Since the earliest days of Internet scripting, Web developers have considered JavaScript: The Definitive Guide an essential resource. David Flanagan's approach, which combines tutorials and examples with easy-to-use syntax guides and object references, suits the typical programmer's requirements nicely. The brand-new fourth edition of Flanagan's "Rhino Book" includes coverage of JavaScript 1.5, JScript 5.5, ECMAScript 3 and the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Interestingly, the author has shifted away from specifying--as he did in earlier editions--what browsers support each bit of the language. Rather than say Netscape 3.0 supports the Image object while Internet Explorer 3.0 does not, he specifies that JavaScript 1.1 and JScript 3.0 support Image. More usefully, he specifies the contents of independent standards such as ECMAScript, which encourages scripters to write applications for these standards and browser vendors to support them. As Flanagan says, JavaScript and its related subjects are very complex in their pure forms. It's impossible to keep track of the differences among half a dozen vendors' generally similar implementations. Nonetheless, a lot of examples make reference to specific browsers' capabilities.

Though he does not cover server-side APIs, Flanagan has chosen to separate coverage of core JavaScript (all the keywords, general syntax and utility objects such as Array) from coverage of client-side JavaScript, which includes objects, such as History and Event, that have to do with Web browsers and users' interactions with them. This approach makes this book useful to people using JavaScript for applications other than Web pages. By the way, the other classic JavaScript text--Danny Goodman's JavaScript Bible--isn't as current as this book, but it's still a fantastic (and perhaps somewhat more novice-friendly) guide to the JavaScript language and its capabilities. --David Wall

Topics covered: the JavaScript language (version 1.0 through version 1.5) and its relatives, JScript and ECMAScript, as well as the W3C DOM standards they're often used to manipulate. Tutorial sections show how to program in JavaScript, while reference sections summarise syntax and options while providing copious code examples.

Review

Learning JavaScript is fast becoming a prerequisite to developing powerful Websites... this is a great resource. -- MIX, Feb 2001

This is one of the best reference books on JavaScript you can find. -- Salt Lake City ColdFusion User Group, March 2002

User-friendly guide for anyone seeking to utilize what JavaScript has to offer. -- James Cox, Midwest Book Review, March 2002

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JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: Activate Your Web Pages by David Flanagan Paperback
4.5 out of 5 stars (4)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, Aug 10 2005

By A Customer

Ce commentaire est de: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition (Paperback)

This is not a book for beginners. It is more for someone who already knows JavaScript and would like to use as a reference. There is too much theory and not enough examples. There are snippets of code here and there and the ocasional full example but that is just not enough. You have to learn by doing. A better book to buy would be JavaScript by Example or JavaScript: A beginner's guide.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the Job, Sep 19 2005

Yasir (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

Ce commentaire est de: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition (Paperback)

As an experienced programmer in languages such as C, C++, Python I found the first 6 chapters of this book to be a good review, and very well done.

Further chapters describing Javascripts framework for objects, functions, etc. are fairly well done. However, at times the explanations are long-winded and repeated too often. Also, very important points are mentioned, but I felt at times they were not highlighted in anyway. With long explanations and flat text, is easy to miss on key points and be forced to re-read and search back to find them again.

Nonetheless, a good book and useful reference in my opinion.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Best reference on JavaScript I have ever seen, Jun 10 2004

By A Customer

Ce commentaire est de: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide: The Definitive Guide, 4th Edition (Paperback)

I have read many books on JavaScript before but this is by far the most comprehansive guide to the scripting language. This book is not for beginners.
I use it as a reference guide. If you know the object's name or the method's name on either client side or server side, you can just look it up in this book's index section and it will reference you to a particular page with detailed explonations and more often then not with examples.
Absolutely love this book

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4.0 out of 5 stars Thank You
I received the book days before the expected arrival time ,it was in perfect condition . Thanks a lot..

Published on Feb 16 2010 by maillemounah

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for learning and reference
As a long time C++ programmer, I found this book to be neither too hard or too easy. Readers with no programming experience at all might have a harder time with the text, but if... Lisez davantage

Published on April 15 2004 by Mitchel J. Haas