Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: JavaScript made respectable again
Comment: This book is a breath of fresh air in that it avoids all the old cliches of "cool" (aka cringe-making) JavaScript effects, such as tickertape effects in the browser status bar. This is JavaScript that can be put to effective use, such as replacing images without the need either to preload them or to reload the whole page. Another example is generating new content on the fly. Jeremy Keith does this by building a list of abbreviations used on a web page, a technique that would be equally valuable in automatically generating a table of contents for a long document.
This book teaches a thoughtful approach to JavaScript that degrades gracefully in older browsers, or when the user has JavaScript disabled. In the chapter on best practices, the message is driven home that technology should add to the functionality and attractiveness of a site, an approach the author calls "progressive enhancement." Exclusive technology, even something as simple as JavaScript, should never be a prerequisite for gaining access to a site's content.
Most JavaScript books leave the Document Object Model (DOM) tantalizingly to the end in the "advanced" section, whereas this one deals with nothing else. In spite of this, DOM Scripting is aimed at the beginner to intermediate user, and is made incredibly easy to understand. The purpose of each line of code is explained, and functions are built up in easily digestible blocks. Readers already familiar with DOM techniques may find some of the descriptions repetitive, but newcomers will be grateful for the way their knowledge is consolidated by seeing core techniques used in different circumstances. The clear, matter-of-fact style makes it a pleasure to read, and the final case study brings everything together in a logical and attractive site.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Coverage Of The Basics
Comment: Is this book for the advanced? No. More importantly, perhaps, it really is a book about the DOM, not about Javascript in general.
I'd already been pretty comfortable with Javascript and DOM manipulation by the time I finally picked up this book. Of course, I was comfortable with these topics primarily because I'd spent time dissecting Jeremy Keith's own Adactio Elsewhere, a brilliant and dynamic javascript-powered Web 2.0 application.
But there's no coverage at all here of objects, closures, or any of the hairier stuff that makes scripts like sIFR and Prototype tick.
So while I was disappointed to not see these more complicated topics, those that are presented are presented clearly and always with best-practices highlighted. Keith demonstrates the advantages of doing things the "right way", rather than just whacking us all over the head with some guilt-trip about accessibility.
If you've never dipped your hand into the increasingly less scary cauldron that is modern javascript, this book might be just the thing you need for that first step. It's only a small step farther to GMap mashups and greasemonkey scripts!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Exceptionally Clear Handling of a Subject in Transition
Comment: This book is directed toward scripters at the beginning and intermediate level. This is also a very good book for the veteran scripter who wants to re-tool as DOM-based techniques take hold.
I think Jeremy Keith takes the best road when he launches directly into DOM methods and objects, only mentioning the older ways for completeness. Most often, JavaScript books do the opposite -- mentioning DOM scripting only as an advanced art. But why learn the older ways when you must unlearn them later?
The author focuses on teaching correct methods and approaches, often taking the long way around to make it easier to see the larger picture. This requires a lot of forethought and organization on the part of an author and here the material excels. I don't think anyone will trip up following this guide through the Web script jungle.
The author also avoids the unbearable humor and cutesy language encountered so often in tech books. Thank you Mr. Keith! This is good, clear writing to go with good, clean scripting.
Quibbles: I think the author should have been more concerned with compatibility issues, esp. with IE6, the decrepit but still dominant browser. For instance, on pp 200-01, he recommends using the setAttribute() method to set a class but does not mention that IE improperly demands "className" as a parameter. His snippet would fail in IE. The chapter on CSS scripting was good but barely scratched the surface, not mentioning a bunch of cool scriptable objects.
Overall, this book is a worthy tool that should be welcomed by the target audience.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It all makes sense now!
Comment: I have tried in the past to learn JavaScript, and never saw a point other than to annoy visitors. Jeremy Keith has given me a reason to truely learn this language, and has helped me to understand DOM.
This book makes sense in a clear, and consice way that most tech books don't. His examples are great, and his writing style is very readable. Definitely worth the money!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The new standard in JavaScript and DOM
Comment: The analogies are great (they make things very clear) and I find myself truly grasping the concepts that Jeremy put forth in his book. As a beginner, in JavaScript and DOM, this is the first JavaScript book that makes sense!
This book makes every other JavaScript book outdated. It's concepts are clear and very well illustrated with the accompanied examples. I could easily just use the real world examples in the book, but I am motivated to create my own.
This is a great book to read start to finish, but it also has several chapters that are great reads by themselves. This is definitely a book that won't spend much time on the shelf - It has not left my desk since I got it!
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