JavaScript, The Definitive Guide, 5th Edition, O'Reilly

Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio

Title:  JavaScript, The Definitive Guide   Author(s):  David Flanagan   Edition:  O'Reilly Media; 5th edition (August 1, 2006)   Format:  Paperback: 994 pages   ISBN:  0596101996   Overall Rating:  The Bottom Line C# Online.NET:Reviews: Book Reviews  •  Educ./Train. Reviews  •  Software Reviews  •  Top 10 Books

C# Online.NET Book Review

This is the best-selling Javascript book on the market and ever. This fifth edition comes ten years after the first one in 1996. More people have learned Javascript from this book than from any other. It's a classic.

As you would expect, the book is easy to read and well organized. It features plenty of source code examples. It is a guide and a reference book. But, it is not a tutorial for absolute beginners: It does not teach how to program or how to program in JavaScript.

The fifth edition features the following new material:

• Chapter on modules and namespaces;
• Chapter on scripting Java with JavaScript;
• Chapter on scripting Java applets and Flash movies;
• Nested functions and closures;
• Scripted HTTP calls with XMLHttpRequest object (Ajax);
• E4X extension to JavaScript;
• Shows how to create, extract, load, query, serialize, and transform information from XML docs;
• Javascript graphics: <canvas> tag, SVG, VML, and Flash plug-in communication;
• Updated and expanded coverage of many topics, e.g. client-side persistence (cookies, Flash Shared Object, IE userData);
• DOM API integrated with client-side Javascript reference for one stop lookups.

The one major problem the book has is that it still carries around the baggage of previous editions which covered earlier versions of JavaScript and their browser implementations. Perhaps the next edition will eliminate the old techniques and dated material. This would leave more room for Ajax coverage.

All of the source code examples are in the Javascript language.

Bottom line

JavaScript, The Definitive Guide is a classic—a dog-eared, highlighted pillar of every Web development library.

From the back cover

This Fifth Edition is completely revised and expanded to cover JavaScript as it is used in today's Web 2.0 applications. This book is both an example-driven programmer's guide and a keep-on-your-desk reference, with new chapters that explain everything you need to know to get the most out of JavaScript, including:

• Scripted HTTP and Ajax
• XML processing
• Client-side graphics using the canvas tag
• Namespaces in JavaScript--essential when writing complex programs
• Classes, closures, persistence, Flash, and JavaScript embedded in Java applications

Part I explains the core JavaScript language in detail. If you are new to JavaScript, it will teach you the language. If you are already a JavaScript programmer, Part I will sharpen your skills and deepen your understanding of the language.

Part II explains the scripting environment provided by web browsers, with a focus on DOM scripting with unobtrusive JavaScript. The broad and deep coverage of client-side JavaScript is illustrated with many sophisticated examples that demonstrate how to:

• Generate a table of contents for an HTML document
• Display DHTML animations
• Automate form validation
• Draw dynamic pie charts
• Make HTML elements draggable
• Define keyboard shortcuts for web applications
• Create Ajax-enabled tool tips
• Use XPath and XSLT on XML documents loaded with Ajax
• And much more

Part III is a complete reference for core JavaScript. It documents every class, object, constructor, method, function, property, and constant defined by JavaScript 1.5 and ECMAScript Version 3.

Part IV is a reference for client-side JavaScript, covering legacy web browser APIs, the standard Level 2 DOM API, and emerging standards such as the XMLHttpRequest object and the canvas tag.

More than 300,000 JavaScript programmers around the world have made this their indispensable reference book for building JavaScript applications.

About the author(s)

David Flanagan is a computer programmer who spends most of his time writing about JavaScript and Java. His books with O'Reilly include Java in a Nutshell, Java Examples in a Nutshell, Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, and JavaScript Pocket Reference. David has a degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives with his wife and children in the U.S. Pacific Northwest bewteen the cities of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Table of Contents (abbreviated)

1. Introduction to JavaScript

Part I. Core JavaScript

2. Lexical Structure

4. Variables

5. Expressions and Operators

6. Statements

7. Objects and Arrays

8. Functions

9. Classes, Constructors, and Prototypes

10. Modules and Namespaces

11. Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions

12. Scripting Java

Part II. Client-Side JavaScript

13. JavaScript in Web Browsers

14. Scripting Browser Windows

15. Scripting Documents

16. Cascading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML

17. Events and Event Handling

18. Forms and Form Elements

19. Cookies and Client-Side Persistence

20. Scripting HTTP

21. JavaScript and XML

22. Scripted Client-Side Graphics

23. Scripting Java Applets and Flash Movies

Part III. Core JavaScript Reference

Core JavaScript Reference

Part IV. Client-Side JavaScript Reference

Client-Side JavaScript Reference