Pro JavaScript Techniques: Resig, John: 9781590597279: Amazon.com: Books

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Pro JavaScript Techniques is the ultimate JavaScript book for the modern web developer. It provides everything you need to know about modern JavaScript, and shows what JavaScript can do for your web sites. This book doesn't waste any time looking at things you already know, like basic syntax and structures.

Expert web developer and author John Resig concentrates on fundamental, vital topics―what modern JavaScripting is (and isnt), the current state of browser support, and pitfalls to be wary of. The book is organized into four sections:

Modern JavaScript development using JavaScript the object-oriented way, creating reusable code, plus testing and debugging
DOM scripting updating content and styles, plus events, and effect and event libraries
How Ajax works, overcoming problems, and using libraries to speed up development of Ajax applications
The future of JavaScript looking at cutting edge topics like JSON, HTML5, and more

All concepts are backed up by real-world examples and case studies, and John provides numerous reusable functions and classes to save you time in your development. There are also up-to-date reference appendixes for the DOM, events, browser support (including IE7), and frameworks, so you can look up specific details quickly and easily.

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About the Author

John Resig is a programmer and entrepreneur who's been developing web applications for over eight years. Having primarily focused on back-end development for most of that time using Perl and MySQL, John changed his focus toward implementing usable web front ends. He holds a degree in computer science from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, and has published several papers on data mining instant messaging networks. When he's not programming, he enjoys watching movies, writing in his blog, www.ejohn.org, and spending time with his girlfriend.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Apress
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 13, 2006
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st ed.
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 404 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1590597273
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1590597279
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.58 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.52 x 0.87 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,953,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,216 in JavaScript Programming (Books)
- #1,842 in Software Design & Engineering
- #5,266 in Software Development (Books)

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46 ratings

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John Resig

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John Resig is the Dean of Open Source and head of JavaScript development at Khan Academy and the author of the book Pro JavaScript Techniques. He’s also the creator and lead developer of the jQuery JavaScript library.

Currently, John is located in Boston, MA. He’s hard at work on his second book, Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja.

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Customers appreciate the book's unobtrusive JavaScript code and its information quality, with one customer highlighting its thorough understanding of the DOM. The book receives positive feedback for its interactivity, with one customer noting its rich interactivity with timed behavior. However, the errata section receives mixed reviews, with one customer reporting typos in the straight JavaScript examples.

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Code readability Information quality Interactivity Errata

18 customers mention "Code readability"13 positive5 negative

Customers appreciate the code readability of the book, particularly its unobtrusive approach to DOM scripting, with one customer noting that the Object-Oriented JavaScript concepts are surprisingly simple to understand.

"...Overall, this book was an incredible read and is highly recommended for those who want to take their Javascript skills to the next level." Read more

"...Thanfully, Resig stays true to his mission of creating inobtrusive JavaScript, and keeps his HTML separated from the scripting code...." Read more

"...My code was easier to read, too. I'm a big proponent of activities that give back the time you invest. Bad books don't do this...." Read more

"While John Resig clearly understands javaScript very well, he doesn't put as much effort into writing about it...." Read more

16 customers mention "Information quality"13 positive3 negative

Customers find the book provides great information, with one customer highlighting its concise coverage of obscure JavaScript elements and another noting its thorough understanding of the DOM.

"...The entire book had you building a library of usable scripts that allow for great portability while using Javascript in your applications..." Read more

"...likely all familiar with: DOM scripting, event handling, and even a bit of AJAX...." Read more

"...The book is not a write off, there is very valuable information and advice. I just am very disappointed in the code examples and their explanations...." Read more

"...JavaScript surprisingly simple to understand, as well as thorough understanding of the DOM, Events models, Ajax and many other contemporary styles..." Read more

3 customers mention "Interactivity"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's interactivity features, with one customer highlighting its rich interactivity with timed behavior, while others mention its event handling and DOM interaction capabilities.

"...visits topics we're most likely all familiar with: DOM scripting, event handling, and even a bit of AJAX...." Read more

"...to understand, as well as thorough understanding of the DOM, Events models, Ajax and many other contemporary styles of JavaScript as its written by..." Read more

"...many of the basic building blocks of modern javascript libraries: DOM interaction, code minimization techniques, debugging tools, rich interactivity..." Read more

3 customers mention "Errata"0 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's errata, with one customer noting typos in the straight JavaScript examples.

"...troublesome to me is the lack of support from the publisher, no errata and the code downloads are incorrect..." Read more

"...And considering the typos in the straight JavaScript examples, it left me wondering about the validity of the library demos...." Read more

"Useful info but too many errors in the examples..." Read more

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Nate Klaiber
Take your understanding of Javascript to the next level
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2007
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Pro Javascript Techniques by John Resig was a very in depth look at Javascript and its capabilities. I loved this book for the simple fact that the first chapter started by introducing you to objects in Javascript. No time was wasted on the basics, you were diving in deep right from the beginning. Also, even though John is the creator and lead developer of the jQuery Javascript library, this book was not about pushing his framework. He did a great job of introducing many of the different frameworks and listing their strengths and purposes.

The entire book had you building a library of usable scripts that allow for great portability while using Javascript in your applications (or even your personal website). Each chapter discussed the scripts, their functionality, their support, and giving great details to how they worked. Most chapters also gave you examples of the scripts in a working environment. A quick breakdown looks like this:

The first part of the book discussed Object Oriented Javascript. This included information related to creating your own objects and extending the core javascript objects. He then moved on to discussing testing of your code and how to package it for distribution. This is especially helpful for those working in an environment with multiple developers/programmers. Thankfully, he discussed unobtrusive DOM scripting, which still may be new to some developers. The first part closed with discussions related to AJAX and browser support, both of which we would see more of later. All of part one was a brief introduction to what we would read through the rest of the book

Part two discussed Object Orient Javascript in more detail. This included things such as basics of objects, object creation, references, overloading, scope, and closures. I found this chapter to provide a solid foundation for the rest of the chapters to come, as well as very descriptive related to objects. The next few chapters discussed creating reusable code and shined some light on several of the libraries available. Also, we got a glimpse into the wonderful world of debugging javascript and were introduced to some great tools to help you as you build.

Part three dives into unobtrusive Javascript and intricate details related to the DOM and how to manipulate the DOM. Once we learn how to properly manipulate and traverse the DOM, we move on to attaching events to elements. All of this was discussed in light of progressive enhancement and making sure content is always available. The last three chapters of this section discussed Javascript and CSS, how to improve forms (which is also a topic for another discussion), and a practical example of building an image gallery.

Part four pushes ahead to AJAX. The first chapters discussed the history of AJAX and some of its common uses. With a foundation of understanding what AJAX is, the next chapters were spent with practical examples of enhancing your blog (quick access to all posts dynamically on scroll), building an autocomplete search field, and creating an AJAX Wiki. I found that the blog and autocomplete were a little more valuable than the Wiki.

The final part looks to the future of Javascript. This section was very educational as we move forward. This is very important to be aware of what will be available in the near (hopefully) future.

The appendixes were extremely valuable, and I will use it as a quick reference as I begin developing more Javascript. A full listing of the DOM reference, Events reference, and the Browsers.

Overall, this book was an incredible read and is highly recommended for those who want to take their Javascript skills to the next level.

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Kevin Major
Finally, a JavaScript resource aimed at me
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2008
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Pro JavaScript Techniques by John Resig is probably the best resource on the language I've encountered to date. I'm one of those web developers who has had something of a mental block when it comes to JavaScript. Despite its ubiquity, it always seemed like a toy language to me. It didn't help that JavaScript's syntax plays a bit fast and loose to my tastes, and that virtually all of the other resources on the language I've encountered barely scratched the surface on what the language can actually do. If you're like me - familiar with the basics, but knowing that you're not proficient enough to use it in a professional setting - then this book is for you.

First, the bad news. Like all aPress books I've encountered, this one suffers from a few small, but glaring, editing errors. Small things - variable names that change between examples for no good reason, in-text refrences to things the author didn't mention (no doubt something missed between drafts), that sort of thing - crop up. It's not enough to break the book, but it is annoying.

