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Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide

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Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn wrote:

> Christoph M. Becker wrote:
> 
>> Taken with a grain of salt, I consider it a
>> decent *introduction* to this subject.
> 
> A *grain*?

Is there any definition regarding the maximum size of a grain? ;)

>> [1] This part of the book is (currently) available online via the book
>> preview ("Look inside") on amazon:
>> <http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Definitive-Guide-Activate-Guides-ebook/dp/B004XQX4K0/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2>
> 
> I do not have time for a full review, but if I had to pick three instances 
> as to why it should be avoided, it would be these:
> 
> The Introduction
> -----------------
> 
> His entire description of “Client-side JavaScript” is hopelessly outdated.  
> Host objects have not been part of any implementation since more than a 
> decade ago, and then only one, Netscape JavaScript (up to version 1.3).

At least Flanagan has separate parts for "Core JavaScript" and
"Client-Side JavaScript".

> Operators
> ----------
> 
> The chapter on operators (chapter 4?) that has been random-access reviewed 
> by Douglas Cornford before is *still* wrong.  “Member access” should be 
> “property access”, and is _not_ an operator.  Calling a function (as a 
> function) is _not_ an operation.  The term “operator precedence” simply does 
> not apply to several syntactical constructs listed there.  The only 
> improvement that I can see is that the “Array operator” is no longer there; 
> it has been replaced by “member access”.  But that chapter is incomplete in 
> the preview.

Indeed.  Chapter 4 is titled "Expressions and Operators", and you are
probably referring to table 4-1 which is placed immediately before the
section heading "Operator Overview".  This table is labelled "JavaScript
expressions", and interestingly, it is not contained in my ebook copy of
the 6th edition.  Anyway, what is called "(Computed) member access" in
this table is called "Property Access Expressions" a few sections before.

> Inheritance
> ------------
> 
> There are neither classes nor modules in implementations of ECMAScript 
> Edition 5, yet there is an entire chapter “Classes and Modules” and a 
> section “Classes in ECMAScript 5”.  One can read subsection titles like 
> “Defining a Subclass”.

Quite a the beginning of this chapter Flanagan writes:

| It is often useful, however, to define a /class/ of objects that
| share certain properties.

IMHO that is not wrong, and hints that his use of the term is rather
abstract.  The next paragraph, however, starts with:

| In JavaScript, classes are based on JavaScript's prototype-based
| inheritance mechanism.

That's a rather sloppy formulation, at best.

> I can not only not recommend this bug^H^Hook, but I have to *strongly* 
> recommended against it.  (Like all previous editions of it.)

Well, but what are the alternatives when one is looking for a
comprehensive introduction to browser side scripting in ECMAScript
implementations?  AFAIK many other sources are (much) worse.

Requiring a *beginner* to wade through the ECMAScript specification, the
W3C standards regarding the DOM and other relevant APIs and the
documentation of the browser vendors, seems undue.

-- 
Christoph M. Becker

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Thread

Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example? Peter <pilarp@poczta.onet.pl> - 2014-12-16 13:58 -0800
  Re: Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example? "Christoph M. Becker" <cmbecker69@arcor.de> - 2014-12-16 23:21 +0100
  Re: Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2014-12-17 00:10 +0100
    JavaScript: The Definitive Guide (was: Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example?) "Christoph M. Becker" <cmbecker69@arcor.de> - 2014-12-17 01:29 +0100
      Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2014-12-20 23:00 +0100
        Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2014-12-20 23:04 +0100
        Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Christoph M. Becker" <cmbecker69@arcor.de> - 2014-12-28 23:52 +0100
          Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-12-28 23:52 +0000
            Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Scott Sauyet <scott.sauyet@gmail.com> - 2015-01-01 21:46 -0800
              Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-02 09:32 +0100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Andrew Poulos <ap_prog@hotmail.com> - 2015-01-03 07:54 +1100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-02 22:14 +0100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Andrew Poulos <ap_prog@hotmail.com> - 2015-01-03 11:46 +1100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-03 11:59 +0100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Andrew Poulos <ap_prog@hotmail.com> - 2015-01-03 23:46 +1100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-03 14:57 +0100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Andrew Poulos <ap_prog@hotmail.com> - 2015-01-04 09:31 +1100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-04 00:29 +0100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide Andrew Poulos <ap_prog@hotmail.com> - 2015-01-04 20:17 +1100
                Re: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide "Evertjan." <exxjxw.hannivoort@inter.nl.net> - 2015-01-04 10:57 +0100
                OT: Mass, weight and friction (was: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide) "Christoph M. Becker" <cmbecker69@arcor.de> - 2015-01-03 02:52 +0100
  Re: Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example? Erwin Moller <erwinmollerusenet@xs4all.nl> - 2014-12-18 14:39 +0100
    Re: Optional semicolons - wrong rule or wrong example? Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2014-12-18 14:04 +0000

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