Whether you need an example-driven programmer's guide or a complete desk reference, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is the most authoritative book on the language that runs the Web. The sixth edition offers comprehensive coverage of ECMAScript 5 (the new language standard) and also the new APIs introduced in HTML5. The chapters on functions and classes have been completely rewritten and updated to match current best practices. A new chapter covers language extensions and subsets.
JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is organized into four sections:
- Part 1: Learn the core JavaScript language in detail -- ideal for newcomers as well as experienced JavaScript programmers who want to sharpen their skills
- Part 2: Understand the scripting environment provided by web browsers with broad and deep coverage of client-side JavaScript illustrated by many sophisticated examples
- Part 3: Get a complete reference for core JavaScript that documents every class, object, constructor, method, function, property, and constant
- Part 4: Consult a separate reference to client-side JavaScript, including legacy web browser APIs, the standard Level 2 DOM API, the XMLHttpRequest object, and the canvas tag
Since the earliest days of Internet scripting, Web developers have considered JavaScript: The Definitive Guide an essential resource. David Flanagan's approach, which combines tutorials and examples with easy-to-use syntax guides and object references, suits the typical programmer's requirements nicely. The brand-new fourth edition of Flanagan's "Rhino Book" includes coverage of JavaScript 1.5, JScript 5.5, ECMAScript 3, and the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Interestingly, the author has shifted away from specifying--as he did in earlier editions--what browsers support each bit of the language. Rather than say Netscape 3.0 supports the Image object while Internet Explorer 3.0 does not, he specifies that JavaScript 1.1 and JScript 3.0 support Image. More usefully, he specifies the contents of independent standards like ECMAScript, which encourages scripters to write applications for these standards and browser vendors to support them. As Flanagan says, JavaScript and its related subjects are very complex in their pure forms. It's impossible to keep track of the differences among half a dozen vendors' generally similar implementations. Nonetheless, a lot of examples make reference to specific browsers' capabilities.
Though he does not cover server-side APIs, Flanagan has chosen to separate coverage of core JavaScript (all the keywords, general syntax, and utility objects like Array) from coverage of client-side JavaScript (which includes objects, like History and Event, that have to do with Web browsers and users' interactions with them. This approach makes this book useful to people using JavaScript for applications other than Web pages. By the way, the other classic JavaScript text--Danny Goodman's JavaScript Bible--isn't as current as this book, but it's still a fantastic (and perhaps somewhat more novice-friendly) guide to the JavaScript language and its capabilities. --David Wall
Topics covered: The JavaScript language (version 1.0 through version 1.5) and its relatives, JScript and ECMAScript, as well as the W3C DOM standards they're often used to manipulate. Tutorial sections show how to program in JavaScript, while reference sections summarize syntax and options while providing copious code examples.
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