Reviews for JavaScript: The Good Parts

1. Not for beginners!!!

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, February 12th, 2010

   I bought this book to learn JavaScript as a beginner but appearantly this was a bad idea. This is absolute not a book for beginners! However due the good comments about this book from JavaScript programmers, I don't regret buying this book to take a look next year when I know the basic principles of JavaScript!
   
   Christophe

2. Not for beginners

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, February 12th, 2010

   If you haven't used Javascript for more than 6 months, or if you're just startng your journey into the beautiful world of the world's most misunderstood language, do NOT buy this book. This book is full of good advice, but it is written in a style and language which will make sense only to professional javascript programmers.
   I'd suggest that you read the Rhino bookJavaScript: The Definitive Guide first, and then read this book to improve your javascript skills. It is definitely a must read because it lays down some of the very advanced concepts lucidly, but it'll confuse and frustrate you if you haven't had a decent exposure to javascript.
   
   Recommended only to experienced javascript programmers.
   
   

3. A bit too short

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

   The good news is that Douglas Crockford avoids describing all the bad parts of javascript and that makes the language look pretty and sensible.
   
   The bad news is that the book contains too little information to be useful for practical purposes. I wanted to learn java-script for web pages, and now I find myself shopping for another book.

4. A good place to learn Javascript, but too lean

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

   If you're trying to learn Javascript, this is a good place to start.
   
   However, I felt let down when I got to the end. I was hoping to find lots of discussion on why the good stuff was good, and plenty of examples and real-life cases to learn from.
   
   Instead, all I got was a tour of the better parts of the language. Half the book seems to be reference, which makes it even less weighty.
   
   So for an intermediate Javascript developer hoping to advance their skills, this will be a dissapointment.

5. As good a book as they get!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, July 12rd, 2009

   I was hoping to brush up my JavaScript with this book. It did.
   
   The way the author gives honest, straightforward use this / don't use that comments on JavaScript features, and actually leaves many features completely unvisited, is actually great. This gives one a useable subset of the language, and reduces brainload on unnecessary details.
   
   Also, the readability of the book was excellent.
   
   Spice this book with a book of your favorite JavaScript library (jQuery, Dojo or similar) and you'll be very good to go.