Reviews for JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

1. A Tour de Force

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, December 12st, 2009

   Of the many books in my technical library, this one never fails to impress me. The quality of the writing, the thoroughness of coverage and the structuring of the book set a benchmark which many technical books struggle to meet.
   
   A number of reviewers have pointed out that trying to learn the language from this text is difficult, and that it is best considered to be a reference guide. Experience with C, Java, Python or similar will help you to understand the syntax easily and this book will give you all that you need to become proficient in the language; if you do not have such experience, then an introductory text may be a good companion.
   
   The book is divided into four main sections: "Core Javascript", "Client-Side Javascript", "Core Javascript Reference" and "Client-Side Javascript Reference". The client-side Javascript section gives good coverage of the DOM, CSS, Ajax and more; there is enough meat in here for you to start building demanding applications without recourse to additional texts (although you may want to buy specialist texts in these subjects over time). The table of contents is helpful, and each main section has its own mini table of contents. The book's indexer deserves credit: 43 pages of sensible indexing means that you can always find what you need. My advice to users of this book is to first spend an hour becoming familiar with its structure - knowing your way around will make subsequently finding things much easier, and will help you to enjoy and get the best from its nearly 1000 pages.
   
   On the rare occasion when the depth of coverage is insufficient for a specific need, the book will have given you enough background for you to feel confident doing targeted googling for the extra information (iframes was a recent case in point for me).
   
   This book is the only Javascript book which Douglas Crockford recommends - high praise indeed. Once you start to feel confident with the 'Definitive Guide', you may appreciate Crockford's book, and those of John Resig, as you find yourself being transported towards Javascript gurudom.
   
   

2. A Perfect Reference Book

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, November 12th, 2009

   I'm a complete noob when it comes to JavaScript. So why, you may ask, did I plump for this book? Well, I'm glad you asked, because I came across the idea of buying a beginner's guide AND an expert's reference when I was scouring the review pages here in Amazon. "What a good idea" I thought, then I went ahead and ordered this book and "JavaScript in Easy Steps" at the same time. This sounds unlikely, but believe me, the two books complement each other very well, and together comprise what you might call a "crash course" in JavaScript. Obviously, I can't review this as an expert, because I'm still a noob, and I will remain so for quite some time. However, I know enough now to realise that this is going to be an invaluable reference book as I begin to delve deeper into JS (as it's sometimes called)

3. The Reference (period)

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

   A valuable reference for those coming to javascript from jQuery, etc.
   And one that doesn't invalidate works such as Pro JavaScript Techniques or Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja

4. Forget this book

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

   If your a student, don't start with this book. admittitly, this book probably contains everything that you will ever need to know about JavaScripe. However, to understand this book, you already need to understand JavaScript. After two months of trying to understand this book i gave up and went and bought Sams Teach Yourself Javascript in 24 Hours. Try this book first, and if you get that good, then buy The Definitive Guide to support your reading.

5. Basic level to professional scripting

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, May 12th, 2009

   It is good book with fundamentals and cover till the real time usage aspects of Java scripting.