Also, the first section of the book moves at break-neck speed. While some of it is review, for those of us who have been toiling in web tutorials and older books, a few re-reads are necessary to truly understand what's going on. Thankfully, Resig addresses things in a logical manner, so each topic flows nicely into the next, making returning to those parts as painless as possible.

Finally, in the chapter where he discusses public, private, and privledged object properties and methods, he completely glosses over how private properties and methods function. Instead, he merely tells the user to visit Douglas Crockford's site on the matter. It's a bit of a cop-out, and I figure that since I'm spending ~$30 on the book, the least he can do is briefly condence Crockford's ideas.

All that said, though, the positives outweigh the negatives by far.

Despite the quick pacing of the book, the information (ignoring editing inconsistencies) is delivered in a straightforward manner. Resig addresses most, if not all, of those little things which are important in the real world (testing/debugging, how to work with libraries, how to ensure your code doesn't interfere with someone else's code, etc), but are often ignored in other resources.

In particular, the early chapters (chapters 2 and 3) on dealing with JavaScript objects are well done. While Resig doesn't go into all of the details (most notably with the link to Crockford's site I mentioned earlier), these chapters form the foundation of just about everything you'd want to do with the language. Indeed, these chapters address most of the pitfalls that create those pesky JavaScript errors we've all dealt with before: scope, closures, and context. Understanding how those three concepts work in unison is fundamental towards understanding modern, professional JavaScript as a whole.

Being a JavaScript book, this particular volume visits topics we're most likely all familiar with: DOM scripting, event handling, and even a bit of AJAX. Thanfully, Resig stays true to his mission of creating inobtrusive JavaScript, and keeps his HTML separated from the scripting code. This is a far cry from other self-proclaimed professional tomes that embed their JavaScript function calls within their HTML tags.

To conclude (and reiterate), Pro JavaScript Techniques is the perfect book for those developers caught in the middle. It's a resource aimed at those of us who have had experience with the language, but have never been pointed in the right direction to use it in a professional manner. Despite its annoying flaws, this book fills the rather large gap between beginner's JavaScripting and creating robust AJAX applications. It's worth owning if you ever want to do serious work with the language.

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Andrew
Ready for Level 2?
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2008
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
After writing disorganized (yet effective) JavaScript functions for seven years, I really wanted to get more out of the language. I wanted to code more efficiently. As each new project started, I found myself scurrying to find old functions strewn across different computers or servers. Even when I found this code, I would often need to make some significant changes to it.

So, I did what any self-taught front-end developer would do: I hit the online tutorials. Online tutorials didn't really do it for me, though. The good tutorials seemed too short, and I kept reverting back to sloppy coding after a few days.

Then I came across this book.

The examples are excellent in demonstrating how the language can really work for you if you're willing to put the time into it. That being said, this book is not for beginners. This book is probably best for three groups of people:

1) Intermediate JavaScript developers who are ready to finally adopt code reuse and reap the nice things a loosely typed, object-based language can give you.

2) Java/C++ programmers who need to pick up JavaScript for a project. These people are already familiar with OO concepts and will probably have an easier time learning the language from a book like this.

3) Ambitious beginners with a lot of patience.

After only 3 chapters, I started to think about JavaScript in a different way. For the first time ever, I found myself reusing code with little to no change required. My code was easier to read, too.

I'm a big proponent of activities that give back the time you invest. Bad books don't do this. Good ones, like this book, do.

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Maru
Der perfekte tiefere Einstieg
Reviewed in Germany on April 16, 2008
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Nachdem ich mich die letzten Jahre mit 3 anderen (unbrauchbaren) Javascript Büchern herumgeschlagen habe
ist Pro Javascript endlich ein Lichtblick.

Man sollte etwas Programmiererfahrung mitbringen (in Javascript oder
auch nur in anderen Programmiersprachen) und dann gibt einem das Buch
in den ersten Kapiteln alles nötige um sauberen objekt-orientierten
Code zu schreiben.

Mir fehlten allerdings kleine Übersichtszeichnungen zu den jeweiligen Themen,
denn ein gutes Bild ist oftmals mehr Wert als tausend Worte.
Hinweise zur Javascript Dokumentation (z.B. mit JsDoc) fehlen,
dies ist aber wegen fehlender Typsicherheit (kein compiler) wesentlich.

