Reviews for Ajax Bible (Bible (Wiley))

1. Repetitive, tedious title

   Rated 1 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2009

   I have been learning JavaScript and a host of other web design related languages in the last few months and I ordered the Ajax Bible in the hopes that it would tie a few loose ends together, particularly about complex interactions between JavaScript and PHP.
   
   The book starts well, introducing you to the fundamentals of JavaScript and how to make XMLHTTPRequests. Then for the next 300 pages, the same one idea is used in a variety of equally pointless examples.
   
   It is common practice to begin any programming language introduction by teaching the user how to display a "hello world!" message on the browser. But there should be progress beyond this point. Instead, this book tells you how to do it in a dozen different ways.
   
   Once you have mastered the XMLHTTPRequest, you are then introduced to a dozen or so frameworks, each functioning simply to abstract you from the very simple process and asking you to learn as many new syntaxes as frameworks. This is pointless, since you have by now created your own framework or could do with incredible ease, and then you wouldn't have to go to the bother of downloading someone else's script library and including it in every Ajax application you write.
   
   The JavaScript Bible is a good book and will teach you the fundamentals much more solidly than this oversized brochure.
   
   A very disappointing release from the usually excellent Wiley Bible range.