Reviews for Ajax in Action

1. Too much waffle.

   Rated 2 out of 5 stars, October 12nd, 2008

   I wouldn't recommend this book unless your an absolute newcomer.
   The best thing to do is run the screencast and don't buy the book!
   On the plus side it gives examples using Prototype, Scriptaculuous, X and Rico. So you'll get an appreciation of these frameworks. It does go into some detail about design patterns. Chapter 8 on performance was the best chapter in book.
   On the down side:
   * Chapters 1-8: Are rather labored and elementary. There's a lot of superflous stuff. jQuery in Action by contrast is snappy & to the point.
   * Chapter 9-13. Examples are given. The problem is this book tries to be all things to all developers and consequently delivers a watered down result. (Some VB.NET/ASP.NET/C#/PHP/Java. Wouldn't be so bad if versions of each server-side code were in Ch9-13 with deployment instructions).
   => I've just finished reading chapter 9 and found the author of that particular chapter both facetious and egotisical.
   => The last 5 chapters are presented in a fashion where code is created then refactored. Why not cut to the chase. Just show the refactored stuff. I found this most arduous in chapter 9 and feel enough is enough. Next book...
   Other major disappointments:
   * A couple of the more meaty examples appear to be missing (Battleships from ch7 and ObjectViewer ch4-6. You were supposed to be able to edit data on Planets. Couldn't see it in download).
   * The code that is there is buggy doesn't work in IE7. I see a lot of posts along same line with IE6 on Manning forum.
   * A lot of the external links are broken in chapter summaries.
   * And finally unlike other Manning authors, the forum doesn't get regularly reviewed by it's authors.
   * My advice. Steer clear and look at something like jQuery In Action.
   The code for that book is spot on and the authors style of writing is much crisper.

2. Good intro to Ajax principles and architecture

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, April 12th, 2008

   Looking for the latest DHTML tricks and Javascript libraries? You came to the wrong place: this was published in 2005.
   
   But I really liked this book. All you need is competence with HTML, CSS and Javascript, and Ajax in Action will help you understand what makes Ajax different from the traditional client-server architecture of web apps. It also introduces some design patterns and other basic considerations, e.g. cross browser issues. The second half of the book has several examples that illustrate what Ajax can buy you.
   
   If you're already doing Ajax, there's not likely to be much here of any practical value, and a lot of the basic issues have been finessed away with the more common Javascript libraries. But if you're looking for a higher-level overview of the principles of Ajax and the issues involved in delivering the Ajax experience across browsers, this is still very relevant.
   
   Reading Ajax in Action is not going to make you an expert. But this (or something like Head Rush Ajax is a very good introduction.

3. Good, but not for everyone...

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2008

   There has been a trend recently for focussed books that are short and specific, some of them very good. This book however is fairly long-winded. Rather than just show you a good way of doing something, it covers alternatives and explains the 'why' of each way of doing something. This is very much in evidence in the first section. However, the book doesn't ramble, and if you want to fully understand AJAX principles rather than just learn how to use it, I think this is great.
   
   The examples towards the end are very useful, and the explanation of the code is outstanding: no big chunks of code and then only a few sentences explaining the lot - this has a very nice commenting style.
   
   There is detailed info on security, performance, and javascript debugging. One thing that seems to be lacking somewhat is any emphasis on graceful degradation, or REST principles, hence the lacking star.
   
   Overall, you may well be better served by a thinner volume, but it will be missing the details and clear (if long) explanations that appear here.

4. Hate this book

   Rated 1 out of 5 stars, November 12th, 2007

   I really can't think of a good thing to say about this book, just wish I had not bothered buying it.

5. An Excellent Book On Ajax

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2007

   This book is the best there is on Ajax, Its got a few bad points such as being a bit bloated, maybe a 50-100 pages longer then it should have been. Apart from that I really liked the book as its the only complete reference on ajax out there. The writing style in my mind is pretty straight forward and easy to understand, covers a wide variety of languages Myelf being a consultant I found this invaluable as I use Java, .NET and few others.
   If your begining in Ajax get this book, if you already have maybe 12-18 months experiance look elsewhere. Unless you want a reference, then this will do that job.