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Message-ID: <2151122.99fozv8Vkd@PointedEars.de>
From: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de>
Reply-To: Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <cljs@PointedEars.de>
Organization: PointedEars Software (PES)
Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:16:13 +0100
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Subject: Re: JavaScript Book Recommendations?
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M. Strobel wrote:

> Am 30.12.2011 20:49, schrieb Gene Wirchenko:
>>      I am looking for a book that gets into the fine points.  There
>> are all too many books and Webpages that deal with the beginning
>> stuff, but I need to get into the fine points.  I want my pages to be
>> professional and not subject to errors because some mistake that I
>> could have avoided if only I knew.
> 
> I have got the JavaScript Bible 6th edition since 2008. I think
> it is very complete, no problem to get into the fine points.

Unless it contains errors.

> It is absolutely huge, set with a small font (means a lot of text).
> 
> My version is a little outdated on browser subjects.
> 
> In my opinion it is overly complete, you have hardly a chance to
> work through it all. But the structure and index seem good and
> logical to me.

While you can learn some things from Goodman's 6th ed., there will still be 
a lot of things – I daresay more – that you have to unlearn after you read 
that book (for example, using parseInt() without second argument).  The main 
problem is that the book is quantity over quality and more about the DOM 
(with still a lot of awful examples that were even outdated back in 2007, 
when it was published) than about the programming language.  IOW, target 
missed.

The book is good for Brendan Eich's foreword and the first two background 
chapters.  The third chapter, "Your First JavaScript Script" already has a 
erroneous example, one with an invalid HTML document that uses 
`window.onload' over `<body onload="…">' even though the author has full 
control over the document.  It goes on with using document.getElementById(…) 
in a chain (which is tolerable) and `innerHTML' (which is not) that is 
assigned code so that the resulting `script' element is liable to end 
prematurely (ETAGO delimiters not escaped), rendering the HTML document 
invalid in any case.

It is good that he says "<script> tag", which is correct, but why is there 
no proper explanation of _elements_ in that chapter (no, the `div' element 
has the attribute, not the "<div> tag")?  After all, he is calling 
document.get*Element*ById().

And then he continues with explaining the `navigator' object (for later 
browser sniffing – ouch!).

Not that any of this really has to do with the programming language that the 
book should be about.  And what it is really about is ripe with problems 
like that.

> I have seen higher prices on books, just buy it if you need
> javascript.

A waste of money regardless.  (There is 
<http://books.google.ch/books?id=W3eytUUwhEIC&printsec=frontcover&hl=de&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0> 
with many preview pages.  If you must read it complete, go to a public 
library instead.)

> Disclaimer: Javascript is only one of many assets for me.

There is no "Javascript", and Goodman's distributing the common  
misconception that *current* JScript was only another name for JavaScript 
does not help either.

IMO, the best way to become professional about this is RTFM (and I really 
mean the *manual*, i. e. language specifications and references), and 
posting *relevant* *parts* of your code for public review as explained in 
<http://jibbering.com/faq/#posting>.


PointedEars
-- 
Prototype.js was written by people who don't know javascript for people
who don't know javascript. People who don't know javascript are not
the best source of advice on designing systems that use javascript.
  -- Richard Cornford, cljs, <f806at$ail$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk>