques he doesn't cover, but I hardly consider that a shortcoming; aside from those, he basically covers the entire breadth of JavaScript, both in its core design and in practical browser-based applications. This really is the... more info
Comprehensive, a little boring This book is downright comprehensive and thoroughly deserves its "definitive guide" title. But, the example scripts the author gives are long and deadly boring, which is why I won't give it five stars. To "get" JavaScript, you need shorter scripts which are easier to learn from. My recommendation is to use this book in conjunction with the w3schools website.
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