Book of JavaScript: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages: Amazon.ca: thau!: Books

Product Description

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Most Web developers pick up a book to learn how to use a language like JavaScript, looking for practical examples of how to get things done. The Book of JavaScript: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages is plenty practical, and hits the mark as a reader-friendly and well-organized tutorial on JavaScript.

The book assumes no prior knowledge in JavaScript or other procedural languages, although familiarity with HTML is best. The well-thought-out text focuses on various programming goals--like rollovers and form validation--instead of the anatomy of the JavaScript language itself. The fast-moving chapters skillfully weave text with example code. Sections of the code and related sections of the accompanying text are numbered--a convention that is very helpful in teaching new techniques, and for quick reference later on.

Throughout the book, real-world examples of JavaScript in action, such as a clock script from NASA's site, illustrate its applications. A page from Salon.com, for instance, shows frame techniques, too. Ambitious readers can complete assignments to test their knowledge. The companion CD-ROM contains all of the code, as well as correct answers for the assignments.

Of all of the JavaScript tutorials out there, The Book of JavaScript is one of the more engaging and truly effective. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

Browser detection
Rollovers
Window manipulation
Custom functions
Form processing
Arrays
Loops
Timing events
Frames
Image maps
Form validation
Cookies
Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
Plug-ins
ActiveX controls

Book Description

This isn't just a book of scripts for you to cut and paste into your HTML, only to find out that nothing works. The Book of JavaScript will teach you how to use JavaScript to quickly add interactivity, animation and other tricks to your Web pages--on your own and without cut-and-paste solutions. Using real-world examples as a starting point, wild-man thau! shows you, step-by- step, how various scripts work and how to use them to produce the effects you want. Learn how to:

Work with frames, forms, cookies, and alarms
Use events to have your pages to react to a user's actions
Perform image swaps and roll-overs
Program your own JavaScript functions to produce customized solutions
Use windows to make a remote control or a picture frame
Store user preferences with cookies and build a shopping cart
Use Dynamic HTML to turn web pages into multimedia applications

BONUS: Includes a complete reference to all JavaScript objects and functions, including examples, properties, methods, handlers, and browser compatibility!

The CD-ROM includes code and images for every example in the book (including the real-world ones), answers to the assignments, script libraries for hard-to-program applications, and many useful software programs.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Welcome to The Book of Java Script. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Customer Reviews

35 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Solid material, if somewhat dated..., April 3 2004

By

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Book of JavaScript: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages (Paperback)

Target Audience
Beginning JavaScript coders.

Contents
This is a conversational tutorial on JavaScript coding designed for people who have not used the language much (or at all).

The book is divided into the following chapters:

Welcome To JavaScript!; Using Variables and Built-in Functions to Update Your Web Pages Automatically; Give The Browsers What They Want; Rollovers: Everyone's Favorite JavaScript Trick; Opening and Manipulating Windows; Getting Functional: Writing Your Own JavaScript Functions; Giving and Taking Information With Forms; Keeping Track of Information with Arrays and Loops; Timing Events; Frames and Image Maps; Validating Forms, Massaging Strings, and Working with CGI; Cookies; Dynamic HTML; How to Fix Broken Code; Beyond the Browser: Plug-ins, ActiveX, Making Music, and Java; Reference to JavaScript Objects and Functions; Answers to Assignments

Review
There are numerous books on the market that deal with learning JavaScript. There is everything from simplistic guides to the person building their first web page, to in-depth guide for the professional web developers, to detailed reference guides that document every feature. On that scale of coverage, this book falls somewhere on the lower end of the scale. That's not a bad thing... It's just good to know what the target audience is.

The tone of the author's writing is conversational and a little quirky. He uses a number of examples in each chapter to illustrate the subject matter, and they illustrate the points well. Each example is dissected so that the reader can follow along and understand what each line is doing. By the time you are finished, you should have a solid understanding of the basics of JavaScript. At that point, you should be ready to pick up a more detailed book and start learning the intricacies of the language.

The only bad thing about the book at this point in time is the age of the book. He assumes that the reader is working with either Netscape 3.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. On one hand, most of the stuff you see here should be supported now in any browser. On the other hand, there's something to be said for learning the latest information on more up-to-date platforms. The age also shows up when you examine some of their web site samples. Obviously, the sites have been updated since the book was written, so you can't very well follow along any more.

Conclusion
A solid, if somewhat dated, tutorial treatment of basic JavaScript coding. Easy to read, and very good explanations of code examples.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Very practical for beginners but somewhat dated, Oct 7 2003

By

"maxmaxmax" (Maplewood, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of JavaScript: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages (Paperback)

I just picked this one up because I was looking to juice up a website I've been working on. The first couple of hours I spent with it were golden. I learned a lot of what I was interested in knowing quite quickly. One thing that struck me, however, was how dated it was - the author likes to reference real world websites but every real world example that I looked up online had been completely redesigned since this book was published in 2000.
The book also spends a somewhat annoying amount of time discussing differences between browsers like Netscape 2.0 and IE 4.0... Netscape is currently at version 7.0, IE is at 6.0. Dealing with the different browsers and the way they render java was much more of an issue three years ago (although it definitely still is an issue b/c pesky microsoft likes monopolize everything did its best to turn java into something that could only be compatible with IE). Point being his discussion of this issue is dated.
Anyway, the book is well written and the author is not a tech head looking to show off how complex his field is. The book puts things forward practically (as the subtitle suggests it should) and the result is if you are a java novice and you want to add java functionality to your website, this book provides the answers in a way that is aimed more at the bottom line of getting that functionality into your website and less at providing you with a big picture understanding of java.
To summarize, this book, aside from being somewhat dated, is a very well organized guidebook for someone who wants a working understanding of the elements of java that suit their basic purposes. It is not for someone looking to become a real java maven.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very easy to read and follow instructions., Aug 19 2003

By

Peter R. (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Book of JavaScript: A Practical Guide to Interactive Web Pages (Paperback)

While other books discuss in debth detail of JavaScript, this book does a good job "giving the reader a break." Keeping things light. Examples are well defined and organized. I did not feel choking on too much details. Also, the type set was very nice for reading. pvr-consulting.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars awesome book!
This is a great book for anyone beginning, halfway through, or an expert on JavaScript. Thau explains everything simply and gives good tips as well. Just a warning however. Read more

Published on May 2 2003 by G. T. Sosnowski

4.0 out of 5 stars awesome book!
This is a great book for anyone beginning, halfway through, or an expert on JavaScript. Thau explains everything simply and gives good tips as well. Just a warning however. Read more

Published on May 2 2003 by G. T. Sosnowski