JavaScript is the most popular object scripting programming language. It is extensively used in webpages, servers, and web applications, among others. While JavaScript was initially conceived only for scripting, it is frequently used in large applications. The goal of this book is to help readers learn the basics of JavaScript to initiate their ability to develop dynamic webpages.
This is a book for somebody who knows programming and needs to learn JavaScript. In fact, the book seems to assume that the reader has some background in object-oriented programming languages (such as Java). However, some basic concepts of programming are explained in detail (such as while, if-else, switch-case, and so on). The first chapters introduce the basic concepts of the JavaScript language. For instance, programming elements such as variables, functions, and loops are presented using many examples. After introducing the JavaScript elements, the book explains the relationship between JavaScript and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Again, the author’s approach is to explain the concepts based on different examples. In this part of the book, concepts such as the document object model (DOM), HTML event-handling, JavaScript object notation (JSON), and Extensible Markup Language (XML) are introduced. At the end, there is also some material to introduce the use of JQuery.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the first chapters and think that they accomplished the goal of teaching the reader by example. But as the book progresses and the source code becomes more complex, the book loses clarity. This is mostly because, while many code examples are given, there is not enough explanation of the concepts that are taught through the examples. Along this line, I think that the promise on the book cover--that the reader will become a “master of JavaScript”--is a bit exaggerated.
In summary, I do not think that this book could be used as a textbook nor as a reference to structure a course, but it could be helpful for people with a basic programming background who want to learn JavaScript.
More reviews about this item: Amazon