Customer Rating:  
Summary: Not great, but not bad.
Comment: The Sam's PHP books made them my preferred publisher of tech books, this book didn't live up to my expectations. If you are somewhat competent this book will frustrate you. It doesn't provide much detail on the fundamental concepts. The last third of the book goes further and is devoted to examples that have "cook book" value but not a lot of educational value.
It's not a bad book by any means. I think it may even be a great book, for the right reader. The right reader I think is someone who: knows just a bit about html, what javascript is in vague terms, and wants to get something up and working quickly. If have a basic knowledge of javascript already and are looking to strengthen your foundation this may not be the best book for you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: good if you know basic elements of java
Comment: This is not a bad book. It's really a well written book, but it does require some prior knowledge from the user. It would help if a user has some basic knowledge of Java. Some rudimentary knowledge of Java will help to understand the JavaScript object model and methods like toString(), etc.
Compare to what I consider to be the main competitor for this type of book, the O'Reilly JavaScript book, this book is superior for beginners. It explains the document object, math object, etc. simply and clearly. It gives nice examples that you can either type in as an automaton, or that you can elaborate and experiment on. Either way, the explanations are great -- assuming you have a rudimentary knowledge of Java.
I own and have used extensively over 20 of the O'Reilly books, so it's obvious I like them. The O'Reilly JavaScript book is not bad, it's just not the best to learn from. My suggestion is to learn the basics from this book, and then go to the O'Reilly JavaScript: The Definitive guide book.
Can you really learn JavaScript in 24 hours? If you follow the book word for word, page by page, and type in the examples exactly as stated, then you can finish in 24 hours. If you like to experiment and try different variations of the examples (what I do), then it can take longer. Either way the book is a nice introduction to JavaScript. At least, now I know what the document model can do !!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not for complete novices.... but sufficient for an introduction
Comment: I think a lot of us can agree that there just aren't a lot of great quality Javascript instruction books out there. Somebody make one! However, I will say that after reading this book I feel that I have a solid enough footing in the language to branch out into more complex examples. The key to learning any programming language is not simply to read these guidebooks, but to create some independent projects that reinforce what you have just learned. To get the most out of this book make sure you actually do each of the exercises at the end of each hour. The problem with this is, of course, that not all of the answers for the exercises are provided on the web site. (As a matter of fact the web site does not seem to have been updated in quite some time.) I do recommend posing questions in the website's forum, which is quite active.
TIP: If you are new to programming, don't begin your education with this book; start with an HTML/CSS primer to get you going, preferably one which gives you a taste of Javascript. Then start looking at Javascript. Having had a year-long Java course in the past, and prior knowledge of basic HTML, I'll say that this book does presume a certain level of knowledge. If I were entirely unfamiliar with syntax and terms (which the author whizzes through very quickly and often with poor explanation), then I am certain I would have been very lost about halfway through the book. The section on arrays could do with some major modification, for example. And the CSS and AJAX snippets just weren't given enough contextual treatment. All in all, if you have some basic knowledge and are looking for a guide that will give you the fundamentals, this is a satisfactory enough book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just Skims the Surface
Comment: I like to know more detail than this book provided and by trying to keep it 'light', they weren't giving me enough information to really understand the core of what was being done. I found myself struggling through the chapters trying to keep up with the concepts and ultimately gave up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: tough book
Comment: my main problem is that some examples arent explained. and he sort of rushes through basic stuff, the book itself is not well organized. some stuff I had to reread, and some stuff I just gave up on. So I would recommend a more basic book and then tackling this one, If you wanna buy it, get it at a discount, dont pay full price like me.
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