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RobustiousGavin
Good read
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2012
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Probably one of the better javascript books out there. Most of the stuff mentioned in the book should be common knowledge for most seasoned developers so if you have surpassed the point of writing your own javascript framework for web applications than you might be looking for something much more advance but if you have written a lot of javascript like plugins for websites or even if you are new at javascript but have some knowledge on programming, than you will learn a lot from this book. 10/10

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bes
すばらしい良書
Reviewed in Japan on October 5, 2007
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
AJAXを意識した最近のJavaScript言語を学ぶに当りすばらしい良書である。
著者は有名なJavaScriptライブラリのjQueryの開発者である。

内容は基礎的なJavaScriptの言語仕様の説明は省いているものの、JavaScript言語の特徴についてポイントを抑えて一通り説明している。
当然JavaScriptのオブジェクト指向についても詳しく説明されている。
その上で、DocumentObjectModel、イベント、CSSについて一通り説明していく。
これらの説明も単なる仕様の説明ではなく、利用する場合の注意点やそれに対する対応策といった流れの説明になっている。
対応策については豊富なサンプルコードが付いておりそのまま活用することも容易である。
本書の後半はAJAXの説明となっており、前述で説明したテクニックを活用しながらAJAXアプリケーションの構築の仕方について説明する。
LiveSearchやBlogの拡張方法などの具体的な内容も充実している。
また、有名なPrototype.jsなどの各種JavaScriptライブラリの活用方法も載っている。
これだけの内容でありながらページ数は３００ページ程度と非常に読みやすい。

総論して、AJAXを学びたい・あわせてJavaScriptのスキルも磨きたいと考えている方には最良といえる。

目次立ては以下のとおり

Part1 Introducing Modern JavaScript
　　chapter1 Modern JavaScript Programming
Part2 Professional JavaScript Development
　　chapter2 Object-Oriented JavaScript
　　chapter3 Creating Reusable Code
　　chapter4 Tools for Debugging and Testing
Part3 Unobtrusive JavaScript
　　chapter5 The Document Object Model
　　chapter6 Events
　　chapter7 JavaScript and CSS
　　chapter8 Improving Forms
　　chapter9 Building an Image Gallery
Part4 Ajax
　　chapter10 Introduction to Ajax
　　chapter11 Enhancing Blogs with Ajax
　　chapter12 Autocomplete Search
　　chapter13 An Ajax Wiki
Part5 The Future of JavaScript
　　chapter14 Where Is JavaScript Going?
Part6 Appendixes

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Christian
Pro JavaScript Techniques
Reviewed in Germany on January 16, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Obwohl das Buch doch schon recht alt ist (dessen sollte man sich also bewusst sein wenn man das Buch liest), so findet man doch viele Erklärungen für grundlegende Dinge in der JavaScript Welt. Ein großer Pluspunkt sind die Links im Buch um sich in gewisse Themen zu vertiefen.
Für alle die sich näher mit JavaScript beschäftigen wollen und mehr als nur ein paar Funktionen schreiben wollen, ist das Buch absolut zu empfehlen.

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Tieliu Du
this is a book for novice
Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2011
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I am reading this book and about to finish it in 2 days.
It is too simple for me. I think it is for developer who has no javascript at all.
And it is old. In Javascript world, ExtJS,dojo,GWT ,there a lot popular frameworks.
They distributed a lot into js world to make it more OO. But this book hardly mention them.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Take your understanding of Javascript to the next level

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a JavaScript resource aimed at me

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready for Level 2?

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Der perfekte tiefere Einstieg

5.0 out of 5 stars Good read

5.0 out of 5 stars すばらしい良書

4.0 out of 5 stars Pro JavaScript Techniques

2.0 out of 5 stars this is a book for novice

Take your understanding of Javascript to the next level

Finally, a JavaScript resource aimed at me

Ready for Level 2?

Der perfekte tiefere Einstieg

Good read

すばらしい良書

Pro JavaScript Techniques

this is a book for novice