Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 9, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Today, insiders hearing JavaScript almost automatically think of Ajax, OOP and interactive websites. But how is a beginner, perhaps encountering a programming language for the first time, supposed to cope? HTML is a descriptive rather than programming language and lacks constructs such as loops and conditional branches. Stefan Koch’s book has filled this gap for years and is now in its fifth updated edition.
Readers are introduced gradually, moving in small steps from their first variable to professional use of asynchronous JavaScript with XML, DOM manipulation, and creating objects and classes. Often described as a standard reference, the book explains every language component comprehensively and systematically through many examples. Building on ECMAScript, it covers browser- and platform-independent web applications supported by all common browsers.
New in the fifth edition is a chapter on Google’s Gears technology for operating web applications offline, which requires a plug-in to move beyond the browser sandbox. Although relatively brief, the introduction provides readers who have reached this point with enough guidance to explore the extension independently.
Topics:
- Variables
- Conditional branches
- Loops
- Functions
- Objects
- Error handling
- JavaScript in the browser
- Stylesheets and DOM
- Events
- Forms
- Regular expressions
- Windows and frames
- Images and animations
- Browser-independent programming
- Query strings and cookies
- Ajax
- Gears
- JavaScript and other technologies
- Reference
The author explains fundamentals very clearly through numerous examples. The book is particularly suitable for beginners and switchers, although some affinity with programming concepts and HTML is definitely helpful. Difficult topics such as regular expressions and cross-browser DHTML receive welcome detailed treatment. The reference section is also highly useful, including information on which browsers support particular language elements.
JavaScript—Introduction, Programming and Reference, Including Ajax
Stefan Koch
Publisher: dpunkt
478 pages
ISBN: 978-3-89864-594-2
Further Links:
- Further information and sample chapters:
