Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference (2nd Edition)

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

JavaScript for the World Wide Web: Visual QuickStart Guide, Fifth Edition

Web Servers

Professional JavaScript with DHTML, ASP, CGI, FESI, Netscape Enterprise Server, Windows Script Host, LiveConnect and Java

Format: Paperback
Author: Sing Li
ReleaseDate: September, 1999
Publisher: Peer Information
Rating:

Fantastic book - is there version 3?
The book's coding is still actual though it dealt with IE 4 and 5. I have version 2 of the book and it is fantastic! Seems each of the experts wrote about his/her field and the result is very in-depth study. What I want is to find version 3 that deals deal the more current IE 6 release - but they probably never published it.

Needs Improvement
No formal organization, no definte goal, but a whole bunch of high class authors. And yes, another WROX. The result: an excellent book if you're looking for examples of that little twist of class, a dash of luster code.

There are excellent case studies that make this a good addition to your bookshelf and there are valuable hints scattered everywhere: but the total lack of organization and tutorial direction leaves the book like a box full of sharp tools hidden in a dusty attic.

There is no attempt to teach Javascript (perhaps Paul Wilton's excellent Beginner Javascript is intended for that). The section on Good coding Practice is laughable: why does a book entitled *Profesional" Javascript have 2 chapters on programming practices? The Core javascript section is just a bare scratch on the surface of language itself and does not do Javascript any justice. The Jscript. Net seems to have been thrown in as an after thought.

I like WROX for the "from the field" examples for which they are famous: and I found the case studies ( a third of the book) very interesting. However, sorry, Wrox, it's not worth paying that much for just the last chapters. I'll wait till it hits my library or wait for the 3rd edition.

Over 1000 pages of nothing
It's worthless as a reference and I doubt that anyone has ever read it cover to cover (including the army of authors that wrote it). This book is terrible - it's incredibly frustating to use. I have over 10 years of experience in software development in a wide variety of languages: C++, VB, Pascal, and others. What I need to know about JavaScript could probably fit in a book half this size. This book is over 1000 pages, it's poorly organized, the index is bad, and it doesn't focus on relevant facts about the language. If I want lots of prose I'll pick up a novel, not a JavaScript book.