JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

Additional JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Information

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 XMLHttpRequestobject and the canvas tag.

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

""A must-have reference for expert JavaScript programmers...well-organized and detailed."" -- Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript

What Customers Say About JavaScript: The Definitive Guide:

JavaScript: The Definitive GuideI needed a reference guide to JavaScript. and 2. I am by no means an expert, I just wanted point solutions that were rather more "in depth" than the "geek boards".My success criteria here are: 1. Did it make sense of JavaScript. More importantly, if I wanted a point solution - was it there.Yes on both counts. I am still new to JavaScript - so I will update this review later.

Note: My review is based on the 5th edition.If you want to know how JavaScript really works, this is *the* book for exactly that. While there are numerous JavaScript libraries in existence today (jQuery, MochiKit, Dojo, prototype, YUI, etc). Understanding the core concepts of the language, such as the prototypical OO model, closures, functions as data, etc. will help you go far if JavaScript is something you use on daily basis. that simplify a lot of what needs to get done client-side, understanding the language itself is still necessary for those times when the abstractions that the libraries provide leak/fail or don't provide some feature you want.If you are frustrated by JavaScript, you only need to spend the time educating yourself about how it really works. Once you do, and with some experience, you will reach that state of Nirvana that allows you to work easily in this language.

It is extremely rare that I can't find what I'm looking for in that book. A fantastically complete reference to Javascript. I am using the 5th edition of the book, which is much better than the older editions - and I feel is the new standard for what should be called a "Definitive Guide". This is not a "learn Javascript" book, however - but a reference. The examples are not as detailed as in other "learning" books - but as a reference guide it cannot be beat. Pitfalls, quirks, browser differences and a complete (as of 2006 at least) property/function reference for both core and DOM javascript objects. Highly recommended.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn JavaScript, and it is doing just that. It goes into more detail about JavaScript than any book on any other language I have seen. There is so much stuff packed into this book that it is amazing, and I can't believe I only payed $32 for it. It covers everything you need to know. And all the pages are not little flashy examples. It is a real reference for those who are serious about learning JS.

It would be much better, say, if he showed how parseInt(2.5) returns 2 so it really can't be used to validate that the input argument is an integer.My boss has the "JavaScript Bible 6th Edition" by Goodman, but that book merely teaches the language, if you have that kind of time. Who cares. Flanagan still only provides mediocre examples, like when he explains parseInt() he only shows integer arguments so it's no big surprise that he gets back integers. I've been using the JavaScript 1.1 version of this book by David Flanagan for years, but it was becoming less and less useful to me as I increasingly needed to look up new additions to the language that were missing from the older 1.1 book. JavaScript is just one of the tools I employ. "client JavaScript".

I nicked this review down a star because Flanagan now groups content in the reference by whether it applies to what he calls "core JavaScript" vs.

You can't really look things up in that book.

I don't even know what the heck that means.

I took the plunge and purchased the new 5th edition of the book.

Speaking as a developer who jumps among multiple languages -- JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, HTML, LotusScript, @formula language, Java -- to support several web applications, when I need to look something up in JavaScript, I just want an alphabetical reference.I don't really care if something is "DOM Level 1 Core JavaScript".

Where this book by Flanagan excels is in its reference, but I hate the new arrangement.

Flanagan provided an A to Z reference in the 1.1 book, but not any more.

I'm not a JavaScript purist.

Flanagan needs to realize that his technical books are not novels, we don't read them from start to finish.Despite my frustrations with the book, it's still a worthwhile purchase, I don't regret it.