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Publisher:
O'Reilly
Author: David Flanagan
ISBN: 1565923928
Publication Date: June 1998
Retail Price: $39.95
Buy this book now!
This is the third edition of the "definitive reference to JavaScript" to be published by O'Reilly. This edition explores the latest release of JavaScript, version 1.2, which is supported by Netscape Navigator 4 and Internet Explorer 4.
If you are looking for a great JavaScript reference book, look no further...I've had previous editions of this book on my shelf since it first came out, and I've found myself pulling them out time after time.
Although O'Reilly's "Definitive Guide" series isn't really a "How-To" manual for beginners, it could easily be used in that manner, as the book covers all the basics, as well as advance topics. Here's a listing of some of the topics which are covered:
- Introduction to JavaScript
- Core JavaScript
- Lexical Structure
- Data Types and Values
- Variables
- Expressions and Operators
- Statements
- Functions
- Objects
- Arrays
- Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
- Further Topics in JavaScript
- Client-Side JavaScript
- JavaScript in Web Browsers
- Windows and Frames
- The Document Object Model
- Events and Event Handling
- Forms and Form Elements
- Dynamic HTML
- Saving State with Cookies
- Compatibility Techniques
- LiveConnect: JavaScript and Java
- JavaScript Security
Like many of the books we review on WebDeveloper.com, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide is unique in that it provides you with tips and techniques that can save you many hours of frustration and effort.
An example is the use of document.write to write an ending </SCRIPT> tag to a page. JavaScript tries to interpret the ending tag instead of writing it to the page, so it just ends the currently running script at that point. If you'd read the book, you would know that the proper way to achieve this is to separate the beginning of the tag from the end, thusly:
document.write("<" + "/SCRIPT>");
or simply escape the "/" with a backslash:
document.write("<\/SCRIPT>");
The first half of the book goes into detail about the various aspects of using JavaScript (as referenced by the table of contents above), while the second half is a detailed reference for every function, element, event, etc. that is used in the JavaScript language.
Bottom line--if I could only choose 5 books for my Web Development library, JavaScript: The Definitive Guide would be among them. Also included would be O'Reilly's HTML: The Definitive Guide, Wired's HotWired Style, Seigel's Creating Killer Web Sites and the infamous Web Pages That Suck.
If you have some favorite Web development-related books you'd like to see mentioned here, drop us a note.
Selections include:
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