Customer Reviews

Eloquent JavaScript: A Modern Introduction to Programming

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4 star:		(1)
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Most technology books fall to the level of copy-and-paste teaching methods that don't REALLY teach the reader how to code. Not this one. It doesn't just show you what a programmer writes, it also makes you think how a programmer would think. It challenges you to discover the answers yourself, given the concepts it provides.

Javascript is a quirky language with many unexpected twists and turns. Much like English, it is a language that requires some extra attention to edge-cases if you are to fully understand it. Much like how the plural of Goose is Geese, yet the plural of Moose is not Meese; NaN (Not-a-number) is a number, the type of an array is "object", and prototype is not quite the same as __proto__.

I was quite impressed that the book touched on testing. One of the most important parts of writing code is testing it, yet the concept is mysteriously absent from most books. It's an important topic to cover in making the reader think like a programmer. There is no point teaching one how to program if you don't also teach them how to be a programmer.

I had seen other JavaScript professionals review this book and give it high praise. After purchasing it, I took the time to not only look at the quality of the code examples in the book but also to really review the text being used to describe the concepts discussed. What struck me most about this book is how a novice can read it and learn the fundamentals of writing truly 'eloquent' JavaScript, and also how an experienced JavaScript developer can read it and augment their existing knowledge.

Overall, I am extremely pleased that I purchased this book.

I was first introduced to JavaScript while building one of my websites. Knowing absolutely nothing, I essentially learned through trial by fire. I did a lot of copying and pasting of bits of code that I found on the Internet. Then, when something didn't work properly I would just experiment until I solved the problem. Still, there always seemed to be some sort of unexpected results, mostly because I didn't understand the complexities of the code.

I really could have used a good basic introduction to JavaScript like Eloquent JavaScript. This book starts at the very start- What is JavaScript? Then, gradually teaches code through a wide variety of entertaining "real" life situations: from explanations about strings and values through objects and nodes to html and forms.

My favourite example is sorting through Aunt Emily the cat lover's emails so that you sound interested in her life. Laziness leads to figuring out an easier way. I found these little humorous tidbits took the edge off what could have been pretty mind numbingly bland learning.